THIS SIDE THAT SIDE

Longing in my dream

Arjun's POV

I opened my eyes and found myself bounded by some lonely white walls. There seems to be neither a door nor a window that can give me a peek of the outside world. I looked around trying to find an escape but all in vain. The walls seemed to be closing up on me. It was making me claustrophobic. I still was not giving up on finding an escape when suddenly a few pictures in the form of polaroids popped up on those walls. The polaroids are were now hanging all over the walls. Clipped on every portion of the walls, it seemed that the whole white walls were now a sphere of various images. I decided to take a closer inspection of the pictures only to find my childhood memories imprinted in them. A few of them depicted my new born self. I saw a picture of my mother holding me close to herself. My brother and my father standing beside me and looking at me with pride and warmth. My heart flinched at that image.

"I was indeed a cute kid." I giggled to myself and moved on to the next one.

There was a picture of a toddler me walking slowly with my elder brother. He held my small hands with his and I didn't realise when I started to smile at it. I remember how my brother used to act cold in front of everyone and then secretly come to my cot to play with me. He was my only company amidst all those money hogging people. I touched the picture lightly trying to suck in all those memories through my fingers.

"I miss those days Bhai..." My eyes were tearing up. The moments that we were spending together were now clouding my mind. I really wanted to go back to those days. I looked around only to find a few more pictures that showed the time when I was learning cycling, three of us playing together and going to school together. Mansi, Abhay and I- how beautiful those days were. I remembered how Mansi used to depend on me for everything. She used to be afraid because of Abhay's cold behaviour but eventually gets close to him as well. We used to play doll house where Mansi married her doll off with another male one. Abhay and I used to be the male doll's family while Mansi took care of the bride.

Suddenly a video started out of nowhere in the white wall- as if someone has played it on the projector. I smiled seeing the small younger Mansi running over to us. Her pink cheeks and fluffy lips that pouted on every little thing that displeased her were adorable.

"Aru!! Abhi!" I could see our younger selves being called out by her like that.

"Play with me!" She ordered. "it's Ginny and Ben's wedding. Come soon. You are Ben's family." She used to decide our roles for us and the clips showed how much we enjoyed being with each other.

"Whom do you want to marry when you grow up?" Abhay asked Mansi teasingly.

"Definitely Aru! He is very cool and friendlier than you." She hugged me close and stuck out his tongue at Abhay. We all started to laugh and continued to play. I turned away from the video and returned my gaze to the images.

The next photograph that I saw comprised of the time when my father passed away. He was a royal and was loved by everyone. I was just 15 years old when my father died due to a heart attack. I remember how that day my mother didn't shed a single tear for him. The next day, she took full responsibility as the reigning queen instead of dad. That's when the distance between us increased to a point where we couldn't turn it back. I was always the rebellious kid and my brother the quiet one. We were home schooled for most of the time until I was adamant to study in a University. I stayed in the USA for three years and slowly learnt to stay alone. Bhai decided to stay home schooled anyway. I guess that's when Mansi and Bhai got closer or was it meant to be all along. It doesn't matter cause now I have found someone I truly want to love and cherish. I started looking at the rest of the pictures. A few made me happy, a few made me sad and the rest were making me embarassed. I was indeed naughty in nature as a kid. Maa used to be so busy with the official royal procedures yet she would hurry to me whenever she heard I got hurt. It made me smile remembering how many times I have harmed myself intentionally, just to make her come to me. I was smiling more often now. Suddenly, I looked at the other side of the wall only to see an image of an unknown baby. It was a girl it seems wearing a yellow frock, she was playing with her soft toy all alone. Her smile- so familiar yet so unknown.