"Aashu... Aashu... stop, my son!"
A woman was running desperately after her little boy, who had wandered far away. She shouted frantically as she chased him. The boy, small and unaware of the dangers around him, was running towards the road to retrieve his ball. Cars zipped past every few seconds, but the little boy had no sense of the danger — he could only see his beloved toy. After all, he was just a child.
The woman's screams grew louder and more desperate with each passing step. People nearby started to notice her distress, but, as it often happens in big cities, people cared more about their own business than helping others. Still, an elderly couple noticed the situation and ran towards the boy — but by then, it was already too late.
The boy had reached the ball. As he bent down to pick it up...
Paaaooo...
A loud horn blared.
"Aashu!!"
The woman screamed at the top of her lungs. She stopped running, frozen in terror.
"A-A-Aashu..."
Her lips trembled. Fear filled her eyes — the fear of losing something incredibly precious. Darkness clouded her vision. It all felt like a nightmare she desperately wanted to wake up from. She wanted to clutch her son tightly, to feel him safe in her arms.
But it wasn't a nightmare. It was real.
Her legs gave way. She stumbled, unable to hold herself up — but before she could collapse, the elderly couple caught her.
"My... my baby... A-Aashu..."
She mumbled, losing her grip on reality.
A crowd had now gathered, full of people who had done nothing when help was needed. Traffic came to a standstill; cars honked, but no one could move.
Suddenly, amidst the noise, a child's faint cries were heard. Though muffled by the chaos, someone's ears caught the sound.
The woman, still trembling, immediately jerked her head around. She broke free from the couple's support and pushed her way through the crowd, desperate to find her son.
Again — the sound of crying.
She looked across the road and saw a young man holding a child by the back of his clothes, lifting him as if saving something fragile from falling into ruin.
The woman rushed to them, grabbed her son from the young man's arms, and clutched him tightly, crying uncontrollably.
After a few moments...
"Are these tears of joy... or regret?"
The voice reached the woman's ears. She turned around and saw a handsome young man standing behind her. She had been so overwhelmed by relief that she hadn't even thought to look at her son's rescuer.
Now, seeing him, she couldn't look away.
Tall, with jet-black hair, milky white skin, deep ocean-blue eyes, a face free of beard or mustache — he seemed no older than twenty.
There was something magnetic about him, something that could make anyone fall under his spell within seconds.
"You haven't answered..."
The boy spoke again, pulling her back to reality.
The woman was a little dazed. The boy's charm wasn't something easily ignored. But she quickly gathered herself — after all, this was the young man who had saved her son. She was deeply grateful.
"Thank you..."
Before she could finish, he interrupted:
"You didn't tell me... were those tears of happiness, or of regret?"
His question confused her a little, but this time she answered without hesitation:
"They were tears of happiness... to see my son safe."
"Hmm..."
The young man twirled his fingers thoughtfully on his chin, then crouched down and offered the ball back to the little boy.
The child hesitated for a moment, staring into the expressionless face, but eventually took the ball.
By now, a large crowd had gathered, with many people recording the scene on their phones.
The young man shook his head slightly.
"Next time, be more careful... or if you can't manage that, hand him over to me instead. Here's my card."
He extended a white card towards the woman.
The crowd gasped.
The woman, overwhelmed with gratitude moments ago, now burned with anger. She snatched the card, tore it into pieces, and threw them into his face.
The young man closed his eyes briefly.
"Did I say something wrong...?"
He wondered silently.
The same crowd that had been praising his bravery now hurled insults at him.
"Get lost!"
The woman snapped, controlling her rage only because he had saved her child.
Without saying a word, he turned and walked away through the crowd.
What he didn't know was that from a nearby red Ferrari, a pair of beautiful eyes had witnessed the entire incident.
She had seen how the young man had risked his life to save the child — even if she hadn't heard every word exchanged afterward.
She watched him one last time, smiled, and drove away.
As he walked outside the crowd, he pulled up the hood of his black sweatshirt.
He paused, as if remembering something, and looked around.
"Where did you go now..."
Suddenly, a black-and-white squirrel scurried up his leg and perched itself on his shoulder.
"Where had you disappeared to?"
He asked the squirrel, as if expecting an answer.
It might seem strange — talking to a squirrel — but that's just how he was.
He loved animals more than anything, and trusted humans less than he trusted the wind.
In his family, there were five members — all of them a little strange in their own ways.
He rarely listened to anyone, except his little sister, whose words he could never refuse.
So here he is, the one who just changed a life without expecting anything in return:
Rudra — the true hero of this story.