Actor

“And I stared at the sky where the stars stood laughing,

Swelling their glow, to the deeper side of my mind”

The crowd applauded. The play was perfect. The whole team appeared on stage and they bowed at the audience. Few drops of tears escaped from Roan’s eyes.

*******************************

 Roan sat beside his mother who was trying hard to breath, who was trying hard to live.

The red-hot air in their dark-congested room suffocated both of them. He had no money, had no one else.

 “Roan, leave me here and go away” his mother pleaded, with her feeble-thin voice.

He could never imagine leaving his mother, alone. He gasped and took her hand in his. The bond of love.

He wanted to be an artist; an actor who would be remembered by everyone, one whom would everyone look up to. Roan sighed.

But fate reserved something else for him. His dreams never got wings.

“Mom, I will take you to hospital. I can’t miss you” Roan sobbed, kissing his mother’s open palms. They had no one.

*******************************

“What? U must be kidding me” The manager yelled out of his astonishment.

The play was scheduled on Sunday and they had hardly a week left for the audition. Manager felt a pulse of shock entering through his spine.

“How did it happen?” Manager tried to behave normal. But the news almost drove him crazy. The main artist had met with an accident.

“We can’t substitute for him. Audience won’t be convinced”

“But... We don’t have an alternative. Do we?”

“Damn. See you there at the hospital.” He hung up the phone.

He ran through the stairs, hastily. His heavy footsteps echoed in the small cottage.

He had to find out someone who can replace the main actor, someone who can convince the audience.

********************************

“Now, I would like to introduce the new member of our team, Roan Carter. “

Roan felt his heart pounding thuk-dhuk. Roan remembered his mother who would be praying and would be waiting for him in the hospital.

He never could believe that the stranger in the hospital bed, opposite to his mother’s room would gift him a future.

"We found him in the hospital, looking after his mother. And it took only a few seconds to decide him as our substitution for the main actor who met with an accident” said the manager over the microphone.