Seth Astill: Church without the pope

Grounded after visiting lake

Taking his ticket he settled down on the back seat.

He took out his cords and eared them starting a rock song, this always calmed him down when he was in bad mood.

Closing his eyes he sat back to relax, opening his eyes a while later to see that the bus had stopped at the junction just before his college. As if on hunch he got down, this wasn't his stop, he just wanted to have some time with himself.

The road was bursting with car horns, Seth started moving towards his college, he took the footpath as it was less crowded than the road itself. He walked down the path and took the first left to a quiet road it was a slope going up.

This road seemed exceptionally calm against the bustling chaos he had just came from, walking ahead he came to know the reason.

There was a school on one side of the road, while the other had a hospital. Besides them, there was a library, food stall, and a garage.

He went up the slope and saw that there was a lake just to the corner surrounding it was a footpath structure with plants and flowers on all sides. A steel gate separated it from the road.

Seth entered the gate to the foot road circling the lake, he started walking around it. This walk seemed to have a refreshing effect on his nerves. The calm voice of the water, the cold air, and the quietness in the air reminded him of the walk he used to take in Èze.

He sat upon a high pavement and looked at the lake, it wasn't big, you could complete the circle around it in five minutes - ten minutes tops.

Seth could see a banner on the opposite side from where he was sitting, it showed a group of people around a boy with an elephant face and four hands, in the middle. There was also an emblem on the top middle part that looked similar to the school's emblem he had just passed.

Maybe it is the school's property, they might be using it during the Ganesha festival. He sat there for some more time gazing around.

Finally getting up he decided to head back home, he came out of the gate and started towards the stop, that he had got down when he had come to see the college. he reached the stop and saw a crowd of people standing there.

After considering his options, he decided to walk back home, it was a forty-minute walk but, he didn't mind it.

Samar and Seth always took long walks when they had time in the evening and this became more frequent during their summer holidays.

He clicked on another song and started moving straight, his house was just a straight way from here, technically. He need only to take two turns and that too at the end.

He walked past a big showroom of cars and rows of in-construction buildings. Seth could see five of them in a row on one side the other side sported shops and various vendors. When he walked ahead he saw a restaurant, that had something written on the glass wall.

'Live music show by artist on every Sunday and on important eve', Seth considered this as he walked ahead. He had just started learning guitar, maybe he could give it a try here.

Seth had one of the brilliant minds that even his teachers acknowledged. Seth was well aware of that but, he never gave it much thought. He never felt like taking on a job or becoming something great. He always dreamt of becoming a gangster like his uncle or start his own company like his father's.

He reached the turn that he would need to take to reach his home, he turned right and started walking, this was a quieter part of his city, somewhat of a posh area with manufacturing companies and a big tower that had a neon circle at the top.

He walked past till he reached the end of the road, which divided into three lanes one that went straight the others going right and left, he turned left and started walking. He went past the garage shops and a school, before reaching his own building.

Entering in he rushed past the main gate and went into the left-wing of the building. He pressed the button to call down the elevator. He got inside the elevator when it came and went to the seventh floor.

The lift stopped at his floor and the automatic door opened, getting out he pressed the bell of the door which was just beside the lift.

His mom opened the door to let him in, Seth came in and went to sit on the sofa. His mom closed the door and turned to look at him, he could see that she was angry, he had expected to get a hearing, he never imagined it to be getting it from his mom.

Seth was not able to charm his mother into getting out of his wrongdoings like the other childrens but, he was pretty good at dealing with his father.

"Where were you all night?" Mrs. Astill asked hotly eyeing him.

"At a friend's house" Seth tried knowing very well that she knew about him being with the uncle.

"Really," she said raising her eyebrows.

"No, I was with uncle Colt" Seth finally said cutting the chase.

"May I ask you why"

"I went to meet him" Seth tried.

"It took you whole night to meet him," Mrs. Astill said again in her disdainful voice.

"Sorry mom, I shouldn't have gone there. It's just I heard that he had some problem so I went to meet him" Seth said finally with a sigh, wanting to get over with it quickly.

"So, what problem did he had?"

"Actually, he was alright," Seth said keeping a straight face.

"Are you trying to make fun of me?" his mother said her eyes flaring.

"No, I am telling the truth"

"I can clearly see that you were trying to make fun of me young man and for that, I am grounding you for three weeks"

"Fine," Seth grunted and went to his room.