FRIENDSHIP

         




The train arrived at the station at the right time. Richard's 'small' family reminded everybody of China's population. It consisted of Richard's Millionaire father, his mother who was a social butterfly, and ten siblings which comprised of six brothers and four sisters, thirty eight servants all working in Richard's house before his birth. Everybody was there to greet him after his prolonged absence. His summer vacations had started and he had returned home from his boarding school. He was not looking forward to seeing his entire household present there and th
Hey my sweet boy, there you are. How were your exams? You look so pale. Didn't you get enough food to eat? His mother exclaimed.
Was the paper too tough to solve? Should I talk to your teacher regarding this? His father said. "No dad and mom! I am perfectly fine and my exam was also perfect. "Richard said in an annoyed tone.
That's ok. His parents said in chorus. Soon after they sped off in the direction of their home. Richard was glad to be back. Home sweet home! Richard exclaimed although it was no ordinary house. It was a magnificent and huge castle. It covered almost 33 acres of land and overlooked the river Thames. The family also owned one of the most beautiful gardens with almost all the flowers which were known. So it was quite natural for Richard to have an excellent knowledge regarding all the flowers and plants. However, after freshening up Richard decided to stroll in the garden. He was ecstatic to be back. He again started having the sad feeling of loneliness. His parents were very conservative and never allowed Richard to have any friends. So it was natural for Richard to feel lonely after a few days. He used to watch all the boys play but was never allowed to play with them.
Suddenly during the walk Richard witnessed something unusual. It was the peach tree in his garden. It could not possibly be the ghost or the devil in the morning. What was it, which was making the tree shake vigorously? Richard was very terrified. He slowly stepped forward in the direction of the tree. Suddenly, something dropped with a loud thud. Richard stood transfixed. It was a boy. A boy with a white complexion in old torn clothes. He was holding in his hand a ripe peach. The boy stared at Richard transfixed unable to control his tears which would fall down anytime. The boy dropped the peach immediately and was prepared to run when suddenly Richard exclaimed" Hey boy do not be scared, I am not going to report you. You can assure that." The boy continued looking disbelievingly. Richard walked towards the half eaten peach and handed it over to the boy. The boy accepted it this time and gave an everlasting smile to Richard. A "thank you" came out of the boy. Richard smiled in reply. Richard asked the boy, "what is your name, buddy?"
"My name is Sam Rivers. I am eight years old. I am the son of Mr Andrew Rivers. He is one of the servants working in this house. It is really difficult to find him inside with so many servants working inside. So you see he doesn't really have time to spend with me. So who is your father? What is his profession? You know what; these rich people are only blessed with wealth. They have nothing called heart inside them. They are very ruthless and cruel, otherwise how do they lose their wealth if I have one peach every day from their garden. This peach, I had stolen after many days and I thought I could enjoy having this but that's when you caught me. I was very cross."
Richard said after Sam had finished saying" That was very rude of you to say that we are not blessed with a heart. Not all of them are heartless. If I was selfish and rude then I would have never given you the peach to eat and promise you not to report you to the gruff gardener.
Sam was embarrassed to say whatever he had said previously and said "OH I am sorry for not recognizing you as a member of this house and abusing your family. I apologise to you."
"I will forgive you only at a condition that you have to be my friend.
"Ok, I will be your friend."
From that day onwards Richard and Sam grew up to be the best of friends. No one could ever separate them. Both of them used to spend their afternoons together. They used to go to the towns and enjoy themselves thoroughly. They also used to perform all the mischiefs together. One day while the cook was taking a short nap outside the kitchen when the boys quietly crept inside to steal his hat. While in the garden the hat had been mistakenly torn by Sam when he unobservantly sat down on the hat. They had cleverly placed a white rat inside the kitchen along with the hat to indicate that the rat's talent had resulted in the asymmetrical separation of the hat.
Later that day, when the cook woke up, he was really surprised to see the torn hat. He exclaimed scratching his head "how on earth is the rat supposed to bite it in such a way? "He had convinced himself by telling "maybe it was the rat itself" as it had been discovered by the cook scurrying across the kitchen to find itself a shelter. Later Richard had chuckled to himself seeing the foolishness of the cook.
Another day both had stolen Richard's grandmother's glasses. She became frantic and started looking for them everywhere. Since she was absolutely independent on her glasses, she tripped over the carpet which was folded and fell with a thud. That day Richard and Sam had had a good laugh over the topic. Nobody ever used to suspect them since Richard was a 'perfect boy' and could never be the hands behind such mischiefs; and as for Sam, nobody used to ever dream of Sam of entering the house. So it was their own secret.
But the reality is always harsh. The truth about them was that this happiness wouldn't last too long. It had to come to an end and it really did.
One day Richard's father Mr Albert lost his watch which was very expensive and plated with gold and silver all over. He called his servants and interrogated them, but everyone denied. Finally, Mr Albert caught hold of Andrews and decided to accuse him. Andrews was very angry and humiliated since Mr Albert had disrespected him. Seeing all this Richard spoke up "But dad did you witness Mr Andrews steal your watch? Just because Mr Andrews works in your house as a servant does not mean that you can blame him in every and any way. It was very rude of you dad." Mr Albert, not finding any reply retorted back "Tomorrow your boarding school is reopening after your vacation. Go and study and pack your bag and suitcase" Richard stamped his feet and went upstairs in tears. This was the first time that he had fought with his father due to his friendship.
At the dining table Mr Albert told his wife "Andrews is such a compulsive liar, I had never imagined. He went on retorting and denying of taking my watch." His wife told," But dear, have you witnessed him taking the watch? If he is denying it could probably be that he is not the thief. Besides that we have him for so many years. He has been working here since we came to this house and we can surely trust him."
"But these servants are chameleons looking for an opportunity to change their colour." Mr Albert reassured.
"Trust and impressions take years to form. Why would Mr Andrew want to spoil his reputation? Dad, you know what? He has something has called self-respect. Not only us but everybody has it. Whenever someone humiliates a person, the person turns hostile and rude. Mr Andrew works in our house does not mean that we can take him for granted. He too expects the minimum respect in this house as we expect him to look after our house and maintain it." Richard completed his speech in tears. His mother had become emotional and thus tried to convince his husband. But Mr Albert was in a fury and threw the plate off the table and left the parlour. Soon it was time for Richard to leave. He longed to see Sam but he was nowhere. Richard left without meeting his friend.

