Silver Dreams

✔️How they met

As she gazes at the dark sky filled with shining lanterns and lights as if trying to say that 'hold on ,this is not the end' . For Riya the festival of kites had always been dear to her . She gazes at the beautiful fireworks as tears roll down her cheeks. Sound of footsteps echoed in the staircase connected to the terrace. Quickly she rubbed the trace of tears as if trying to rub the sadness away too and she faked a smile .

There he, Anurag entered the terrace . Both looked at each other , each gaze holding more emotions than the other. Slowly Anurag moved towards her and took her in his arms . She broke down as soon as his arms caged around her. She could not hide her feelings from him ,this was the way they worked . Both of them sat on the terrace in the silence of their mouths whereas their eyes were speaking different shades of emotions . Loud music from the neighbourhood could be heard when she  broke the silence," Remember this was the day we met five years ago ." Both got lost in the memories with a smile .

Five years ago, thirteen year old Riya with big specks on her face and with her only two best friends ,Aisha and Samira was roaming the hallways of their school St. Mary Jones when they heard the gossip about a new student enrolling in their standard. It was not unheard of a new student joining but the fact that it was a good- looking boy and that he had beaten their school football team captain in a friendly game on his first day in the school made him even more popular. Riya never understood the school hierarchy and thought of it as stupid. She was socially awkward and was little introvert . She was friendly and people liked her . She had a younger brother whom she loved to death and she had a loving family.

For Riya her dreams were her soul goal. She believed that a person without dreams is one life wasted. She every year on the day of  the festival of Uttrayan would release some balloons tied together. This year as an experiment she even sent an attached letter. The letter said:

Dear stranger

Looks like you found my balloons. I am someone who is thirteen years old and lives in Ahmedabad . I personally love the festival of Uttrayan and hope you do to. It was an experiment that I was going to do with my friends . Well obviously they chickened out at the last minute. I would have given my address but I am afraid that you might turn out to be a kidnapper . Well if you want to find me then I study at St. Mary Jones school . I personally would love a reply but then again it depends on who gives it . Wish you luck for the rest of your life.

Yours faithfully
Ri

On the other side ,Anurag would never have thought that the balloons that he caught would have such a message. He had recently shifted from Mumbai and had still not got used to the new environment . He had thrown a tantrum that he had to leave his friends behind but as you see that had failed . For Anurag , life was easy . He had younger sister to trouble and parents who loved him.

Anurag had big dreams to someday be knowledgable enough to save lives. He had seen his grandmother die because there were not enough doctors and resources. So , his dream was to save as many people as he can from the trauma of someone dear leaving them behind. He knew that he was not God and that not all can be saved but he believed that 'It is better to save few than none'.
Anurag was stupefied with the message on balloons and was hell bent to find the girl behind the written letter. He never put much thought on the topic of girls but this girl who wrote the message ignited something in him, he felt a pull towards her, like a voice deep down in his head calling him. He was on top of the world to see that the girl who wrote the message goes to the same school and is in the same standards set him. "Give me list of girls in our standard whose first initials are 'Ri' ". He demanded to his new friends.

" Why? " his new bestie Raghav asked . He explained the incident which ignited the feeling of curiosity in the group of young boys. Anurag was determined to find the girl behind the message because this was They ended up with having two names - Riya and Rita . By the time they got the result, the case of the incident had spread across the whole standard. When Anurag asked Rita if she was the girl who sent the message , Rita replied positively and said, " Oh! You found me . I was the one who wrote it. " But Anurag caught the lie in the manner she spoke and said," Of course we would find you. I mean you wrote your name , right? ". Rita said "Yeah".

And there she was caught. " But you said there was no name. There was only 'Ri' written, right ?" Asked Raghav. "Yes,and this proves that Rita was lying." Rita grew pale and was embarrassed to death as all the people in the corridor started laughing at her. She was ridiculed as she said to Anurag,"You are so mean." To which he only laughed.

Later when he saw Riya talking with her friends he went and asked if she was the one who wrote to which Riya said "Yeah , so?" Anurag then asked for her address to which she replied sarcastically,"Why should I give you my address? What if you turn out to be a stalker or worse a kidnapper!" Anurag started laughing and said " You are the one". To which Riya gave him a blank look.

Riya looked at the new boy as if the language he is speaking did not make sense. She thought 'Oh god , why are boys so stupid . Why can't they say anything sensible'. Anurag was happy to have found the girl who wrote the letter. When he explained to her that he was the one who had gotten the balloon and the note, Riya was astonished. She never would have thought that her balloons would end up with the new boy , whose name she did not know .Anurag as if reading her thoughts said "Hi ! I am Anurag .Nice to meet you . "