3 days later
"Everyone, I want you to note down this question for your homework and get it done by tomorrow. Is that clear?"
[ "Yes, sir," the class shouted. ]
[The last bell rang, and students packed their bags, as did Kabir.]
"Kabir, huh? What happened?"
[One student grabbed Kabir's hand and dragged him out.]
[Varun saw Kabir getting dragged out of the class by the student.]
"Wow, what's going on?" [surprised]
[Kabir was shocked that the student talked to him for the first time.]
"I have to tell you something."
"What do you want to tell me?" [confused]
"It's about what happened that day..." [pause]
"Ohhh..." [cynical tone] "What about it?"
"It was Varun. Varun told the teacher to call your parents about the incident..." [pause] "He wanted to join our group, so a couple of students told him to snitch on you..." [regretful tone] "I... am sorry, Kabir."
[What just happened? Varun snitched on me? That can't be true...]
"Kabir, there you are!"
"Huh? Varun, come, let's go home together!"
"Well, I've got to buy something..." [hesitant] "So, I can't."
"Oh, that's fine. See you on Monday then. Bye."
[As Varun walked away with his friends.]
"Why would he do that to me?" [heartbroken]
[As Kabir walked away, seeing how his best friend turned on him, going back to his old spot at Marine Lines, looking for Mirror. There he was, eating chapati from the ground.]
"Mirror?" [eyes widen] "Mirror!"
[Kabir rushed towards Mirror, hugging him.]
"I missed you so much, Mirror!" [crying]
[Barking and licking his face.]
"Where have you been? Please don't leave me again." [barking]
[As the old man from that day looked at Kabir.]
"Looks like you have found the person you were looking for." [slowly]
[As the old man walked away.]
"Come on, let's go, Mirror."
[As they walked away towards the park, sitting under a giant olive tree.]
"You must be hungry, right? Here, take this, your favorite biscuit."
[Mirror barked and jumped here and there.]
[Stroking his fur.]
"You know, a lot has happened since you left me, and the reason behind that was my friend snitching on me." [heartbroken] "You know, Mirror, when does it hurt? It's not physical or mental; it's when the person you trusted the most breaks that trust. That's what hurts the most."
[Mirror looked at him with confusion.]
[Laughing.] "You won't understand what I'm saying."
[As he picked Mirror up.]
"You won't hurt me, right, Mirror?" [barked and licked his nose]
[Laughing.] "Of course! You won't hurt me. I'm tired of living here, Mirror. What should I do?" [barked] "I don't know what you are saying, Mirror..."
[As the wind blows, leaves fall from the tree, and birds fly in the open sky.]
"I... think I know what to do. Mirror! Let's run away!" [barked and confused look] "Yes, that's what we will do, Mirror. We will run away, far away from here and everyone else!" [shouting]
[As people looked at him, Kabir dancing with Mirror, some laughed, some giggled, some looked away.]
"But how will we run away?" [doubtful] "For that, we have to go home, and you will come with me. But how will you come with...?" [looked at his bag] "Bingo!"
[Kabir removed all his books and put Mirror inside his bag.]
"What to do with these books?" [scoffing] "Let's just throw them away."
[He dumped his books inside a dustbin.]
[The people looked at him in awe, seeing Kabir throw his books in the dustbin.]
"Son?"
[Kabir looked over, seeing a woman standing in front of him.]
"Yes?" [confused]
"Why did you throw your books?" [looking over the dustbin]
"Ah, these... I just won't be needing them anymore, right, Mirror?" [barked]
"Oh, that's it then?"
"Yeah, that's all." [confused]
[As Kabir dashed towards his home.]
[Knocking at the door.] "Maa... Paa?" "Looks like no one is home, perfect."
[Kabir opened the door with a spare key.]
"Come on, Mirror, let's pack our stuff and get the hell out of here." [barked]
[Kabir packed his clothes, blankets, and food, breaking his piggy bank and taking all the money inside that he had been collecting for the last two years.]
"Wow!" [amazed] "That's a lot of money we've got there, buddy. Now, what do we...?"
[Kabir hopped onto his laptop and searched the map of his region.]
"Hmm... we should take bus number 5 to get to Hilltop Resort. It would take us three hours to get there, and from there, we should camp and head on foot for 5km to the nearest city. That should do it, right, buddy?" [barked]
"Hell yeah!"
[As Kabir picked Mirror up and strapped him onto his chest like a baby.]
"Let's go, Mirror!" [excited]
[But Kabir was hesitant to step out of the house, thinking what would happen to him if he got caught.]
"Am I doing the right thing?"
[As Kabir moved back inside the house.]
"Am I doing the right thing? Leaving all this behind?" [desperate]
[As he questioned his actions, he looked down at his arms, seeing the scars, all the painful memories, looking at the dinner table, remembering his family that was once held together by a single string, remembering his friend.]
"I just want to go away from these people." [tears rolling out of his eyes] "I... just want to go away, far from here." [fallen to his knees, crying for his past]
[As he wiped his eyes.]
"Let's go, Mirror." [determined]
[He stepped out of the house, dashing towards the bus station, avoiding people to see him run away.]
2 hours later
"Kabir, open the door, son. Kabir!"
"This boy!"
[Sheetal opened the door with a spare key, bursting through the door.]
"Kabir!"
"Huh? Where is this boy?"
[She searched the whole house but couldn't find Kabir.]
"Did he not reach home?" [a little worried]
[Knocking on the door could be heard.]
"Kabir!"
[Sheetal opened the door, just to see Vikram.]
"What happened?"
