"Why would anyone want to kill you for doing something as harmless as writing poems?" Shivam asked, incredulously.

This question had an interesting effect--Josh stopped crying and sniffing, and looked at him with astonished eyes.

"You really don't know anything about anything, do you?" Josh asked.

"Well...I'm not exactly from around here..." Shivam explained apologetically.

"I knew it. You're a sailor."

"A sailor? Why?" Shivam was genuinely surprised. Man, this kid was full of surprises and unpredictability!

"Well, you're dressed like one," Josh said. He was no longer crying, but the wheezing was back in his throat. When this kid grows up, the wheezing would perhaps be replaced by a deep baritone, Shivam thought, with an inexplicable tinge of melancholy.

"Only sailors wear t-shirts and jeans. Everyone knows that," Josh said.

"Okay, I see," Shivam looked dumbly down at his white t-shirt with a sharp slash across it near his chest, "but tell me why you were banished for poetry."

"Because writing poems is prohibited, of course. Everyone knows that, too," Josh said.

"Prohibited? By whom?"

"Who else? By King Blikrot, of course. I think it's been banned ever since he ascended the throne..." Josh said in a patient tone, a tone used by maths teachers when dealing with exceptionally slow students. "As I said, I never meant no one any harm by writing those poems. I never intended them to be published or anything. I told you I'm an orphan--I used to work in a restaurant as a cook, and no matter how well I cooked or how hard I worked, the restaurant owner never seemed to be satisfied. He never ceased scolding me, insulting me, beating me up for minute reasons. He didn't pay me any money, either. He just let me eat two meals a day and allowed me to sleep in one of the back chambers of his restaurant.

Poetry was my means of escape. I used to write poems every night, after dinner, then hide them away in a drawer. But one night the restaurant owner entered into my chamber without warning, full drunk and completely out of control, saying he wanted to beat me up good 'cause he didn't like my face. For some reason he opened my secret drawer and discovered all of my manuscripts, and that was that for me. He ran out into the streets yelling his head off: 'This piglet writes POEMS! This piglet writes POEMS!' Before I knew it, the Infernos had arrived, saying they would surely kill me and play ball with my head if they ever saw me again," Josh said, his voice quivering slightly, with the dark weight of memories.

Shivam had been silenced by Josh's remembrance. After Josh finished telling him the reason behind his banishment, Shivam reached out towards the boy with both his hands, ruffled his hair, and held his roundish face in his palms.

"I didn't want anyone playing ball with my head," Josh began sobbing, "so I left the township, and since then I have been living in caves or forests."

"You did nothing wrong, Josh. This 'King Blikrot' sounds insane. There is nothing wrong with writing poems," Shivam said, and hugged the kid. Josh hugged him back, and placed his head on his shoulder. All of a sudden, Shivam felt a burning rage in his veins, a burning rage that was directed towards Blikrot, whom he had never met. But he decided if he did meet Blikrot, he would kill him. Along with the restaurant owner and a few Infernos if possible.

"Your leg is still bleeding. Where do you plan to spend the night? Let me take you there..." Shivam began.

"Don't worry about my leg, big brother, I have loads of Healium leaves in my cottage. We must try to catch some fish before retreating there. Else I'll die of hunger," Josh said, "can I call you big brother? 'Cause you didn't tell me your name."

"My name's Shivam. And you can call me anything you want, Josh," Shivam said, thinking it was best not to ask what good leaves would do in treating a wolf-bite. "Tell you what, I'm very hungry, too. Let's go catch fish, then. But how and where are we going to do it? And why didn't you go fishing before dark?"

"I never go fishing in the dark, I know it's dangerous because all sorts of creatures come to drink from the river in the night. I had stocked up enough fish for the night. But when I woke up after my afternoon nap, I found that all my fish had disappeared," Josh said.

"The fish disappeared?" Shivam hoped vanishing dead fish wasn't a common phenomenon here.

"Yeah. They were just gone. Stolen. I don't know by whom. But I had no choice but to go fishing again, and it was already dark by then. After some time, the wolves attacked me. Then you came and saved my life, big brother," Josh said happily.

"I see. Well, what you're waiting for? Lets go and see your fishing skills!" Shivam said. Josh struggled up from his seated position, and then they started walking together, hand in hand, made brothers by coincidence and chance, towards the sound of the river which flowed through the darkness of the night.