here is the update :::::
"Oh dear, you children are still here it is already four o'clock. You ought to be home by now. All of your parents are here already. Ruhi your mother is not here yet, do you want me to call her for you? Your school bus must have already left by now."
All of us raise our heads in unison. We were so busy in discussing and planning for our future school project that we completely lost track of the time.
"Yes watchman uncle, please do call my mother. Her work must already be over until now", I tell him.
"Okay dear, now all of you go out, your parents are outside. I will now have to close the door. Have a good night all of you. See you tomorrow."
"Thank you uncle. Same to you", we all say in a singing tone.
Outside the parents of all my friends are waiting for them. Everyone's parents are here except my mother. I have started to feel very hungry and I only hope that maa comes to fetch me quickly.
After some time I hear a voice calling me,
"Ruhi, do you want me to drop you home or will you wait for your mother?"
It was Richa aunty the mother of my friend Riya.
"Thank you aunty but I will wait for my mother. The watchman uncle has gone to call her. She will be back soon, you don't worry."
She smiles and tells me it is fine.
In some minutes, the school yard is completely deserted. Only the noise of the constant traffic and honking of cars could be heard.
The watchman uncle has not returned yet and I start to playfully pace around the yard.
After sometime I hear him calling my name,
"Ruhi, come here. I tried calling your mother but her mobile is busy. I even contacted her clinic but they said that she already left. I left her a voice message so let us wait for sometime. She must be stuck in something. Stay around here and do not go too close to the road. Let me close the doors and I'll join you."
I nod and when I see him turn around the class, I start circulating around. I look at the fast moving traffic on the road but I stay quite far from it.
In a blink of a second, I notice a black car pass by and I see maa's silhouette in the car. It was definitely her car. In that moment, I do not think about anything, I start running behind the car screaming "maa, maa, stop" at the top of my voice.
I feel extremely lucky as I see her car stop at the nearby traffic signal. I try to adjust the heavy weight of my school bag on my shoulders as an attempt to run faster, but while I do so, I completely miss out the gap between the two footpaths and my foot gets stuck in the gap.
In a last attempt, I use all my energy left and I scream maa's name, both in pain and as an attempt to stop her car, but her car slowly fades as the traffic lights turn green. I feel incapable to move, with the heavy weight of my school bag still on my shoulders.
I try to get up and look at my stuck foot and find it bleeding profusely. I lose all hope and start crying. Some people gather around me and they try to help me. I feel someone gently try to get my foot out of the gap while someone else tries to get my school bag off me.
A pain shot up my leg as it is removed and I clutch the arms of the person who removed my foot and I start wailing while saying thank you.
The person hugs me back and tries to console me by patting me on the back and saying comforting words to me.
The pain starts to subside and I also feel the crowd dispersing away. I open my eyes and I hug the person in front of me tighter-
"Thank you, thank you so much Rajat Sir. Thank you."
He helps me get up but I am unable to stand up because of the paining and bleeding foot. He offers to take me in his arms, which I happily agree upon.
"Come Ruhi, and do tell me if you feel too much pain. Let me take you to the school yard and I'll drop you home in my car", he tells me after I tell him the story of how I ended up there.
He also tells me that I should be more careful and not take such a hasty decision the next time something like this happens, which I promise upon not doing again.
Rajat sir tries to cheer up my mood as we reach the school yard. He was making up silly stories that I must say, did not stop me from cracking up despite the increasing pain in my leg.
After some time, we reach his car and he fiddles in his pockets to find his car keys when I hear a familiar voice from abaft. Rajat Sir turns around with me still in his arms.
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