"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Writing"
"Well, I can see that I mean what are you writing?" I added.
"Umm...writing to my Mama." her smile was really kind and innocent.
"Mama...!... well, good luck then and good night?"
I ignored for no reason and slept.
'Mama' that word was fragile and meaningless for me. Up to age 6, I was not even aware of that word. I didn't even know that a person has a mother and father.
But sometimes, somewhere in my mind, I had always marveled, how would my mother looked if she existed.
I was also well aware that my wondering was worthless.
"Oe...Oe, wakeup, the sun is out."
She was still using her legs but not my name.
"Can't you call my name? It's Kahuna. Ka...hu...na. Always calling me 'oe'!"
"And do something about your leg, you are treating me like an animal!"
"If you had woke up earlier, I would not have to do it!"
Isn't it worthless?
This time we had one problem, we were out of foods. We have enough water but about food, we had no option.
Thanks to that man we were able to eat for about a month. Our belly was never full though.
Prior to the gold, we need food. But we had furthermore an option where we can sell that gold and get the food. But about selling, we were both not hopeful.
Maybe I talked big about my first step to becoming a millionaire but I was not confident at all.
Karin always seemed to be lost in her world. She might get useful sometimes, but I don't think she was serious about it. At least not as I was.
"Karin do you have some plan to sell this ring."
I asked with expectation.
"Do you have any?" she questioned back to me.
"Why would I ask if I had any?" It was obvious.
"Then leave it to me."
"Are you sure? What is the strategy?"
I was surprised. Did she actually had a plan or is she bluffing?
Observing her face, she looked confident but can I really trust her. I asked myself.
We discussed the plan, it was reckless just like her.
"Seriously, Karin do you think this will work out?"
The plan was so stupid and the main thing was that I am the protagonist here.
"Do you have any?" She looked furious.
"Well I don't have any but it does not mean that I would just do nonsense."
"Come one, at least we can try, right?"
I don't know why but she looked overwhelmingly confident.
"Ok, are you ready?"
She was waiting by the tall wall glaring at the jewelry shop.
That false mustache was being sniffed by my nose continuously, anytime and I would have sneezed. The long rod-shaped plank about half a meter tall, it was really difficult for me to take even a single step.
My head was too high, I wasn't even noticing the floor.
To be honest I was like a scarecrow.
Inner me was still doubting but in front of her, I was forced.
I somehow managed to get into the shop.
I could only see his hairless smooth ground.
"How much for this?" with a deep and hoarse sound.
I tried my best to sound adult.
"Oh...I think there is a weighing device, mister?
He was slow like a nightmare and even his voice was severing. Wasn't he afraid of being robbed? I mean even a kid could rob him, he would be busy locating his staff.
At the same time, I was relieved as well. He didn't ask for the bill yet.
"Umm...It seems to be 5.3 grams, old man!"
I growled.
He stared at the number for about a minute.
"Ahhh...it is 5.3...grams, mister!"
("He didn't listen to me, did he?" I asked myself.)
He was overwhelmingly sluggish.
"So it will be 42,000 rupees. I will keep the extras since you don't have the bill. Am I right?"
He gazed at me lowering both his head and that old spectacle but his dark old eyeball was rolled up toward me.
I needed to sound adult and humorous so that he wouldn't suspect.
"Haha...wise old man?"
My throat was intolerable.
The first time I saw money, actually long money made up of paper. For the first time, I was holding the bulk of money.
My hands were small. I instantly put it in my inner pouch which I had separately brought to kept money.
"See you again old man...."
I doubted if he really heard that.
With this, I rushed out of the shop.
I managed to walk to Karina who was waiting for me behind that tall wall, a little far from the shop.
I grabbed the pouch and got rid of that cloth.
"We did it, Karin.....we did it?"
I was so much delighted, my legs were off the ground. Karin was happy too, yet she was resisting to showoff.
We went to the tunnel. I hastily checked the pouch, it was safe. I sat down and took a long breath. I still couldn't believe we did it.
Well, it was all thanks to that old man for being that much old.
"What will you do with that money?" Karin asked me.
"First of all let's eat something."
With this, we went to the market and bought some noodles, some biscuits and candles too. It was really scary at night in that tunnel.
I sat down, delighted, and looked at Karin but at the moment, I could imagine the grimace of that unknown man.
I wonder if he is alive. I wonder what he is doing now. In every step in my life, his smirk reappears like the magic show where you could see but at the same time, you know it's not reality.
Suddenly, my mind cracked something.
"Karin.."
She was busy eating noodles.
"Yes," she replied.
"You were writing a letter to your mama, right? Are you gonna post it?"
