Where the sky meet heaven - Rana kabir

the morning light:

"Say AAAH Bhavi, show me your tongue",

I said this while licking my chin with the tip of mine,
Bhavi opened her mouth and pulled hers out,

"AAAH!, is it red ranju bhayya?",

"Yes it is, is mine?",

i pulled my tongue a little more to the end than before and showed her the work of art,
"Oh it is really red!",
Bhavi replied with anticipation,

"These candies are actually made for big kids you know?, kids like Maheen and Vishwa",

I always had a way of making Bhavi curious,I  used to talk about dinosaurs and dragons in a way they were cousins, and poor little bhavi would shake her head and nod everytime she heard me talking in a deadpan manner,

"Ranju bhayya?",
Bhavi held on to my trousers and locked her big bright eyes with mine,

"What is it Bhavi?",
i looked concerned, i put my candy aside and tilted my body slightly towards her and held her tiny hands resting on my trousers,

"When are you going back?",
Bhavi stared down at the stone i kicked about and played with, a while before,

"I should get there tomorrow, so I'll leave tonight,"

i gazed at Bhavi's hair, it had grown just like her, she was in fourth grade now and i didn't get a chance to watch her grow,

"You should take good care of Appa while I'm away okay?,"

"I don't need you to tell me all that, I know what to do okay?",
she brushed her soft locks away from her eyebrows,

I held her close and gave her a hug, I had second thoughts on going back to Mumbai, but what else could I possibly do, I held Bhavi's tiny hand and started walking towards our little house, my father was already sitting on the threshold with the magazine that came out every Sunday along with the newspaper,

Time had already gone by so fast, I went into my room and prepared my packages, Appa had packed pickles and roti for me to eat at the railway station, my bags would be filled everytime I departed from home,
I bid farewell to appa first and then bhavi, my eyes welled up as I stepped out of our gate,
Appa spoke in signs to me, telling me to take care of myself and waved, he was 3 years old when my grandparents discovered that he couldn't speak, but God had gifted him with all kinds of special talents, he writes a lot, he reads a lot and he makes delicious food,

I waved back at him,

I reached the railway station and looked at the time, I had 30 more minutes till my trains arrival, what should I do?

I pulled my chain out and opened the locket, and I looked at my mother with Bhavi wrapped around her arms, Appa holding her shoulder with his left hand and mine with his right, if she was here she would have been really proud of me, she would have scolded me for eating too much pickles,

"arrey Ranju,eat healthy no?",

Bhavi was 2 when amma went missing, no-one could find her, everyone said she ran away from home, the police didn't do anything, it was not like they couldn't, they just didn't. And after that, it was just us three,

The train arrived and I got in, it would take almost a day to reach there, so I took my seat and got comfortable,

Work was exhausting, maybe it was because I didn't get a chance to lay off the travel sickness,
I lied down on the couch and looked at the ceiling,  wow! We have got to get this place renovated, 
I took my phone out and called home,

"Hello bhayya!, what are you doing?",

A squeaky voice shouted from the other end of the line,