"Kabir is not home yet?"
"Yes, Vikram. The school ended early today, and he is still not home yet." [worried]
"He must be roaming around with his friends... he will come home."
"Yeah, you're right." [worried tone]
1 hour later
"Vikram, Kabir is still not home yet." [panicked] "It's 10 pm, and he is still not home, Vikram. Let me think, Sheetal." [worried] "Call his friends. Call Varun, he will know where Kabir is."
"Okay, let me call him."
[Picking up her phone, dialing Varun.]
"Hello, Varun? Yes, this is Kabir's mother. Yes, beta, I wanted to ask, is Kabir with you? He's not with you?" [Sheetal looked at Vikram.] "When did you both leave school, beta? 4 pm, okay, beta."
[She hung up the call.]
[They both ran outside the house in search of Kabir.]
"Kabir! Kabir! Where are you?" [shouting]
[After searching for 15 minutes.]
"I couldn't find him, Vikram..." [crying]
"Me too, Sheetal."
[People from the building came down, hearing the commotion.]
"What, Mr. Vikram?"
"Kabir, our son..." [stammering] "He still hasn't reached home..."
[People were shocked hearing this.]
"We will help you."
[People left to search, leaving Sheetal and Vikram alone.]
"Is it because of us?" [crying] "That he has not arrived home after what we did that day to him? What if he..."
[Before she could finish the sentence.]
"Our son is not dead, Sheetal." [crying] "So, stop thinking like that."
30 minutes later
[People from the building arrived with a disappointed look.]
"Did you find him?" [Vikram asked with a glimmer of hope, but their silence was enough for him.]
"I think, Mr. Vikram, you should go to the police. We did what we could." [As they left.]
"Come on, Sheetal, we are going to the police." [silently crying]
[As he helped Sheetal into the car and drove to the police station.]
[While driving.] "It's... all our fault that he didn't come home." [crying]
[Vikram remained silent because deep down in his heart, he knew this might be true, as he remembered what he did to Kabir that day, gripping the steering wheel tightly and speeding.]
15 minutes later
"Sir!" [Both Sheetal and Vikram came inside the station, panicking.]
"What happened?" [the officer asked]
"Our son..." [stammering] "He has not returned home from school!"
[Hearing this, the officer was alerted.]
"Are you sure about that, sir? He could be at his..."
"No, he is not, officer." [worried] "He has been missing for 8 hours..."
"Come with me." [Both followed the officer inside the cabin.]
"Sir..." [saluting the officer sitting in the chair] "Yes, what can I do?"
"Sir, this couple is saying that their son has been missing for 8 hours, sir."
[The officer looked at them.] "You may leave." [pointing at the officer] "Both of you, have a seat. Now, tell me in detail what happened."
[Sheetal explained the whole situation to the officer.]
"Your son has been missing for almost 9 hours, and you are just reporting it now?!" [furious] [He stood up.] "Take us to your home." [Both of them agreed.]
"Officer, come with me."
"Yes, sir." [All of them left for Kabir's home.]
15 minutes later
[As Officer Rathod entered the crime scene.] [He started searching the house.]
"From the looks of it, the kid has left the house on his own. That means we can rule out kidnapping. Wait a minute." [startled] "You are telling me that Kabir left on his own?" [as he looked at Vikram]
"Yes, I am telling you that."
"Sir!" [as an officer shouted from Kabir's room]
"What happened?" [He rushed towards his room.] "Look at this, sir. It's a broken piece of a piggy bank, and this is a footprint of a dog."
"Piggy bank and dog footprint?" [He looked at Sheetal and Vikram.] "Did you have a dog?"
"No, sir."
"Officer, you go check the CCTV footage."
"Yes, sir." [As the officer left the scene.]
"Did you have an argument with Kabir or something?" [as they both stood in silence]
"We... had an argument a couple of days back."
"What argument?" [puzzled look]
"Kabir had bunked school a couple of days ago. Later, we got a call about this, so... for that, we had an argument, and Vikram was very angry with him. We even hit him to discipline him..."
[As Rathod pinched his eyes as his phone rang.]
"Yes, officer... What?! Okay, I am coming... right now."
"What happened, officer?"
"They have found Kabir in the CCTV footage, exiting the building." [shocked]
5 minutes later
"Show me what we've got..." [As the officer played the video.]
"There, sir..." [As Sheetal began to cry, seeing Kabir running away.]
"Kabir!"
"Calm down, Sheetal." [tears flowing out of his eyes] "This means that Kabir was not kidnapped but ran away..."
"Come on, officer."
"Yes, sir. And Vikram, take Sheetal home. We'll start searching for him at daybreak."
"Daybreak?" [Sheetal shouted] "My son is missing! You have to search for him now!" [as Vikram is trying to calm her down]
"Listen, Sheetal, searching at night will not get us results. Looking for him in the day will give us the best chance to find him. I will inform the nearby stations about him."
"He is right, Sheetal." [saddened tone]
"Bu...t wh...at about Kabir?"
[Vikram] "It will be all okay, Sheetal. Have faith in the police." [She hugged him and cried on his chest as he patted her head.]
[As the police left, and both Vikram and Sheetal went to their house.]
[Seeing their house that had now turned into a room built by stone and nothing else, as the thing that made this brick house a home was missing, Sheetal began to cry and ran into her room. Vikram didn't stop her because he also felt the pain. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a glass and sat in the hall, scrolling through Kabir's old photos. Seeing that he didn't have any recent photos of him with his son broke him, crying silently, thinking of all the things he had done to his own son...]