I was concerned. I mean if she knows where her mother is then it would be better to be with her mother, right?
"No, I am not!" she looked suspicious.
"You don't know the address?" I muttered.
"No..." her eyes were fierce and ironic.
Looking at her orifices, I could clearly say that she loathed sympathy and mercy.
"So, why are you writing then?" I carved a little dip.
"I would give it to her whenever I will meet her...Hehe."
Her sudden change in expression was quite unexpected. She was rather optimistic.
I felt relieved for no reason or maybe I didn't know the actual reason.
"So, what should we with this money, I have no idea. Well for now." I asked.
For someone who was just 10 years old, there is the minimum possibility that the child could handle it. It was the same for me. I had seen that for the first time and the only thing that roamed around my mind was that I was literally amazed.
"Umm...How could I know myself, it is the first time I have ever seen it!"
We both were on the same tier.
With nothing new in my mind, I walked off toward the market, it was as lively as ever.
I loved the noise of that market.
"Wait for me.., Kahuna."
Wasn't that the first time she called me by my name? I was surprised and happy too.
"Ohh rush up, you gonna be lost."
I smirked toward her.
"You!!!" She seemed angry though.
The crowd was rigid, we both were having difficulty even taking a single step.
After a tough voyage, we finally passed through that rigid mob.
"Huff.....is there some kind of sale today, the crowd is crazy."I was still filling up my lungs little bent downward with my both hand on the knees. Despite the distance, I was really tired.
" Umm... If I am true, every Tuesday, the price of items defends by 35% or so....as I heard."
"35%..?!! it's party time for the consumers, right?"
35% discount, that was not bad though.
"Let's buy something for us as well."
She stole my words.
From nowhere my mind picked up something...
"Ahh... this pouch, keep it, it's yours!"
Of course, it's not mine. Despite we were together, I would always hate to keep it.
"Well, it's not mine, it's ours now, right?"
I was amazed for a moment. I gazed into her eyes, she was quite obvious about that.
"No " still I denied.
Even though she hated that she kept it, which delighted me somehow.
We bought some foods, but not noodles, I was fatigued just eating that every day.
I kept those stuff in the tunnels and but suddenly Karin came up with something interesting.
"Kahuna... let's clean this tunnel and renovate it,"
Not bad, right?
"Ohh sometimes your mind thinks like mine!"
I teased her.
"Haha,... that was not funny!"
She was cool for me at that time.
The next morning, we started to clean it. I was detested that we were actually living here. I mean the hovels were despicable just like that man and were already graphing a mountain. The interesting thing is we were not even half-finished off.
"Karin, how did you find this tunnel?"
It just came to my mind, so I just asked her.
"I just saw it and decided to live here."
Her answers were simple though.
"But these rusted and damaged electronics?"
There were numerous things like electronics, popes, and some kitchen equipment as well.
"You mean this, it was already here. Maybe it was accompanied by someone before us and left after some time departing all these tangles here."
She had a point.
"Yeah maybe, let's rush up, we can't waste our whole day?"
I didn't think that was worth discussing.
I was cleaning my corner I found a box. I was small but heavy, I opened it and found a pen and a small pot filled with ink. The inc was red totally like blood.
Since I was just learning to read and write I kept it and started to clean other stuff.
"Kahuna, look at this book, it seems interesting, wanna read?"
"Yes yes pass it to me.."
I was really excited. Reading was a truly interesting and adventurous thing for me.
"The pen that dooms humanity." was written on the book cover and I was somewhat surprised that the picture of the pen on that cover was the same I had found just a moment ago.
But for that time I kept hot the thing in my bag and started cleaning.
The evening light was warm and tired. We finally managed to clean it and was exhausted. It took about half and a day. We threw all those trashes into the dump yard. It was just a few minutes walk from our home.
The integral thing, we named that tunnel "Hunarin". 'Huna' from the last four letters of my name and 'Rin' from the name of Karin.
Cool, right? That what we thought.
We had some bread and jams that we bought yesterday and went to sleep.
But before sleeping I took a fresh paper and took out that pen. I filled it with ink and tried to write.
'I will found 100 rupees tomorrow.'
Just in case, right? It not like I was optimistic, I just wrote what came to my mind.
My eyes were already exhausted and were barely even opening.
And I nodded off.
It seemed I was early today. Karin was still gaping so I decided to take a fresh morning walk.
I was inhaling the fresh morning air. The morning sun was still playing hide and seek within the horizon, the market was peaceful and clean.
A small pebbled just in a shroud of my feet, I kicked it for no reason. But surprisingly it rolled up till it halted on a green paper.
Looking at it carefully, it was the 100 rupees note, a fresh and new one.