Just another cold day

 The 6 o'clock alarm was still ringing, urging Gautam to wake up. but there was no sign of movement on the bed. at last Gautam's mom draped a shawl around her shoulders,walked into his room & turned off the alarm.
"Gautam, get up fast! you are going to get late for office." she yelled. getting no response from Gautam she started shaking him.
"what, mom! it's freezing cold. lemme sleep." whined Gautam. there was no way he was getting out of his blanket in this cold morning.
Gautam's mom went out of his room & after some time came back with a cup of tea. she urged Gautam to wake up ,even tempted him about the hot tea. finally he removed blanket from his face, sat upright & started sipping his bed tea. 
After finishing the tea he gathered all his courage & stepped out of his warm comfy blanket zone. he did a bit of stretching & then moved towards the bathroom where hot water was kept ready for him. 
now ready for office or more I say for the cold that was waiting to attack him once he is out in the open. he wore a jacket, wrapped a muffler around his neck & slipped his hands inside the gloves.
He then set out on his way to office. the weather was way colder than he expected. smoke cloud coming from his mouth as he walked ahead on the empty footpath. as the cold attacks got stronger, he started chanting "you don't feel cold!" to make his mind more stronger & the journey bearable. 
While walking he spotted a man covered with a battered blanket lying in one corner of the footpath.his words of self encouragement changed to "you have to go to office or else you'll end up like him."
The man sensing footpaths around,woke up. he rubbed his bare hands to generate some much needed warmth. teeth chattering ,he looked at the tea stall on the opposite side. it was still shut. "let's make some money first then I'll have chai." he thinks to himself. just then he feels something warm on his leg. he looks to find a puppy peeing on him. he shooed it away. 
The bowl was now well filled with coins. the tea stall had opened up. he had sufficient money for the tea. just then a howling noise reaches his ears. his eyes turn to that puppy who was crying & shivering. he took the puppy & wrapped the blanket around him. he thought-"poor chap crying for his mother who passed away yesterday & was taken away in the same truck as his other old begging friend who died of severe cold." 
He then went straight to the tea stall. bought some milk ,emptied his begging bowl & poured milk in it. he then gave it to the puppy who lapped it up in no time.

The park at dark

    

 The usual chaos at this time of the hour in children's park is something else. the screeching of the rides & the barking of the dogs blends perfectly. Punit & Jia jump at once to their favorite swings but halt as she is already sitting in one. they halfheartedly move to slides. Punit doesn't like that pregnant lady. she is coming here from one month.all she does is sit in one of the swings, swing slowly & monotonously. whereas Punit & Jia used to talk to the wind while swinging hard often breaking the swing & leaving it as a surprise to other kids in the morning. that disappointed look on the children's faces made them happy.
suddenly she stops swinging, looks at them & then goes away. punit & Jia happily run to their swings. they wonder why doesn't she stay at the peepal tree like other women. "cuz she had the saddest death!" one woman from the peepal tree answers. she is the oldest wandering soul among them.
she continued "a man on one of these fateful nights took his 5 months pregnant wife for a walk. it was supposed to be a loving night when these two walked hand in hand & talked about their future with the yet to born baby. but both entered this park. the husband helped her wife sit on the swing & started giving her some little push. the wife was smiling & looking at the stars. when suddenly the pushes became hard & she started swinging higher. she thought of it as a joke & told him to slowdown. but he kept on laughing & pushing harder & harder. she was puzzled as to what happened to her loving  husband who cared about her so much. & then he pushed her out of the swing!" Punit was shocked. he was reminded of his own death 2 years ago when he was riding the merry- go- round during games period in school.when some boys who used to bully him started spinning the merry- go- round faster. he started feeling dizzy. so he jumped out of the merry-go- round,falling hard on head.
the old lady crouched back to the peepal tree. Jia shook Punit breaking his train of memories. she pointed to the sky which was turning brighter. the sun rays have reached the earth & now it's time to go. Punit spinned the merry-go-round in anger.
 kids swamp the park in the morning while the merry-go-round still spins.