Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2020 (Judge's Choice) in the New Adult category.
~*~
"The lights are cheeky, you can't live without them, and yet if you get too close, they'll blind you. Darkness? Well it doesn't cheat. It's cool and soothing. It's r...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
There was a game Madhu used to play in eighth grade with her friends. It was called Loser's Luck and the idea was that a bunch of them would come up with the worst possible scenarios. Whosoever had their turn would have to shout that out in front of the entire class during break.
The lunch breaks of one week were so eventful, it was impossible for Madhu to eat her fried rice in peace without some random classmate shouting, "loser's luck! When I'm thirty my best friend is going to be a lizard and I'll lick her butt daily!"
When she found herself stranded on a deserted road in the middle of a forest, with a seemingly unconscious man in a crashed car, Madhu couldn't help but feel that this was a way of Loser's Luck coming true.
The absence of cell reception had made her mobile useless and her brain seemed to have given up on her.
Walking closer to the driver's side, she noticed that the pundit had no obvious signs of injury. If she didn't know better, she would've assumed he was sleeping.
Just as Madhu was about to prod him through the rolled down window, he moved and made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a snort, before loudly uttering the words, "HARI AUM!"
His voice was loud, the kind of voice priests develop after chanting complex mantras on a daily basis. It reverberated through the canopy of trees and Madhu stumbled back in alarm, feeling that atheists had a point when they claimed clergymen were unhinged.
Even after having created enough distance between herself and the pundit, Madhu stood rooted to the ground, transfixed, as she watched the middle-aged man step out and examine the place where the Maruti had hit the tree, clicking his tongue at the damaged bonnet. He was a plump guy, with round red cheeks and a circular dimpled chin, one that he was currently rubbing, as if in deep thought.
Chikki had started barking at the sight of the pundit. Out of the corner of her eye, Madhu could see him trying to wrestle free from his belt.
"I hope you're not hurt," came the voice of the man from over his shoulder, as he surveyed the punctured tires. "Lost your way huh Madhulika?"
Her mouth gaped open. "Did you jus...how do you know my name?"
He straightened up, caramel eyes doing a once over of her face. "Your nose."
"Pardon?"
"You inherited your father's nose," he said, looking amused at her shocked expression. "Mahesh and I were...what does your generation call it now?"
"Friends?" She made a tentative guess.
"Ah yes, friends! Best friends in fact. We grew up together."
Madhu finally relaxed. He was Papa's childhood friend, must still live in Bhabra too. She decided to trust him.
"Do you need a lift unc...eeh Kaka?" She almost said uncle but that word was too urban and sounded foreign here in the countryside, hence she switched to the traditional term instead.
