THOSE DAYS

The fall

As soon as I reached home , the first thing I did was to wash Arlo's shirt . I was washing it by hand with full care and with caution because if anything happened to his shirt , he would really make my life a living hell . To be honest, a lot of girls would want to wash his shirt willingly unlike me . First , I was too lazy to do that extra work and second, I don't want to invite bad luck myself. As I was washing it , my brother, Harry came in . As soon as he saw that shirt he started to say

" Are you washing boy's shirt . It is so big "
"You want to be beaten again right ? "
"It's you who should be beaten right now . You actually help boys wash clothes . Puppy love "
" You're a little kid . Do you know what puppy love is ? Harry , let me tell you . I would ask our parents to not let you watch those serials . Then They won't let you watch TV anymore ."
"Then I'll also have to tell our parents that you help boys to wash clothes . And your puppy love. "
" Are you threatening me !? Do you dare to say it again!? "
"Catherine is in love . She washes boys clothes "
"Shut up "
As soon as I asked him to stop , he started to run while screaming ' Catherine is in love ' . I also ran to catch him but he started to run in the colony while I was running behind to catch him with my own hands and give him a serious beat . We both ran till we reached near an old big tree which was just near our locality , not much far from our house. He started to climb that tree while I followed him till we both realised that we were struck up there . We both sat on the brach and grabbed it with both our hands. We were too scared to even scream at that time . It was just then that some aunts approached towards us and started to talk to themselves instead of helping us . I was so annoyed till One of them finally said

" It's too dangerous. Let me bring the ladder, you just hold it tightly. Don't fall .... don't move . I'll come right away "
We should have been relieved by hearing those words but we felt no sense of relief. Instead me and Harry started to quarrel again

" Harry ! Why did you run away ? "
" Isn't that you chasing me ? "
" I chased you ? You didn't had to climb up to the tree . We can't get off now . Do you know that ? "
" I just tried to hide from you "
" Harry just hold tight , someone will definitely come to our rescue "
" Sister, you also hold tight "
" Harry ! I can't hold on any....more...!"
" Me too sister "
" Harry ! Don't move and don't leave your grip. Just hold on for some more time"
" I'm afraid sister , I don't want to die , I'm even younger than you "
" Just don't talk nonsense, you won't die falling from here but why is that auntie still not here ? "

I was too scared and it felt like after just a moment , I would loose all my power and fall down , just then I saw a sound of a ball being dribbled . I called for help just to see that the person approaching was Arlo. I nearly forgot that we lived in the same neighborhood for a moment . He came towards me and laughed while saying

" Oh ! So a pig can climb trees also . Can you come down ? Do you need any help ? "
"Can't You just shut up at this moment "
" Harry ?? Why are you there, too ? Harry, jump down ,brother will catch you "
" No !!! It's too risky. If you can't catch him , he'll get hurt ! "
" Can't you see that he can't hold on anymore ? Come Harry, you jump . Just believe brother. okay !? "
" Harry , don't! "
I was just worried about my brother getting hurt , even though I didn't like him at most but still I had to play the role of a responsible elder sister. I saw Harry slowly loosing his grip while Arlo was all ready to catch him anytime . I asked Harry not to jump but either way we had no other choice. Just then Harry jumped from above and Arlo catched him successfully . It was a sense of relief to see him safe now but I didn't knew what would happen to me . I was quite relieved till I heard both of them speaking

" Brother Arlo, you are really amazing "
"It's nothing"
"Sister , you also jump down . Brother Arlo will catch you too ."
" No , don't... don't..with your sister's weight, my both arms will be broken . Let me do something. Catherine, try to come down by yourself. Don't be scared , I'm down here to protect you in case you fall "
"Okay let me try "
" Come down slowly . Be careful okay ? "
I slowly started to climb down myself but my hands were paining as hell . I was sure that my hands were filled with bruises till now . I saw Arlo standing just beneath me , holding his hands up in effort to save me . I slowly tried to come down but my hand pained so much that I couldn't hold anymore . My grip slowly loosened by itself till I fell down. I closed my eyes tightly but I couldn't sense any pain after landing in the ground. It felt like nothing happened till I saw Arlo lying under me . I was so happy that I was saved so I started to talk again

"I didn't die ! I'm still alive ! "
"You're alive but I'll be dead if you don't get up ."
" Harry , are you alright, did you get hurt ?"

I got up and checked Harry if he was not fine or got hurt in any case . Arlo got up and was fine like always. I wasn't that heavy as he mentioned so I knew that he was completely fine . I was seeing if Harry also had bruises in his hands till Arlo spoke again

" Catherine, I saved you . How do you want to thank me ?"
" I didn't beg you to do that ! "
" Sister , you can't do this , brother Arlo saved us anyways "
" See , your brother is right "
" Harry ! I haven't settled the account with you . Do you know that ?"
Just then Harry escaped my grip and hid himself behind Arlo. I was just so mad at him at that moment but he was running away instead of facing me . I started to run to catch Harry. We both ran in rounds with Arlo at the centre till Harry started to shout again

"Is it my fault that you are in puppy love "
Just then Arlo came between us and holded Harry with his one hand while blocking me from catching Harry from the other hand . Just then He started to question Harry
"Wait ! Your sister is in love ? "
"Yes , she did laundry for a schoolboy. "
"Catherine, you did laundry for a schoolboy, you..."
He was laughing while saying those words till I thought he finally realised what Harry was talking about. It was none other than his own shirt . His laugh faded slowly when He started to contemplate Harry's words till finally speaking again

" Were you washing my school uniform?"
Why did he had to say it in front of Harry to make the scenario even worst than it already was. Just then Harry started to talk his mind again

"Okay , so sister is in love brother Arlo? "
"Knock it off . I washed his clothes but I'm not in love with him. I won't say anything else . Let's go home now ."
I grabbed Harry from his shoulder and dragged him and headed towards our home till I heard Arlo's voice from behind.

" Catherine, could you reconsider about the provincial sports meeting? "
" I told you already..."
" I asked you to reconsider, not to make the decision just now. Look , if you make up your mind , we'll wait for you after class . If you really don't want to do it then forget it . Okay see you later, bye Harry "
I stood there with Harry while watching Arlo grab his basketball and tuck it under his arms while walking away . I really didn't knew why he wanted me to participate so bad . Maybe there was something which I didn't knew about the game or maybe Arlo had a hidden selfish motive for doing so but whatever the reason was , I was already determined to study instead of wasting my time in the competition. My mind told me to study instead of wasting my time but my heart told me to participate and do what I was good at and loved to do . I got confused everytime I talked to Arlo about participating in the game but it was exact the opposite when I talked to Lucas. Lucas was so good at comforting someone and supporting their decisions no matter if it wasn't in his own favour or not . But Arlo? He made me rethink my decisions till I thought that I only made the wrong choice in the first place

It's true that
Trouble always followed me when I was near Arlo