The Rainbow (Part 1)

The air inside the room carried the odour of a dead rat. Not that it mattered much. That was all he could afford. His troupe had been in dire straits for the past ten years. But he was forever an optimist. He always told them that there would be a miracle. And there would be money. Though it all sounded encouraging then, now it seemed a lot hollow. But he still had hope, and he still hoped for that miracle to occur. May be not today, but tomorrow perhaps.

He locked his one room apartment and started walking. It was a very cold December evening, and he had no winter clothing except an old rugged jacket. Though for the first time he wore it, he was numb with cold, he was amazed at how he felt warmer as he got used to it each day. The road was almost empty, and wet. No one wanted to leave the comforts of a warm home to come out in the cold. As he walked, he passed by a huge house, guarded by heavy gates, which seemed almost like a castle. Memories came gushing into his mind, it always did when he passed that way. The house was once his abode.

But that was nine years back, and after that, his dwelling place became smaller and smaller, until his present one, which had only one room. He could hardly pay the rent for this one too, but the house-owner was an old friend of his, who didn't mind letting him stay there free of cost, as its rent was lower than the tip he gave his chaffeur daily in the evening. But as a man who prided his self-esteem more than anything else, he somehow managed to pay his friend the rent on time every month. He always told the others that if given an option between a hundred room bungalow and the one-room apartment, he would always choose the latter as that was all he needed. But no one ever gave him that option, so no one actually got to verify his statement.

As with any living organism, food was his major worry. Last month, he had sold the last piece of gold he had for a handful of dollars, which he sensibly deposited into his bank account. It paid for his bread and butter till the day before, and now again, he was penniless. Not that it was the first time in his life that he was in such a situation. He always believed that somehow, he would one day become as rich as he was once. But how that somehow would happen, was a tough question.

He slowly marched towards his destination. He was briefly distracted by a stray dog that was feeling quite cold, and thought it could share his jacket. But he shooed it away. He had once suffered from cynophobia, but that was quite long back. After all, being thrown to the streets does have its own advantages. It can relieve people of all their phobias, since they would be experiencing exactly what they fear, everyday. He now considered dogs as a mere nuisance, which he could always get rid of. He had better things to do.

to be continued...