The Balcony

Chapter 8

A week went by from the day Naina had programmed the neighbour's number into her cell number and left merrily with a smile on her face. She messaged everyday wanting to know if anything new had happened. Kajal would either reply in the negative or change the topic. She didn't intend to message a person she had never met. She liked her life complication-free thank you very much!

Another thing that seemed missing was the noise. She had not heard the neighbour play the ghastly music in a week. Nor had she received a note. Not that she was wondering where this person was or anything. She appreciated her peace and quiet a lot and was falling back into her routine of some alone time with the sky and stars. That evening, she switched on the radio. It hadn't been working for a while. She banged on it a few times and it started working. She whooped and sat down next to it. That is when she realized that the music wasn't coming from the radio. It was coming from upstairs. It was actual music. And after listening to a few beats, she realized that it was beautiful. In the song, the guitar chords were slowly strumming. There were no words and somehow words weren't required. It felt like anything more would ruin the effect. She walked out on the balcony, wrote a note and threw it up. Her note read, "Now this is what we people on Earth call music."

The song kept playing. She didn't get a reply. She pulled out her bean bag and sat to look at her sky with the perfect background music for the first time. She pulled out her phone to record some of it. By the time she pressed the record button, the song came to an end. She blinked and found a ball swooping down into her balcony. She grabbed it and read "Um thanks?"

She asked, "Who is this artist? I like this song."

The returning note was "Me."

She felt her jaw drop. This person was a musician? She couldn't believe that someone who played noise for music everyday was capable of creating something so melodious.

She sent "Then why on earth have I been subject to what I can only categorize as loud noise for so many days?"

She got back "You really need to get out of your house more often."

She threw the next note with great force which said, "Away from your noise? Yes I agree. But I came here first remember?"

The returning note read, "I meant to get to know the world better. You're very territorial aren't you?"

She scoffed, "As though you go out that much! I hear you every day. Well except for last week."

The response made her speechless. It said, "So you missed me last week."

She threw a note that said, "Tons. Your absence is very noticeable to my ears."

The reply was "Very well. I will send you a memo when I go out again. Did I get the address right?

Earthling's Ears,

Balcony – Downstairs.

I shall use the usual mode of smiley ball messaging of course."

Unwillingly, she found a smile form on her lips. Begrudgingly, she realized that she found this person witty. She replied back with "I will extend you the same courtesy. Your address is

Juliet's Balcony,

Upstairs.

Am I right?"

The reply came back immediately. It read "Why am I the Juliet?"

She replied, "Fine. We are both Juliets then as we both have balconies."

The reply was "The Tale of The Plutonian and Earthling Juliets."

She laughed out loud at that. Unbeknownst to her, her neighbour heard her and smiled as well.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This is actually one of my favourite chapters so far which is why it was important. J In other important news, NaNoWriMo has begun. Therefore, I may not be that frequent in posting chapters for The Balcony. However, the story will continue. -S