Work In Progress

By Priyam Gupta

A boy is sitting by the lake, throwing pebbles into the water. A man passes by in the

background, holding a radio. The boy hears the radio announcing – “Drawing competition – Win

a tour to see the Northern Lights.” The boy turns around and looks at the radio with a shine of

hope in his eyes. He gets up and runs into a small hut by the lake. His mother is stirring a broth

in a vessel. She coughs. The boy runs inside a dusty room, most of which is broken.

There is a

torn image of Northern lights on the wall. He opens his bag and picks out a small piece of pencil,

a torn piece of paper from it. He starts drawing on the paper. The day turns into night. He keeps

drawing. He wakes his mother early the next morning and shows her the drawing he made. She

ridicules him and goes back to sleep. The boy runs to the post office and sends his drawing. He

sits at the post office, hoping for a reply. By the night, he hopelessly comes back home and goes

to sleep. Some days later, he sits at the lake, throwing pebbles into the water. A man passes by in

the background, holding a radio that announces – “We present to you a song writing

competition.” The boy smiles and looks at the radio. The man keeps walking away and the noise

of the radio faints. The boy runs towards his old hut, takes out a paper and starts scribbling on it.

Maybe, life is always a work in progress.

By Priyam Gupta