Short Story about Friendship – The Egg Seller
Photo Credit: www.cepolina.com
Grandpa was sitting in the house backyard when his grandson called him. It was a lovely place to spend evenings. It was a little garden which grandpa had sown with the utmost love and roses and tulips.
“Yes, my son. I am here.”, replied grandpa.
In seconds, Ryan came running to him. Barely breathing, “Grandpa, let’s go. It’s 4 o’ clock now.”
“Yes, sure my love. Let’s go.” he replied in just like the same way he had been saying this for last nine years.
On every evening, they went to an egg-seller, to get Ryan an egg. The egg seller had a cart, partly broken. It seemed like it was decades old. The egg seller had a halt on the street that ended its way to the Ryan’s house. He had been there for last 60 years. Grandpa and he used to read in the same school. They were great friends when they were children. They both were the prodigies. They, together won many prizes for the school. After the school, grandpa went to the town for further studies and he joined his family business, egg selling.
On seeing Grandpa, the egg seller bowed, “Assalam Malekum, saheb!”
Grandpa said in a rehearsed way, “Don’t call me sahib, friend. Anyways, Give my grandson a nutritious egg ?”
He started the arrangements. While they stood on the street, just against the cart, waiting for the egg, Ryan’s friends in group hurried past him to the fast food shop that had been opened recently. It had the doors made up of glass. And was air conditioned from inside. Which is enough to attract boys from all over the village. Someone from the group, shouted, “Let’s go Ryan, there. We, together will have fun.” Ryan looked at his grandpa. Grandpa was looking at the egg-seller. He waved them bye.
This went on for few days.
One evening, when grandpa and Ryan stepped out of the house, the egg seller wasn’t there. They stepped inside. They never saw the egg seller there ever, after that day.
After few days, Ryan asked his grandpa, “Grandpa, how long I will not egg. He might have gone somewhere where he could earn more.”
Grandpa said in pensive mode,”See son, I know him the best. He will not go anywhere for monetary reasons. There must be a real reason behind this absence.”
Ryan finally spoke what he had been wanting to say, “Okay, Whatever the reason, the truth is he is not here. And we are going to the Fast Food Corner today to eat eggs. ”
Grandfather had to nod.
That evening when they stepped out of the house. They saw the cart there. Grandfather smiled at Ryan. Ryan forced a smile on his face. They hurried there.
There stood a boy of about ten, behind the cart. He was selling eggs.
It didn’t take long for grandpa to understand everything.
The boy handed Ryan an egg and a smile. And said, “Ten rupees, saheb.”
Grandpa handed him twenty.
While going to home Ryan turned back and said, “Don’t call me saheb, my friend!”.
