Chapter 5: The Stupid Silver Chain

By
Sydney Billford Monteiro
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Chapter 5: The Stupid Silver Chain

On the way back near the temple, the boys tried their luck at fishing again. Vikas threw the net as far as possible. The net sank in with the weights as they waited motionless for some action. Jeevan held on to the net and prayed that at least a small fish is caught. A few moments later, the net started getting heavier, and all the three started pulling at it. They could feel something heavy was caught, and it was wriggling in the net trying to get free. They pulled the net with full might and slowly, the net started emerging from the water. Finally, the moment they had been waiting for was here. The net was pulled on to the coracle, and they had caught a huge fish. The fish struggled a lot to get away, but they were strong enough to get it on to the coracle and secure it in the net. Jeevan was beaming with joy. It was a jackpot.

Soon they were on the shore. The fish was dead by then. They had put it in a large bucket, and Jeevan was made in-charge to guard it. The coracle was dragged back to its place; back to eating dust and getting dry. They had forgotten about their hungry stomachs and their aching limbs. They were making plans to cook the fish.

Jeevan brought a bucket of water to clean the fish. Rohit was ready with the knife and Vikas had arranged for a table. They had gathered in the back yard. The fish was laid on the table, and Rohit started cutting off its fins. They were very hard, but he was used to cleaning fish before. Then he cut off the huge head and opened up the belly. The gut fell out. He cleared off everything, and then something shiny hit his eyes. It had fallen off with the fish guts. He cleared it off and picked it up. It was his mother’s silver chain; his birthday gift. He looked at it with watery eyes and burst out in a loud cry. All the sorrow he had buried deep within his heart was spilt out in tears.

The fun mood in the back yard had changed.

“It was all my mistake; I simply went after this stupid chain. If I had let it go, my mom would be with me,” he cried out.

Vikas was dumb he didn’t know how to react to this situation.

Jeevan had never seen his brother cry for his mother. Yet he somehow knew what to do. He hugged his brother in a tight embrace and said: “Let go, brother, it was not your fault”.


  Sydney Billford Monteiro

Sydney Billford Monteiro was born and brought up in Mangalore, Karnataka. An HR by profession, he has a Masters in Social Work and is working for the Hospitality Industry in Bangalore. He is an avid reader of Crime Thrillers, Mystery novels, and Science books. Creative writing and poetry is his passion.

He loves exploring the world of stories. His favourite pastime is experimenting with real-life events, creating characters, and turning them into engaging storylines. 

Apart from reading and writing the author loves football; his favourite game and watching movies that depict unusual concepts and real-life events. 

He also loves to have a healthy debate over a scientific idea.

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