Moral Short Story – A THEFT OF JUSTICE
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Looking over the fence his face brightened as he found the door open. The man with only one hand sneaked past the lawn and went inside. His hand was probably cut for a theft. But not caring for his hand he checked the rooms to find something suitable for him to carry. It wasn’t as he had expected it to be. He just found some expensive furnishings made into a pile in one of the spacious rooms. He felt sad and angry at the same time but he was going to take his chance. With his one hand he tried to tie them so that he could carry them easily. Suddenly a man entered the room and saw him trying to tie the pile with trembling hand. The thief thought the game was up but surprisingly the man stepped ahead and helped him to tie the pile. Now he knew that that man was also a thief.
“I found it so it would be 60-40” said the man with one hand.
The other one nodded and left the room. He came back after sometime with a glass of milk and offered it to him. He drank it and said “We should hurry or we will get caught. What are you watching, pick up the bundle and follow me fast”
He picked the furnishings and followed behind him. They escaped from there without being caught. They headed towards the forest. The bundle was too heavy and the man was going slowly. The thief with one hand kicked him from the back and told him to move faster. After going some distance the man with the load on his back tripped and fell down.
“You lazy man what kind of thief are you?” he yelled at him hitting him on his back.
The insulted one stood up fast and carried the load on his back moving his legs faster. Finally they reached a secure place where they could hide their expensive stuff.
“We should hide it now and have some rest and then tomorrow we will take our shares. Now it would be 70-30 as I showed you this hiding place.”
The dumb thief, as he probably was, shook his head and hid the furnishings safely.
“It is all yours. Alright I have to go now as the sun is setting. Take care” he smiled at the man with one hand and started for his home. The thief with one hand was surprised, bewildered and shocked at the same time. Luckily he managed to get over the surprise and after thinking deeply about the matter he solved it and he was able to survive the shock.
The man on his way back home felt sad for the thief. He walked past the lawn and went inside closing the door behind him. He picked up the glass that was lying on the floor and asked himself “DID I DO JUSTICE?”
He got the answer to his question after some three decades. He had gone abroad and was out for a walk. Suddenly on a bend he saw such a great crowd of people which he had never imagined to witness. He could clearly tell that it was a funeral as he saw the coffin raised up high in the air.
“He was such a good man. We called him ‘ONE-HAND’” said one of the men at the shop. As soon as the words reached his ears his heart started to beat faster and he stood there as if unable to move. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he wasn’t able to stop them.
“Was he your friend?” asked a man and in reply he shook his head.
“Then why are you weeping?” he asked again.
“Because a long time ago I did justice to a thief”
“What?”
“Justice, a theft of JUSTICE”
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