Coming Home!!

Chapter 1

Humming echoed in the room as she started playing the notes on guitar strings. Her soft fingers played each chord beautifully. The room was lavishly decorated with musical records ranging from the early 60's to latest, ceiling with a beautiful chandelier shaped like diamonds dangling from the top; the wooden floor and the sky-colored walls contrasted with each other. In the corner, there was a grand piano in shiny black and on the other side of the room were guitars of different colors and types.

The soulfulness of her voice surrounded the room. Her brown hair glowed as sunlight entered the room through the giant French Windows. She was dressed in a floral white blouse with a vest above blue denim. She closed her eyes on high notes. Her audience was a small, white Yorkshire terrier who listened with concentration. Placing the guitar on the nearby stand, she tossed a smile at the dog, adjusting her square-rimmed glasses. The pup barked wagging its tail. She laughed and picked it up, "Vanilla, you naughty girl. You just listen to me sing so that we can go outside and play after that."

The pup licked her face. She placed her down and walked to the large glass door, which led to a beautiful garden. Vanilla ran past her to the lush green grass. She followed her tying her hair in a ponytail with a scarf. The scent of blooming flowers has filled up the air. Taking off her sandals, she walked barefoot on the grass towards her favorite lilies. Sitting on the ground, she felt the cool breeze on her face. This was what home felt like. She lay on the grass and watched the sky, which had a fat-man shaped cloud. She sat when she heard barking. Vanilla was chasing after a squirrel. Smiling at her dog, she placed her chin on her knees and remembered the time Vanilla first came to the house. She had chased a squirrel for hours. She noticed Vanilla rolling in mud. Her white coat had turned earthy with her face still half-white. She called out, "Vanilla, bad dog. No rolling in the mud"

Vanilla came running to her and shook off. She cried, "Vanilla, I don't want to get dirty like you. Why do you always bathe me too?"

She half-stretched before sitting in front of her and started licking her paws. Suddenly, Inaaya heard someone call out, "Inaaya"

Turning her head, she saw a woman standing on the stairs of the magnificent house. 'Inaaya' the name given to her by her grandmother. Her grandmother always used to say that she fell in love with her the second she saw her. She started admiring the house that people used to call 'Nanda mansion'. She could only see her home. A place that became her home when she was seven.

"Inaaya, you are going to stay with Grandpa and Grandma for a while. It is just for a few days" a tall man told a seven-year-old who had tears running down her face. She had her eyes swollen from crying and looked like a mess. She hugged the man saying, "You will come back right? You know I didn't do anything. Please, dad, I didn't do it"

The man had dark black hair and brown eyes, which looked directly at her daughter. She wanted to stop him and beg him to take her along with her. He kissed her cheek saying, "Yes, I'll come back for you soon"

He started murmuring something to her grandfather while her grandmother tried to make her stop crying. Then he drove away. She was up all night crying. Next day, her grandmother made her favorite meal and took her to the library where she found her love...Books. She would spend hours in there reading every page of every classic near the windowpane, which had a view of the driveway. She waited for her parents to drive in every day and every night she returned to her room disappointed. She did not noticed when those few days turned into years.

Wiping her tears, she turned to Vanilla saying, "Its lunch time V. Let's go"

The dog jumped on her feet and started following her to the house. The white building with glass windows and doors had featured in many magazines as a dream house. It had lush green gardens around with a thick fifty feet wall separating the outside world. The security system was well equipped, as each person was required to give his or her identification at the large black gate at the end of the bricked pavement.

Inaaya hopped on each stair imitating Vanilla. At the top of the stairs stood a woman who was in her sixties smiling at her children. Her smile made her wrinkles lift up. She was dressed in a navy blue shirt and black pants. Her hair, which had strands of grey, was tied in a loose bun. She looked tired but her eyes shined bright as she picked up the dog saying, "Is she bothering you?"

Inaaya laughed, "Granny, she ruined my shirt, again"

Grandmother put her down and smiled, "Then you should stop her from playing in the mud"

"But I did" she commented. The old woman brushed her little strands of hair saying, "Sweetie, you don't know how to give orders. You have to make her respect you. She only loves you right now. She will not listen to unless you say it with authority"

Inaaya glanced at Vanilla who was staring at her, "But I don't want to raise my voice on her"

Grandmother laughed, "Don't scold her. Just say it a little loudly. You have to learn to speak a little loud if you want to be heard. You keep everything bottled up, that's the only problem"

She sighed, "Are we still talking about Vanilla or in general?"

"What do you think?" Grandmother raised her brow. Inaaya clapped her hands and turned to Vanilla, "V, let's go and eat lunch. C'mon"

She ran inside the house when her grandmother cried, "You have to get those years out of you"

Shaking her head, she walked into the house.