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There was a narrow dried up river passing by an over- populated village, and beside it there was also an asphalt road. In a winter morning, a teenage boy was pulling by gently paddling a bakery-van along the road through thick mist.  

Having come nearer grocery shop beside the asphalt road, the boy stopped paddling. At once, the wailing tone of the shopkeeper came into his ears through the muffler tied around his head. Since he couldn’t find out what they are talking about, only by feeling the emotion of the voice he just understood that the shop- keeper had been talking about something of his great grief with one of his friends.  

Just as the bakery-van slowed down at having reached in front of the shop, the teenage boy applied the full brake and got down from the seat. After that, the boy peered in the inside of the shop, for checking which things had been remained and which hadn’t been. Then, he started to understand the words that were outflowing from the tang of the shopkeeper like falling of the dew drops. How the shopkeeper had got lost in the business of poultry that was being described by the hopeless tone of the shopkeeper. The boy, while listening, opened the trunk of the van and started taking the goods out of it squinting to look at the faces of the both of them.

The desire of getting sympathy got stuck in the eyes of the shopkeeper like the hovering flakes of the dry face. Anyone could have easily understood the pretense of showing sympathy of the friend in a moment but the shopkeeper didn’t. While the shopkeeper talking, the friend was pronouncing in a manner the words of sympathy ish! Hay hay! That it would have seemed, he was lubricating the petroleum jelly very gently over the dry face of the shopkeeper with his delicate hand. Just as deleted the helplessness due to the sympathetic words of the friend that had got stuck on the face of the shopkeeper, the tint of fervidity started getting stronger and the tear began gathering in his eyes, and in proportion, the hopelessness of the shopkeeper started growing up in a rate that the friend being more sympathetic began to state, “no need to worry about it, twelve trouble thirteen solution, every action of the god is for good, then start it again, this shop is running well also, everything will be right by the time.” So that these words could heal the wound of being lost two lakh Taka in the poultry business.

The shopkeeper was so much busy in having a conversation with his friend about the grief to suspect the presence of the boy taking the bakery goods out of the trunk. Then, the friend, having informed the shopkeeper about the presence of the boy, stood up to go. As if being aware about the disturbance of the shopkeeper’s work, the friend wanted to go, after the busyness of the shopkeeper, the friend would come to show more compassion. Then, the friend being further close to the shopkeeper started stroking gently on the thick jacket as he told some more kind word. While going, he looked back at the face of the shopkeeper repeatedly and didn’t forget to utter some words of hope.

The shopkeeper looked at the van-puller affectingly in disturbance. In mind, he blamed the boy for making the friend leaving. But, there was another strong reason of leaving him, which was nearly impossible to understand for the shopkeeper who had been getting sympathy. However, now, it was the shopkeeper’s turn to take the bakery goods. Afterwards, the van-puller started pulling the bakery-van to another grocery shop cum tea stall.  

As soon as came closer to another shop, the boy heard a sound of suppressed laughter. One part of the shop was kept open and another part was closed. When the van-puller stood in front of the open part along with his bakery van, he watched that the friend of that shopkeeper and this shopkeeper was puffing cigarettes with great pleasure and while the sound of the laughter was becoming louder, they whispered to each other restraining the laughter, “please, calm down, calm down, they would hear us, the shop is not very far from this place.” So often, the shopkeeper, lessening the loudness of the laughter, was telling in disguise of the shopkeeper’s wailing tone little by little the words that he had listened a moment before, so that the topic wouldn’t come to an end swiftly; and he could enjoy it gradually. In the sad, misty winter morning the topic is as sweet as the juice of the date palm! Just as pronounced one word, the loud laughter of the friend that surpassed the talking, was arousing the laughter within this shopkeeper. Lessening the sound of a loud laughter, pronouncing some words of the shopkeeper, again the loud laughter, again suppressing the laughter, again pronouncing the cautioning words, sometimes the deep puffing of the of cigarettes and then the huge emission of the smoke through the parted lips.

The boy, in bewilderment, was standing up in front of the open part of the grocery shop cum tea stall. By this time, the friend suspecting someone, looked back and watched the embarrassed face of the boy. In a moment, the face and the lips of the friend hovered down like a seedling stooped down under the acute sunbeam of the hot summer. In the pretense of emergency work, the friend stood up from the bench. Then, this shopkeeper by reading the face of the boy could understand the matter a little. But, neither boy nor this shopkeeper understood that how the friend had gone out, in a blinking of an eye. As if, being vapor the friend had vanished in the mist!