Next vacations when Richard returned from his boarding school, he anxiously started looking for Sam. He went to meet Mr Andrew but he was nowhere to be found. Richard enquired about them and then came to know from one of the servants about a horrific incident. "Mr Andrew was infected to AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Naturally Sam was also infected to it. As soon as Mr Albert came to know about this, he drove him out of his house. His father was unable to look for any more jobs. He was compelled to work for earning money to treat Sam. He somehow managed to get the job of a gardener in Mr Meadow's garden. One day he returned to find that Sam was not breathing. He rushed to the nearby hospital. There they refused to treat him unless the fees were given which was a huge one. He literally begged from everybody but then nobody helped him. It was too late when he actually arranged the money and............."
Richard started crying bitterly. The servant also handed him a letter that Sam had left for Richard. Richard opened it and it read:

"Dear Richard,
I am really sorry for not informing you about this disease of mine. You know, I did not want to lose a good friend like you so I concealed this from you. Your father came to know about it and drove my father out of the house. I asked father that we could manage for a few days without food. But then this enemy of mine did not support it. The doctor also advised to provide me two square meals a day and also wrote down some medicines for my treatment.. But I knew that was not possible for my father. But he strived. I cannot write any more. My head is reeling. I don't think I am going to live any longer, my friend. My time has come. So take care and do not cry. Remember that I will always be there with you and whenever you find a peach fall in your garden from the peach tree where our friendship began, just know that it is me.
Yours lovingly
Sam
22nd September "

Richard had begun to cry by then. He moved towards the window and looked at the peach tree in his garden. Suddenly a ripe peach fell down from the peach tree on the ground. A cool breeze also blew and touched Richard's face. He stopped crying and smiled.