As he turned in from the main road towards the village, he saw a figure running towards him in the distance. It was Anchita, and she was shouting something, and waving. He couldn’t quite hear her words, but she seemed to be happy. Perhaps the director of Obotar had read their letter, and had replied. Perhaps he was going to visit Deogan. Wouldn’t that be something? Maybe he would bring the big blue people with him, who knew?

But a thought occurred to Korok, and made him stop pedalling. What if Anchita’s mother had made kek again, and wanted him to eat it?

He thought he should turn around and pedal away. Now that he had the bicycle, Anchita would never be able to catch up with him and drag him back.

But where could he go? This was his village. And this was his garden. He would always stay here, and never leave. Not even to avoid kek.

Siddhartha Sarma is an author and journalist based in Delhi. His first teen novel The Grasshopper's Run won the Crossword Book Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award for Children's Literature. His other books include the travelogue East Of The Sun and two works of non-fiction: 103 Journeys, Voyages, Trips and Stuff and 103 Historical Mysteries, Puzzles, Conundrums and Stuff. He hopes to have a garden of his own someday.

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