THE SECRET BEHIND THE SCENES

THE SECRET BEHIND THE SCENES

It was evening and no wonder, I  fell asleep just at the time of dispersal. It was very dark and I'm really surprised how my chemistry teacher didn't notice me snoring loudly. I was really scared but I knew for sure that my mom must've been more scared than me. She must have gone nuts and might have called the cops. The door of the classroom was closed so I figured out if I could pass through the window and luckily I was thin enough to get through it. I am satisfied and in fact, happy that I wasn't eating that junk which I used to eat last year. Now, I was in the foyer. I could barely see anything in that darkness. At that moment, I began thinking about all sorts of ghosts and bloody phantoms. Although, I was very scared, I was smart enough not to scream. I was shivering and my heartbeat was running fast. I got inside the auditorium and climbed the stairs to the stage, hoping I'll find some staff member dozing off there. But I was wrong, no one was there, not even a single soul except me. I went backstage to search. But then came a spider who changed the whole story. I'm honest to tell anyone that the thought of creepy crawlies really freaks me out. That spider was sitting on my toe and god knows what was it doing there. I just couldn't control myself. I started kicking my leg in the air thinking it would fling off to some other place. In that hurry, I kicked the wall. Thud! I thought my leg broke but it wasn't my leg, it was the wall in front of me. I couldn't believe what I saw. It was some sort of a door with a hidden handle. I pulled the handle and it opened. It was a bright glare of light. I closed my eyes and after a short while, opened them too. I was shocked and I froze. To my surprise, it was my principal ma'am and some other teachers with a bunch of children. I could clearly figure out that they were disabled and some also belonged to the poor families. The teacher, too was surprised to see me there, and said, "Amit? You? I hope you know that you are not supposed to be here." I nodded and told her the whole story. Then she began that in evening, she runs free classes for the disabled and the underprivileged students. She was too busy in the day to manage these classes. However, she kept it a secret from us. I curiously asked, "why ma'am, did you keep it a secret from us? She said," about 8 years ago, I had my first child but to my surprise, she was not like you. She didn't have the ability to see. She was blind and not only that, after 2 years, she became paralysed and could not walk properly. Her legs were twisted. I felt too sad and sorry for her. I used to send her to an international school which had a very good reputation. In school, children would tease her and laugh at her. She was helpless and went into depression and that was where she couldn't tolerate it any more. She died of sadness. I remember her last words :- It's better to die than to hear the words which make you feel helpless. And so I started these evening classes so that no child has to undergo the sadness which my child had gone through. " she said" these disabled kids will be able to do anything which a normal child can do only if I can save them from depression." I had never seen my ma'am like that before. She wiped her tears and whispered into my ear," I know you're a good boy and would keep it a secret always. " I nodded again and then she called my parents and asked them to pick me up. From that day, whenever I would pass through the backstage of the auditorium, I would giggle seeing the board which says," danger-450 volts ". My friends would think I'm crazy but who knows what the reality is!

~Ayesha

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