The silence reached him first. Dhruv, used to hearing children laughing and shouting, was surprised by the silence. At this time of the evening the park was always full and he could hear them the minute he turned the corner. There would be crowds of children jostling each other for a turn on the slide, while others ran around, playing games of their own making.
The silence today puzzled Dhruv. He formulated and rejected various theories to explain this silence and instead lengthened his stride, eager to find out what was happening.
All for him
But he was not prepared for the sight that met his eyes. The park was deserted. There was not a single child on the swings, the see-saw lay silent and the toddler's corner was only a patch of sand. Dhruv couldn't believe his eyes. How often had he dreamt of such a day, when he would have the luxury of playing anything he wanted, swinging as long as he wanted without having to wait his turn? For one unbelieving moment Dhruv stared around the eerily silent park.
Then, with a shout of joy that sounded very loud in the silence, he ran, towards the swing. It felt wonderful to swing as long as he wanted to, without someone constantly ordering him to stop because he had had his turn. Perhaps, in the joy of the moment, he overdid it because Dhruv soon began to feel sick. He stopped swinging in a hurry and soon felt better.
Then he set out to enjoy the remaining attractions of the park. The climbing frame beckoned and Dhruv launched himself at it, climbing nimbly till he was at the top. But his victory seemed tame without anyone to compete with. Dhruv sat on the topmost rung, wondering what he should do next. He walked slowly to the see-saw and it was only when he chose his favourite red seat and grasped the handles, that the realisation hit him. He needed someone to play on the see-saw. Dhruv felt foolish and let down. He walked slowly to the bars where he and his friends swung every day, daring each other to try new challenges. Manish had got stuck there one day, legs wrapped around a bar, his upside down face panic-stricken. Dhruv remembered how they had all laughed at him but how patiently they had helped Manish down. The memory made him long for the noisy, energetic presence of his friends. The park was always the same. It was the crowd of children with whom he played every day who made it an enchanting place, a place that he came back to every time.
And without his friends, there was no fun in the park. Once he understood this, Dhruv did not linger in the park. He walked home, waiting for tomorrow, when the park would be full of his friends, and the welcoming, fun place that it always was.
