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Lonely musings - 1 (Ft. Mahi and Sachin)

Lonely musings - 1 (Ft. Mahi and Sachin)

A/N - Just tiny little stories. Didn't want them to be lonely; so shared. The first one.

What a lovely surprise to finally discover how unlonely being alone can be." — Ellen Burstyn

Sachin was roaming around, trying hard to find someone to talk to. The days were getting too quiet and he did not like it. He longed for the days when Sourav and Rahul would gang up to figure out his pranks before he could execute them.

When Anil would grumble and Laxman would genially smile when he would still get away with the prank despite the duo's best efforts.

The walls now echoed with the rebound waves of quietude. Even the sound of the ball hitting his bat thrummed too loud. He needed people to talk to. It did not matter if it wasn't to him. He just needed them to speak.

In general.

"Ouch." Sachin looked up to find a wall standing rather inconveniently right in front of him. "What are you doing here? I am Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. You really want to go up against me?"

"It is a wall, Paaji, not a bowler."

The soft, mischief-peppered reply came from somewhere next to him and Sachin turned around.

"Mahi! Hello."

"Hi." And of course, the boy blushed. His hero worship was rather off the charts.

"What are you doing here, MS?"

The boy shrugged, his hair having fallen messily over his shoulders. "Just having a walk."

"At..." Sachin looked at his watch. "At 1.46 A.M. In the morning?"

"Not sleepy."

"You could have gone to Sourav, or Rahul. You need your sleep."

A young head cocked in a silent question. "You are looking tired too, Paaji." A pause. "Sorry." Added as an afterthought.

"Now don't be formal, Mahi. You just caught me talking with a wall. A freaking wall! I must be more tired than I realized."

"Then shouldn't you sleep?"

Coming from anyone else, it would have been a jibe, but not here. Mahi placed the words rather earnestly.

"But of course." Sachin reached out and patted MS's cheek. "I will, in some time."

"Ok."

"Only..."

Mahi had started to walk away when Sachin heard himself speak again.

"Only?"

"It is too lonely. I miss their talks."

Sachin did not know exactly why he was speaking of these things , especially to Mahi. They were not especially close, though it was not due to any lack of effort from Sachin's side. Mahi just preferred his own company and took his time to get close to anybody.

"Dada and Rahul Bhai's?"

Sachin started walking and Mahi fell into step next to him.

"Yeah. Them. My friends. Who used to be best friends."

"And now?"

Sachin shook his head. "They are cordial; I should be thankful for small mercies I guess."

There was utter silence for so long that Sachin looked over at Mahi; the boy was in deep thought.

"Then you can speak to them, can't you? Like together? They do not need to speak to each other per se. They can speak to you."

"Huh?" Sachin gaped, feeling quite like a fish out of water. "What?"

"Just a thought." And Mahi blushed. "It is stupid, isn't it?"

"Stupid?" Sachin shook his head and himself. "No Mahi. Actually, it is not. Far from it. It makes sense."

"It does?" And Mahi's face lighted up.

Sachin felt a wave of affection drag him under and he pulled the boy into a brief hug. "It kinda does. I will do that." And with a final pat to the youngster's cheek, he started walking towards Rahul's room, fully intent on dragging him to Sourav's.

"Now? I mean it is very late."

"Oh they deserve it all all the work I am having to put into this. Loneliness is quite something, isn't it?"

"What is loneliness?"

And as the words reached Sachin's ears, he smiled; MS Dhoni is quite something and he would grow to be even better. Sachin would make sure of that.

And now to give Dravid the fright of his life and extract some revenge.

A/N - I do hope that you do not completely hate it. Very short.

I may write a few more if the inspiration strikes. Chalega?

Take care and Thanks.