On his way to catch the bus , he walked past Rani ’ s house . He hung around for a while , hoping to catch a glimpse of her . May be she would come out after him . Maybe she would change her mind and he would send for her when he got back to his village . He stood there waiting around for some time , but she never appeared , nor was there any sign that she would return anytime soon . He resolved to go as he had decided . If he did see her again , he rationalized , he was not sure he would be able to bear it .
Sitting on the bus , he turned his head towards the city and whispered : “ Goodbye , Rani . Enjoy your city life .” A tear rolled down his cheek and out of the open bus window . As the bus set off , despite his heartache , Raja decided to think about the buffalo he would soon have . He thought of his mother , bowing over the small smoky stove , pounding bread ; his brothers teasing him about his flute ; he pictured his sisters ’ shy smiles , and wondered how big they must be by now . He thought of his old father , who surely must be gray . The more he could hear the laughter of his family and imagine the smell of his mother ’ s cooking , the more eager he was to abandon the city and return to his home .
Many hours later and very weary ; he got off at the stop near his village and went into the small shop to buy a new blue bow and shiny bell to tie on his new buffalo .
Tired but happy , he walked the long and narrow dust path up the mountains to his home village . It was already dusk and becoming dark , but Raja hardly noticed . He knew this footpath blindfolded . This time he wanted to follow his heart , to get back to his family and delight them with his great fortune .
As he walked , his trousers jangled loudly with every footstep he took into the darkness .
If he kept thinking about his buffalo , with her great big shiny bell and handsome bow , he might forget about Rani and the city he had left behind . But try as he might , he could not shake the image of her smile from his head .
“ Give us the money now !” A voice shouted out of nowhere in the black night . Something shined near his face , in the light of the moon ; he could see it was a large blade . “ Hand it over . We know you ’ ve got money on you ”, said another voice , to his left .
He could hear the breathing on his neck but all he could see was the white of a pair of eyes and the glint of the knife .
“ Now !” spat the first man .
Cold steel thrust itself into his face . Raja swerved . He was ready to fight . There was no way he was giving everything to the robbers . The only thing he had in hand was his wooden flute , which he shoved hard into the face in front of him . He couldn ’ t see exactly what he was doing , but it was enough to get away . Raja began to run , but he tripped on a rock in the road and he fell . As
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