They were like shadows. Holding each other’s hand in a tight knot, almost same height and similar complexion. Thin stilt legs, big round faces, they could be just into their teens but looked younger. The boy was leaner of the two, sprouts of hair on his face he twitched out in almost involuntary action so it was growing in small patches. The girl wore a mud green frock with flower embroid around the hem. The frock was torn in many places and was getting short for her, she kept pulling it down as she walked. Small bulging on the chest she tried to cover or sometimes pressed her shoulders so as to conceal. Their gait not determined nor casual but they never turned their face as they walked, like some robots, their expressions though gave away some concerns they carried. It was as if their bodies were meant for and used to mechanized actions and they conceded to it as a second nature. Sometimes they vanished into the crowd but their trot kept them from the crowd and they emerge at surprising distances. The city was noisy much more in peak hours that didn’t deter the two. People twined their limbs around the metal bars of the buses while their body dangled out, their cloths drenched in sweat. The vehicles too jostled for space. Beggars wallowing in their misery and try barter some money were ignored by most hurrying people. The children too didn’t notice much of the surrounding. They walked in tandem most of the time except when it was too crammed, so the boy would tug the girl through the crowd sometimes he would push her onto his front. Once she limped to scratch her leg and so stumbled but she held on to him. They waited for vehicles to pass and walked to other side of the road, a vehicle screeched almost hitting the boy, apart from that nobody noticed them. The children were so scared with noise of the vehicle that they covered their faces still holding each others hand, that they almost embraced each other. The boy consoled the girl who showed reluctance to walk further but he pulled her so they start to walk again. They passed an eatery, people ate some standing, some sitting on their vehicle. The children noticed nothing they walked in a predetermined pace. The girl slackened she was pulled and jerked to straighten. From here on the boy seem to have decided not to look at the girl, he just tugged her when she slowed. This time they stopped at the pedestrian crossing and when the light turned green didn’t show any undue urgency to cross to the other side as others did but maintained the same gait. A gait which was faster than others at the same time not prone to variations. Sometimes when the crowd was sparse their steps even matched like scout boys or soldiers. A beggar waved as if he knew them, ignored he chased them with loud screams and some incomprehensible words. After sometime the boy was seen to have stopped near a water tap. He looked at the girl. She nodded. He drank cupping one hand under the tap while the other still held the girl. He stared the wall as he drank. He sprayed water on his face and whipped it with back of his hand. He then asked the girl whether she wanted to drink. She refused so they started walking. It was getting dark and street lights were being switched on. For the first time since morning the boy’s eye turned to something in the street. He pointed it out to the girl animatedly. She ignored him and tugged him to walk faster. They reached a very tall brightly plastered building. It was surrounded by too many parked vehicles. They turned towards one corner and vanished into the building. They emerged from the far end corner of the building. The boy and girl were joined by ten children very much their age and similar cloths. It is as if they had replicated. They held each others hand and walked in two straight rows behind the boy and the girl. There were two girls in the front row and the last row. They matched their step with the boy and the girl, who were leading the pack and they it was possible may not be aware of this group trailing them. Unlike what is expected from a bunch of children unsupervised by elders the band was remarkably restraint. On closer look it was found that they lacked the enthusiasm, mostly frigid, though their eyes did carry a missionary zeal echoed in the resolute steps they took. And unlike the boy and the girl they looked much beyond their age some even wizened, a clique of miniature adults moving with intent. They now reached a place that looked very much the place from where they had started. Soon they followed the track and reached the same building and vanished. When they emerged they had doubled in number. The cycle kept on repeating.
In the meantime it was noted that the adult population of the city was decreasing at a similar rate. Since the children behaved like grown up it could be said that the adults were dwarfing. The people were becoming smaller version of themselves. They marched in two rows and overtook the children. It may also be that the children joined them, this though is disputed. But this much is sure that they marched into a place not known to them.
(This story is part of series I scribbled almost a decade back. Unfortunately all were lost in the rain that clogged my room and drowned, sogged all the cardboard boxes containing my possessions. This piece survived since I kept it in a diary with plastic covering, off course massively reworked. Fortunately for me many other scribblings were saved since they were stored, miraculously not deleted, in a computer at a DTP centre run by someone who was a friend at that point. This short story is not something to be proud of but it does carry surreal images one comes across on the street particularly in crowded cities)
