Short Story: An Eagle in the Bush by Avinash Surve

Avinash Surve’s story tenderly narrates life through the eyes of a teenager replete with the challenges faced by them.

It was just another day. The thick misty blanket was slowly fading, the night was making way for hazy dawn and the hazy dawn was gradually making way for a silvery day. Life in the city was as normal as it could be. A good night’s sleep had helped people to rejuvenate and a new vigor had recharged their batteries for another day. But something was not right somewhere, there, there where there was no sleep and no new vigour. She couldn’t sleep the whole night. Why? Even she could not understand.  Was it just some vague fear and a preoccupied mind? 

14-year-old Asha somehow made it out of her bed because the same person who woke her up every day had just shouted at her from the kitchen. She somehow dragged herself out of her house to the school bus and to her classroom, to her usual corner. Didn’t anyone notice that she was not her usual self? Didn’t they see those pearls in her eyes? Didn’t anyone ask her, “Are you ok?” Or was she so good at deceiving people?