Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel by Neeraj Chand

fastener.
“Okay, Neel.” he said, standing up and drawing away from him. “When I say go, jump
as high as you can.”
     
“Are you really sure this will work?” Neel looked in confusion at Doctor Fahim and
Divya. “I didn‟t really know what I was doing with those posts. Idon‟t think I-”
    “Neel, trust me when I tell you that it is you who do not know what you are
capable of.”
Doctor Fahim broke in calmly. “Just trust us. Jump as hard as you can.” He nodded to the
Captain.
“Ready?” Captain Shukla called out to Negi. Negi nodded, gripping the other end of the
tape firmly.
     
“Okay, Neel… Go .”
    Neel bent down, his legs bracing automatically against the ground as his legs grew taut.
And then he jumped. There was a confused blur of the scene around him falling down
rapidly, and suddenly he found himself staring down several feet below, with the others
staring up at him. Neel flailed his arms in the air as he sought to keep his balance, his eyes
wide as he stared at the ground beneath him in surprise and disbelief. There was a fierce
pounding in his heart, and he felt a sudden, wild thrill shoot through him even as he tried and
failed to find his balance.
    The trip back to solid ground was much faster, and Neel landed more or less on the same
spot that he had left. He landed hard, his body sinking several inches into the soft earth. A
faint tremor shook the surrounding area as he sank head first into the soft ground.
    Neel rose quickly, rubbing at his face. A generous layer of dirt now covered his features.
Divya handed him her handkerchief and he wiped his face, staring at the hole he had made in
the ground.
    “
Twenty sixfeet.” Captain Arjun said in an awed voice. “He jumped twenty six feet in
the air from a standing position.” He stared up at the sky and then at Neel as the boy handed
the handkerchief back to Divya, his heart still pounding fiercely.
“I‟m sure he can jump higher with the proper training.” Doctor Fahim said, smiling
broadly.“How did it feel, Neel?”
    Neel stared up at the sky, at the point where he had been suspended just moments ago.
“It was…” he stared at Doctor Fahim, trying to find the right words for the heady rush of
adrenaline that was still coursing through his body. “Amazing. I‟ve never felt anything like it
before.” Doctor Fahim smiled.
“And this is just the beginning.” he said as he turned and led the way back to the hall.
     
* * *
    Neel returned home at five that evening. He had been dropped back at the spot from
where Captain Shukla had picked him up, and his cycle was waiting for him where he had
left it. His mind was in a whirl, going over everything that he had seen and experienced that
day. After the jumping experience, he had run on a treadmill for half an hour, without once
feeling the need to slow down in the slightest. He had had sensors attached to his hands and
feet as he moved around at full speed, to gauge the speed of his reflexes. He had discovered
that his body weight had increased by more than ten kilograms because of his increased
muscle density. He had sat in a sound proof room with Divya and Doctor Fahim, where they
had attached electrodes to his brain and then put him through a host of experiments to see
how acute his senses were. He had to stand on the side of the road for five minutes while he
regained control over his brain, which had begun to buzz along faster than ever.
    Neel managed to get back to his house safely despite the loud horns and the noises again
grating on his nerves. Doctor Fahim had told him that the sounds, while distracting, could not
do any lasting damage to his ear drums. Nevertheless, he was glad to get back to the relative
quiet of his colony. His mother came back from work around the time, although it was not
unusual for her to work overtime.
    Neel entered his house
to find his mother in the kitchen. “Did everything go alright at
the coaching centre?” she asked after