City of Rubble

Description

Excerpt from City of Rubble:

Today was the day they’d settle their score with Harleen. The boys had planned to throw paint on the walls and frame the little girl for their mischief. The Guild had been a girl-free zone as far as they had known. The boys were bent on keeping it that way. Srinath was the one who had put the plan together. As recently as a week ago he’d been the smartest child at the orphanage, but now the others no longer looked up to him.

Instead, they gathered around Harleen with her hazel eyes, and asked her silly questions about the universe and the way the world worked. Once the warden and other students left, they closed the door.

Clapping their hands, the three boys stood up and walked towards Harleen.
“Harleen is a weirdo!”
“Harleen is a weirdo!”
“Harleen is a weirdo!”

The boys chanted. “We don’t want you here, Harleen,” said Kishore tauntingly. Harleen paid no attention.

This infuriated Srinath. “Let’s do it!” he shouted. The boys made a beeline for the cans of paint they’d stashed under the table. They began splashing the walls with green, blue, red, and purple paint that they’d stolen from the local hardware store. Harleen watched the colours mix as the paint dripped to the floor, forming new colours. The little girl simply sat back and watched the boys laugh with delight.“Now!” Srinath yelled. They ran to Harleen, and grabbing her hands, they dipped them into a can of paint. “You’re going to get kicked out, Harleen,” the boys laughed.

Much to their surprise Harleen stared at them fixedly. They’d expected the girl to be in tears, instead she looked at them like they’d done something foolish. Srinath snapped. “You’re going to get kicked out!” Harleen simply pointed to the ceiling. The boys looked up, and their faces changed the moment they noticed a black spherical structure clinging to the ceiling. “They installed them last week,” Harleen replied bluntly. Srinath felt his knees shake.