Now, as the name says, I love stories. I've been trying to write a story from quite some time. So here it is, my first story.
Joey
Joey had green eyes and blonde hair. His sweet voice and cute face made him popular in school. Being his best friend, I got a chance to know the depths of his life. Joey felt very lonely at home .His parents had had a divorce. His father was a Railway Engineer, he ran the train engine. Joey loved his mother but since his parents had seprated,he had to live with his father.
Joey's mother was a nice woman. She would often come to meet him when joey's father would not be at home. She loved Joey but had to leave him due to her illness. She had a mental disease which caused her to behave violently at times when she would feel something is wrong. Like once when Joey had accidently broken a vase, that she had loved very much, she violently hit Joey in anger. That was the problem with her, she couldn't control her emotions and, this problem was the reason she had to leave her family.
It is said-‘School is our second home’, but for Joey it is completely untrue, for him it was the first and foremost home. He loved everything about our school-from football field to fountain tap, the tall watch tower, the assembly place, the dining area, even the toilets, he liked it all. Ohh! I remember how we used to sneak out of the classes to roam around and catch butterflies in the large empty piece of land behind our school and once we got caught by miss Mcgonagall. We tried to escape by the excuse “we were out here because we thought the fire alarm was on” .
Every evening we would leave for home by the same road. We would walk from the small wooden bridge above the pond and then straight toward the railway track near the post office. If it would be a tuesday we would stop for a while and wait for the train, as on tuesdays, it would be Joey’s dad driving the engine. We would raise our hands when the train passed by, and his dad would also do the same. Joey too, like his dad had a great interest in trains.
It was a summer evening but a treacherous evening. We were late when we left for home. We passed the usual bridge and reached near the track, we saw a car standing on the track. We both were surprised at this unusual scene. We headed nearer. There was someone in the car who had kept his head on the steering wheel.
Suddenly Joey cried “ It’s my mom”. And he ran towards the car.
I too ran instinctively. I was bewildered. The thought of stopping Joey and telling him he might be wrong ran through my mind, but I couldn’t execute it.
I reached near the car. Joey was correct, it was his mom. Joey was already there.
We could hear the train whistle from a distance. Our heartbeats multiplied instantly.
“Get out of the car, mom.” Joey shouted. He opened the front door and started pulling his mom but the lady was stiff as a cold meat. She was in state of semi-consciousness. After some pulls by both of us, we managed to take her out. But, the moment she was out, she cried “let me die, I can’t take this pain anymore” and she jumped from our hands and reoccupied her seat, now slipping into unconsciousness . By this time, Joey had tears and was about to panic. The train had reached nearer and was pacing up from a curve from which neither we could see the train nor the driver could see us. We continued our efforts to pull her out. Joey was getting mad, streams of tears falling off his cheeks, his mom was about to die in a few seconds if she didn’t get out of the car.
The train reached nearer.
“Stop, Stop the train” We jumped and shouted together along with our hands raised.
The train had reached a distance from which we could see the face of the driver. It was tuesday and the driver was Joey’s dad. Shocked to see a car on the track and Joey standing with it, he pulled the emergency break bar. The train got a jerk with sharp sound and started decelerating. For a moment, I thought that the train will stop immediately but soon realised that it was still heading towards us.
Joey panicked. He started making wild noises, his mother was still in a state of unconsciousness. The train reached a distance from where it was clear that it would not be able to stop without striking the car. We made a last effort to pull Joey’s mom out, but all in vain.
I pulled Joey and moved out of the track. The train was a few meters away. And now something happened that I could never imagine about. Joey got freed from my hold with a jerk, ran towards the car like a wild beast and sat beside his mom, tightly hugging her. The train ran over the car and I could see it crushed and pushed on the track. I fainted, the last thing I heard was a scream which probably was my dearest friend Joey’s last words.
When I opened my eyes, I was in the hospital. My mom was sitting beside my bed. I tried to recall what had happened. I saw through the window, it was dark outside.
“how are you feeling ? What had happened on the track ?” Mom asked softly
Suddenly, all of the event reappeared before my eyes. I sat up straight on the bed and asked : ” Joey ?”
“Umm dear, the car got crushed completely. And Joey... he is...is no more.” Mom replied.
A wave of shock passed through me. I felt as if my blood had stopped flowing. I fainted again.
When I opened my eyes again. One whole day had passed. I learned from the doctors that Joey and his mom both died in the accident. Joey’s dad was presently in comma because he got a nervous attack.
For two days, I couldn’t eat anything, there was no happiness in me. It felt like the sadness had spread all over my body. It was like living in hell. The tears from my eyes seemed never ending. I had never imagined that life could change in just a few minutes. On Joey’s funeral, I cried for a long time. His grave is in the far corner of the graveyard. It is a green place, birds sit on his grave and they sing beautiful songs that make me feel like Joey is somewhere nearby, probably in my heart.
Today, one year has passed after he left this world. I miss him everyday, in fact every moment. I have learnt a thing which I guess is very true-Friends are your life’s greatest treasure. Joey was my life’s treasure. And as it is rightly said-‘Where your treasure lie, there will your heart also’. Last thing, I’d like to say something to Joey : though you lie dead there in that grave, you are alive in my heart, Joey.
-Jagir Pipalia
