A Walk to Remember !

It was raining !

When Andy was born, his mother was barely 15. The Madras edition of Hindu, dated April 29,1962 carried her story on the front page, "14 year old raped by 3 in school !". The word 'raped' was in bold red letters. And as a matter of fact, within those 25/30 horrible minutes someone had managed to fire his sperm into her. She knew who it was(though, It would be hard to tell on which round), for two of them were easily over her father's age. That was the day Andy was born, probably to a bell boy, but it took another 2 months for the World to know it. And on February 6,1963, he was cradled in his mother's arms. Many of them, including her own parents, wanted her to abort Andy. But she wanted him and she had him. Throughout his way to freedom, his name was debated. But his mother never let go Andy. She did not know why though. But she always felt it had a connection with her dream. A dream in which she saw a jail called Shawshank. Andy crawled his way to freedom, out of his mother's belly in just over 9 months.

Eight o' clock was still a couple of hours away and Sun was coming out of the horizon ! It was going to be just another day !

Andy was sitting on a wooden bench in a park. A broken one. The park was a filled with fewer people than the sky was with clouds. Until a miracle happened, rain was going to. Andy was still sitting on the wooden bench. The broken one. He was staring at the clouds. There was one in the shape of his father's skull. "Do you see the rainbow?", a little girl with a short red pony sat next to him on the bench. Finger pointed to the skies. "No", said Andy. He looked at her. No, not her. Her red pony. "The 7 colours, Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. Do you see them?". The same single syllable from Andy, "No". The disappointed 10-year old looked at the 11-year old. "What do people call you?", she asked. "A Bastard !", he replied. "That sounds sweet! Won't you ask my name?". "I don't even know my father's !", he told himself. "No", he said to the girl. The girl jumped off the bench and left. Andy stared into his father's face. "What is your name?". His father did not answer. Andy's father had no name, so did others to Andy.

The bells started ringing. The prayers were going to follow soon !

Andy drank cappuccino on his first date. That happened just two days before his graduation. The girl, a classmate asked him out and he accepted with a huge smile on his face. They walked to a nearby coffee shop and ordered cappuccino, the girl's favorite. She was blushing and Andy...was not, for his father was in the cappuccino. "Hell be with the coffee shop man", thought Andy silently. Then he drank his father. And he could hear his throat yelling, "What's your fucking name?". No reply and that was expected. The girl smiled and he smiled back, not in the throat though. Two years later, the girl married a man named...Andy never gave a shit about the man's name. The same year, his mother died, at the age of 39 from breast cancer. Her life was really fast, wasn't it?

And the grave had been dug and the priest was ready with his eulogy !

873 and 456. The number of copies sold-off of Andy's first and second novel respectively. Never mind about the name of the books. Remember, Andy never took a shit about names. "Both your novels put together sold only a little over 1000 copies and you want me to publish the third one? You must be insane !", exclaimed the publications manager of Downhill publishing(They published both of Andy's books). "Yes !", said Andy. "And what's that?", the man asked pointing at the drawing Andy had brought. "I want it on the front page.", smiled Andy. "What the fu... You want a cloud and a cup of coffee on the first page. What does that mean?". "Nothing !", replied Andy. The third novel named(Well, Andy didn't even give a shit about that either) "What's your name?" became the best-seller of his books, also his last. It sold over 1000 copies. The actual number was 1002. Andy's career as a novelist was a shame. But there was a story he didn't write on paper. And thanks to his friend, it was made into a movie and appropriately called "Inglorious Basterds!". But Andy was not invited for the premieres.

Men and women gathered in their black suits. Few had their umbrellas open for it was raining !

"The first word I spoke was mom. My mother had been teaching the word for over 15 days and after a lot of struggle, I managed to spill it out. My mother looked at me very excited. But she never taught me dad. She didn't have to."

The mass started and the coffin was left open !

"Then she taught me to walk. She would hold my hands and drag me slowly to my feet. I would fall over and she would pick me up gently and land me on my feet again. The process repeated until the day, I managed a couple of steps on my own. That day, my mother stopped holding my hands. I was on my own forever, she would have thought." And that was when tears rolled out of the nurse's eyes. She has been taking care of Andy ever since he got the crazy Alzheimers and that was 5 years ago. "Do you know your father's name?", she asked. Andy smiled and said, "Lets go..."

The priest started with his eulogy. "This man Mr. Andy has been...." 

"Lets go for a walk !" Andy said.