"Take my hand," he shouts, dropping his gun and extending his arm towards me.
"Never in a million years," I snap, trying to steady myself as I feel my grip slowly slipping at the edge.
"Look here, Solace, I'm trying to save your life, not asking you...
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Faint chirping of birds, golden rays of sunshine, dewdrops over green grass, that's how the day dawned, crisp and clear.
I had looked up from the book I was reading, what a beautiful spring day it was. Two women walked down the pavement of the park, talking and giggling about something, an old man, with a cane in hand sat staring at a bird in a nearby tree. The bird seemed busy with branches in its beak, building a nest for unborn lives. I could hear the horns of the faraway cars on the road outside and there, I sat, Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie in hand, and I Like Me Better playing in my earphones.
Me? Yep, Clove Solace, a 24 year old who thinks like a 16 year old teenager. Funny, right?
No.
I sometimes hate being the over thinker I am, but I usually blame it on how much I read and listen to music which is a big, fat, chubby lie. I've always believed that people have reasons which make them get out of bed every morning, make them want to live and enjoy another day. For me, its always been these books and my I-pod with its amazing playlists which I can drown myself into.
Growing up, I've always wanted to help people, make them smile and do things which make their day. It's nice how the simplest of kind acts make us feel so good not only about ourselves but the people we help. Sometimes, money is not all that matters, it's your joy, your happiness that makes you want to do something for others. That's why I had always wanted to pursue medicals, I wanted to save lives and atleast try to revive people of the pain which millions face every single day.
My parents had different plans.
I had always been a bright student, my strengths being in most science subjects and especially mathematics. Even though I wasn't a huge fan of arithmetics, algebras and geometries, logical sums have always been the most fascinating. Moreover, as a child, I used to love Physical Ed. and my parents had this strange inhibition to sign me up for karate at the age of 8. Not nice. I got beaten up quite a number of times, and I remember being dragged to the classes by my mother, while I cried shamelessly on the road. Yes, I used to hate it that much. I had reasons too actually, I used to be bullied a lot in school, and I had had enough.
But then I met Eloise, my best friend since high school, and everything suddenly became so much better and funnier.
Starting from eating our tiffins in the last bench in the very first period to pointing lasers at the teacher's back, she slowly changed into the sister I never had. Karate classes became enjoyable as we teased how bad we were and funnily enough, it was a competition who could be worse. But later on, I improved owing to my athletics and went on to states, national and international championships.
I don't know why but this made my parents think about me seeking a carrier in something challenging which according to them could be like the CIA. But after my 3 years of internships, I got a job in the FBI.