Setting : Mid 1800’s. A small village in the Americas.

The village was a very close-knit community and spent a lot of time together. Well, with a population of just around a hundred and with pretty much nothing else to do, this was their way of staying in high spirits. So one such day, while almost the entire village at the bar, merrily drinking and laughing, a stranger entered the bar. He looked the perfect gentleman so to say, with a gentle demeanour. He joined the party, saying that he was one amongst them. He said he was born in this village, but ran away when he was a young boy to seek greener pastures. When he took some old names and recognised a few people, they believed his story and let him be.

He ordered something and sat on the bar stool, chatting away with the locals. The locals started introducing themselves to him and it so happened one person wasn’t all that enthusiastic about it. He hardly ever made eye-contact with this new guy. It so happened, that even he was a new guy. He had come to the village, with a similar storyline, just a week before. He said was a successful businessman and wanted to ply his trade in this village as well as neighbouring places.

Are these two guys upto something? Do they have a plan to con the entire village?

The villagers let it be, the tension between the two and moved ahead. They introduced a 7-year old boy to him. The boy was orphaned recently, with both his parents dying in a freak accident. He had been pretty much silent ever since. The village took good care of him ever since, but he was not the bubbly kid anymore. He lost interest in everything. Everything, but the longing to be with his parents again.

The New Guy (NG) looked into the kid’s eyes for a long time and said nothing. The Old New Guy (ONG) stared at the NG.

It was getting late and slowly the bar was emptying. The NG approached the village head and setup a proposition. He said he wanted to take the boy with him, for business purposes and the like. The head agreed thinking that even the boy needed some change from this place and that the NG seemed a decent guy. At this juncture, ONG comes up and says that he would like to have the kid with him. The head says that he will let the kid decide with whom he would like to stay and leaves the bar himself.

The NG and the ONG look at each other and smile. They ask the boy, not with whom he would like to go but where he wants to be the most. The boy says " I want to be with my parents " and they replied " ..and we want to be with you.

" The kid suddenly had a bright smile on his face. So did the NG and the ONG. The three were never seen again.

His parents were sent to get him to where he belonged.

( I have just woken up to this dream )