It has been lashing down for the last few days. It was obvious in the middle of July. There was no way out because of the rain and there was no need for Shamar to go out. Because summer vacation was going on. Shamar was a teacher who lived in Ratnapura with her wife and child named Shamir.

He brought some literature books from the school library to have a good time during summer vacation. The library of the Ratnapura High Secondary School was the only library that existed in that area. He was an English teacher on that school.

The house was not that big. A drawing-room, a bedroom, a different room for the kitchen, and some spaces on the veranda to sit and gossip. He brought short stories, poems novels total of six books by Laxminath Bezboruah, by Ravindranath Thakur, and Bibhuti Bhushan, a collection of Robert Frost's poems. But he already knew within a month it was likely to be impossible to read all these books.

Two of them were kept in the drawing-room and the rest of the books in the bedroom. Shamar noticed his son often turns the pages of the books. He was in his eleventh year. There was no way to play outside because the field was flooded and he would stay with the books all day, even though he didn't understand anything. Seeing so Shamar and his wife Sarmila both feel excited. Both of them read those books and Shamir listened to them sitting beside them. Sharmila put him on her lap and hugging him told the stories. Listening to stories uncountable questions and curiosity would arise in his simple straight mind. His father explained his questions. So many conversations among them and it's seemed they wandering into each other's minds.

Two days ago listening to 'Chader Pahar' written by Bibhuti Bhushan Bongopadhoy often he would imagined the adventurous life of the jungle in Africa, the dense forest of the Amazon, and the wild and monstrous beasts, and about that he asked a lot.

Shamir always had been with them, he ate with them and slept with them but Sharmila didn't feel this kind of closeness and intimacy with their son ever before. Shamar's mind also looked the same way.

A month had passed, and the school reopened. One day at school Shamar's colleague asked ' Shamar babu, how did you get through the summer vacation?- I went to Delhi and got twenty thousand rupees doing the extra job.' He finished.
'I experienced life from very close and tested a new dimension of life, tested the happiness hiding inside the home.' Shamar replied.

Coming from school after lunch Shamar and lay down on the bed hugged his son, started telling stories like before.

#relationships #Familymemories #shortstory #creativewriting
© Bapan-Ray