There were two kids who lived on this earth. There is nothing unique about them. Their home is just near the road. There is the road, there the footpath pavement, then there is a wall preventing people from crossing over the train tracks. For these two kids, their home is beyond those walks. Tin roofs, tin walls and a one room home; around 50 such houses or more, all just settle meters away from the track.
Both of them were playing and running through the gullies. They got back from school some time ago. Their mothers were up and about the place. One was inside the colony visiting a neighbour, while another one was out buying groceries.
To their pleasant surprise, one of their fathers returned home early. “I got a gift for you”, he said. He sat down on the floor.
“What is it! What is it!” the son cried out with enthusiasm, enjoying the suspense.
“Get my bag”, the father said.
So the son did. He felt the bag was heavy and he gave it shake, but he couldn’t guess what it was. The father grabbed his bag from his son’s hand. He tugged open the zip and his arm went completely inside. His son dare not blink. Out came shoes with four wheels. It was not a typical pair of cloth shoes. It was a shoes of metal with a cloth strap and four large wheels underneath.
The father began explaining, “These are…. skates, they-”.
“Off course!” the son cut him off and grabbed the skates. He’d seen those children on the other side the road, in their large compound, move around on them. How he always wanted one.
He rushed out where his friend was waiting and together they went out on the street. The pavement was too uneven to ride roller skates. The boy began strapping on his skates with joy, only to suddenly realise that his friend was sitting next to him on the payment.
With a heavy heart, the boy decided to hand over the one skate to his friend. “We’ll both skate!” he said.
So together, they move on the side of the road. One foot kicked the ground, while the other rolled on wheels. Suffice to say, both of them tried to race each other on with a single pair of skates. Oh, and they fell down quite a few times too because races can get exciting but make for a terrible combination with an uneven street.
The boy was glad that he was skating only on one foot.
