Restarting Life

Chapter Three

We finished watching National Treasure series while munching popcorn and the strawberry pie. I liked the first movie better. My mom loved the second one. In my opinion, it is just too hard to beat the original. Since there was still time to get the lunch started, my mom decided to watch some rom-com movie. Twenty minutes in the movie, I excused myself and went up to my room to do some unpacking. I started arranging all my things in their appropriate places. Starting with clothes, I opened my closet and took out all the hangers to lay them on my bed. Soon I finished unpacking all my clothes, hanging all the dresses and few tops, folding jeans and leggings and finally arranging them in the closet. Moving on to the bathroom, I started organizing towels, toiletries, medications and other bathroom items. There were still few miscellaneous things left to unpack like accessories, shoes and finally the last box marked 'Books'. Feeling tired and hungry after doing so much work I went downstairs to feed my growling stomach and quench some thirst. It was way past lunch time and I saw my mom coming out of the kitchen.

"I was about to call you." she said as soon as she saw me.

"You didn't have lunch yet?" I asked her.

"No, I wanted to finish watching the movie." She said with a goofy smile. "Please take these plates to the table while I clean a bit around here." she said pointing to the kitchen counter. I took them to the table together with two glasses of water. After placing the spoons and forks I sat on a chair waiting for my mother. We ate in silence. After waiting sometime, initially thinking she will start a conversation, I got lost in my thoughts as silence prevailed between us. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It seemed like she was pre-occupied in her own thoughts. I wondered what I am going to do all day long around here. I don't know anyone and had nothing to do with anyone. I decided that I will go out exploring the neighborhood and find out what places are there near our house after lunch.

"Don't you want to go out and explore nearby places?" I heard my mom's voice pulling me out of my thoughts.

I smiled and replied, "I was thinking the exact same thing. I will go after lunch." After all these years it still amazes me every time how she is able to tell what is on my mind. Soon after finishing lunch I helped mom clear the table and went up to my room to freshen up. Coming out of the bathroom, I glanced at the time on my phone. It was 4 o'clock. Minutes later I skipped down the stairs after pocketing my phone and checking whether I have my wallet and keys with me.

I yelled from the door, "I am going out, Mom" and left. I decided to walk around and hoped to find some place interesting. I walked around the corner through the lane to the main street and saw all the tall buildings along the paved streets. A sequence of trees aligned both the sides of the roads creating a canopy like setting. I spotted a grocery store, one tattoo parlor and a hair salon along with many other small shops. At the end of the street there was a small beige colored board which read public library in bright red font. I was glad to have found a library that too within walking distance from my house. I always have found solace while reading. No matter which situation I am stuck in, a little bit of reading managed to make me feel better every time. I went inside and soon could enjoy the sweet musky smell of books and the kind of silence one could find only at libraries. I stood still at the door and closed my eyes for one second to take in the moment. A bit later I realized that I might look like a fool standing at the door with eyes closed, so I quickly opened my eyes and my sight roamed around different racks and shelves of books as I scanned the genres. At last I found what I was looking for - the crime and mystery, my favorite genre. My hand was touching different books as I passed by them to the crime and mystery rack. The feeling of many books beneath my hands was soothing. I was going through the novels when I heard loud voices of people talking. I turned and saw two girls speaking to each other with wild hand gestures. When one of them turned facing towards me I recognized her as Kiara, the girl from the morning who gave me delicious strawberry pie. I hesitated in approaching her. I wondered whether I should go over there and talk to her or just stay here and mind my own business. It's not like I know her and I definitely don't know her friend. I thought to myself would it be rude to not go talk to her after I saw her.