1.3 | Under The Pink Evening Sky | ✓

8 | the field trip

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Sana sat at the backseat, beside Shrest and Vihan, on the bus. She stared out the window.

All the 6th grade classes were getting a break from their dreary classrooms and even drearier textbooks. They were going on a field trip to a Tulip field.

Most people, who had been expecting to go to a hill station or the coast, were disappointed with the destination but settled for it, in the end. Sana, however, had been excited since the beginning. She usually skipped field trips, since they were too pricey and she wanted to focus on her studies instead. This time, however, she informed her mother that she was going, surprising Madhu.

"Look at her leg, it's bouncing." Shrest commented, munching on his chips. "Are you really that excited to see the field?"

Sana eyed him. "I am."

"Why do you like tulips so much anyways?"

Sana faltered. "There isn't any particular reason. I just really like tulips."

Shrest hummed, munching on another chip.

"Guys, I sneaked in my earphones and mp3 player." Vihan suddenly whispered. Sana and Shrest stared at him. "Why did you think that was a good idea?"

"I don't know." Vihan whispered back.

Sana's eyes narrowed as she recollected something her deskmate had said. "I heard that there would be a check on our bags before we are let into the field."

Vihan slowly turned his head to the front, his face drained and devoid of colour. "I'm so dead."

"You are." Shrest agreed. "What flowers would you like me to bring to your funeral?"

"I don't know? Tulips? Since we're going to a tulip field."

"I don't think they'll let me pluck a tulip, though." Shrest commented.

"You can't even pluck a flower for your friend's death?"

"I'm not going to cause myself all that trouble for you."

"What a fake friend. Sana, please tell me you will pluck a flower for me."

Sana smiled, her sweetest one and then looked away.

Vihan, "...."

I have made friends with the wrong crowd.

Finally, they reached the Tulip garden. It was not too hot for a summer day. A cool breeze swept through the flowers and reached for the kids standing in a queue at the entrance. They were being slowly let in.

As soon as Sana entered, she raced in and gazed at the various tulips of different colours. Her eyes lit up.

"Everyone, you can enter into the field but be careful to not wander beyond the white line painted over there. There may be insects and snakes around."

This created a round of murmurs between the students, who immediately froze up when they heard the word 'snakes'.

Vihan and Shrest followed behind an enchanted Sana, as her eyes tried to take in each flower carefully.

"I'm glad they didn't check my bag." Vihan released a sigh of relief. "But what are we gonna do now? Gaze at flowers?"

Shrest shrugged.

"This is so boring. If I had a camera, I could've passed the time by clicking photos."

Shrest shrugged again. He unwrapped the lollipop he had carried with him and put it in his mouth, feeling the flavor. It was a strawberry lollipop that Sana had given to him.

Sana walked through the field, brushing past the flowers and occasionally gracing them with a fleeting touch.

Shrest noticed that she hadn't taken notice of the white line so he called out to her, "Sana, watch out-"

Shrest paused as he gazed at the scene in front of him. She turned around, staring at him with wide, confused eyes.

Amidst a field of flowers of many different colours, she stood, her own beauty magnified by the beauty surrounding her.

Shrest could not get any word past his mouth. He simply stared at her, his lollipop now pulled out of his mouth.

Vihan glanced between the two of them. Then, he took initiative to say what Shrest had wanted to say. "You're going past the white line. You're not allowed to do it. It's dangerous."

Sana turned back around, seeing the white line under her feet. "Oh." She moved back a few steps. "Thank you for letting me know."

On the bus ride back, Shrest sat in the corner seat and frantically sketched on his sketchbook, the intensity of his strokes scared both Vihan and Sana.

"What in the world happened to him? He hasn't said one word since we went to the field." Sana asked.

Vihan watched him carefully. He knew none of their words were getting through to Shrest. He was in a world of his own, at that moment. Vihan's mind went back to the time Shrest watched Sana, entranced.

"Huh. I wonder."

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