"I am a common man. Once, somewhere in this life, I thought I had found something special that would make my life special. But I forgot the rule - a common man lives a common life."

That was a brand new watch and it looked striking on his white wrist. I looked at my wrist and there was no watch there. I never knew how it felt to have a watch on the wrist.

I never had a watch, may be because my wrists were not as white as his or may be because his father is rich and my father is poor. Isn't it out of the ordinary that you don't have to have the wish to get a watch on your wrist but a rich father. I had the wish to buy a watch, I had the wish to buy a storybook, I had the wish to buy a new school bag, but wishes buy you nothing you know, wishes buy you nothing.

Although nobody wants to know who I am, not even you, but I want to tell you something about myself.

They say I am a man but I have never seen an eight-year-old man, have you?

One day when my father came back from work I asked him to buy me a car.

"What! A car?", he cried with surprise. "Are you in your mind?", he asked.

"Yes I am in my mind that's why I want to buy a car, just like the one Ali's father has."

"Ali's father! Are you crazy? Don't you see the difference? He is rich that's why he has a car.", he tried to explain.

"But why is he rich? I don't see him work as much as you do. He wanders here and there in his car all day while you work from morning to evening then how come he is so rich and we are not?", I was still confused.

"Its because they are special, that's why they have a car." he said something difficult.

"But why are they so special?" I couldn't understand it.

"Because they are born special." he was still talking difficult.

"Aren't we born special?" I asked.

"No." he said as if he was dead sure of it.

"Then I want to be born again." I could see no other option.

Father started laughing. I don't know why was he laughing and then he said,

" Come here and show me you head, I think you have lost your brain somewhere."

I became angry. I didn't like him laughing while I couldn't understand things. He stopped laughing and was serious now. He took me in his arms and politely said, "Look my son, God gives you life just once and then you have to live through it. You are what you are. You can't run away from life. Its just a question of who spends his life and who lives it."

"We are common. I am a common man and you are a common boy." He told me. I was glad to know that we were not nobodies, at least we were some bodies, although common. "But we can also be special if…"

"If we buy a car." I cut his speech. He laughed and said, "Yes, but to buy a car you have to work hard."

"I'll work hard." I promised him. He seemed so happy with me.

That's how I came to know that I was a common boy. I wanted to be special and was ready to work hard for it but the problem was I didn't know what hard work was and how it was done.

I wanted to buy a car but one day there came a change in my plan. Now it was a bicycle. Ali's father had bought him a new bicycle and I stopped thinking of buying a car and started dreaming of that bicycle. I couldn't drive the car anyway so I decided that I'd buy it when I'll grow up. That bicycle was a car for me now, just that it had two wheels, otherwise it was a car.

I told my father about the change in my plan but he said nothing. I think he was tired of listening to my dim-witted chatter. I don't know why people, get tired of people so soon. Once my father told me, "If you really wanna get something, you better walk away from it." I couldn't understand it then but that day it made some sense to me. I never get tired of people but they try to get rid of me. That day I decided that I wont run after that bicycle hoping that it will come to me. But it didn't. it just stood there in the drive way of Ali's house.

Quite often I saw Ali riding his bike. He looked handsome riding that bike. The bike looked striking too. My house was at quite a distance from where Ali lived but every evening I would go there and watch Ali riding his bike.

Today was a holiday so I went there early and that's where it started wrong. I didn't do anything wrong but you don't have to do anything wrong to make things go wrong. When they are to go wide of the mark, they just go wide of the mark, you can't just stop them.

Today, late in the morning, when I approached Ali's house, I didn't see Ali but___ I did see the bike. The gate was open and just at a few yards distance I could see my wish, ready to get me a bike. I stood near the gate and looked at the bike. A few more yards away the car was parked but the bike attracted me more. It was beautiful. I stood there for a while and I didn't know what to do. Then I remembered what my father told me once____ "If you really wanna get something you better walk away from it." I wanted to get that bike so I took a step back but the bike didn't move. I thought one step wasn't enough. I took many steps backwards but the bicycle didn't even look at me.

I was shocked. My father told me wrong. But how could he do this to my wish? He never told me anything wrong. May be I didn't exactly know how to walk away. I was disappointed though. I will never be able to get that bike.

"O' come on. You can't quit like this. If the bike doesn't come to you, there is no problem with you going to it." I told myself.

"But you are not going to steal anything. All you are going to do is to take a close look at the bike, touch your wish and then walk on." I answered.

That was true. I was not going to steal anything. I just wanted to see how an aspiration looks in real and that's all. So with trembling legs and disturbed heartbeat, I stepped in. I looked around; there was no one in the lawn or in the porch. I looked at the bike. It was just a couple of yards away standing beside the wall. It had such a grace that I couldn't resist myself. I started walking towards the bike and after a few steps I was there. I could just raise my hand forward and touch it.

"Should I touch it?" once again couldn't decide. "Yes, you must. You wont get this chance again." I tried to inject some logic into my action. I just wanted to know how it feels to touch a dream.

I put my hand forward and reluctantly, with trembling hands___ I touched it. I couldn't believe I touched it. My hands were trembling no more and my heart was as silent as a winter night. It felt like I had been living my life just to experience this touch. The world seemed perfect but then I had to leave my dreams alone.

Ali appeared, shouting, "Hey you, how dare you sneak into my house like this and God damn it you are stealing my bike, you thief."

I stood there senseless. It seemed like the whole world was empty and there was just Ali and I and nothing else____ not even the bike.

He was calling his father. My heart slipped down to his stomach and I couldn't even think of moving. His father came out and after knowing about the situation, he yelled, "Ali! Go call the police. No crime should go unpunished."

Then he came to me with furious anger in his eyes. "You little scoundrel, you thief, you steal bicycles."

"No sir, I was not stealing it sir. I just touched it that's all." I tried to explain.

"This is not your father's bike…"

He kept on talking like this but I couldn't listen to any of it. I was just thinking of my father. He will be mad at me, more than Ali's father was.

After a while, the police arrived. They were four policemen. My God, four policemen, for me! I felt special. But I was scared to death. I never liked policemen, they are dangerous people.

"He was riding my bike," Ali told the police, "and he was about to steal it away when I caught him."

One of the policemen clutched my arm.

"I was not riding his bike sir. I don't even know how to ride a bike. I was not stealing it sirm, I swear." I tried to make them trust me.

"He looks a thief by his face all right. He'll confess all his crimes all right.", said one of the policemen to Ali's father. "You don't worry sir, the justice will be done."

Justice! O' yes. I could see justice everywhere___ but not for me. They say justice is blind to the matters of race, creed, color, religion and sexual orientation. Well, include age as well, because I am only eight and I am a criminal for them. Now I know where all these criminals come form. They are the product of this justice.

"All right boy, lets go to the police station."

"But why?" I hardly utter.

"For intruding into a gentleman's house, for using the property without the owner's consent and for planning to steal the property. You broke the laws Mr."

My God, I didn't know I had committed all these crimes. I think he was mistaken. I broke just one law, that I tried to make my life special being a common man. And I think I should be arrested for that.

They take me to the police van. I turn around and look at Ali's wrist. He is still wearing that watch and it still looks brand new. I look at my wrist. My wrist is empty no more.

There are handcuffs on my wrist.

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