Us │✔

01│The Beginning

"Achoo!"

"Achoo!"

"AACHOOO!"

As they say, third time's the charm. For that's when the 'achooing' of the twenty-five-year-old stopped.

"This dust, you know..."

She trailed off, justifying an act that was no fault of hers. However, the grey-haired eighty-year-old was in no mood for listening and was quick to paste a look of disapproval on her once pretty features. The poor soul, tired and exhausted of her sneezing exercise, eyes closed and cheeks red, rested against the Banyan tree which stood at the center of the playground. Hoping that the girl she was supposed to be babysitting would not pose her any trouble, she decided to take a short nap.

A gust of the polluted air danced to its own tunes, tickling the olfactory senses of the nanny. Fortunately, her senses decided to give her a much-needed break. Instead, the chilly breeze assisted the leaves of the trees to flutter, creating a soothing sensation for the crowd assembled in the park.

The sun taking its own sweet time to sink, shone over the cycle stand near the park, as the brand new silver and chromium-plated cycle bells glinted, unlike their rusted counterparts which were disposed of in the corner.

The fluttering leaves finally, detached themselves from the branches letting the wind win the war of 'who's the strongest?' and fell over the blue hoarding placed in front of the park which read, 'Tulips Society Children's Park'.

Yes.

The very 'Tulips Society park' located in Ajanta Nagar [road] known for its popularity among the youth and dogs despite being a children's park. Among youth, it earned a good reputation for being a secluded place for their romance to keep budding along with the variety of unhealthy but delicious street food sold by the local vendors. And among dogs, for the unlimited access to fulfill their washroom business.

And that's why they say, "Be careful of what you step on!"

But inside the park, was the beginning of another story.

A story so interesting, that even the good ol' Parle G resting in the wrinkled hands of the old lady wanted to witness it. Sadly, before the first dialogue could be spit out, the biscuit dropped inside the simmering cup of chai, swirling into a handsome shade of brown.

A girl, around five years of age but not more than that, wrapped up in a red checkered tunic, tiny hands on her hips, stood glaring at the fellow Homo sapien who was unnaturally busy.

"What are you doing?" she asked the boy, loud yet not rude.

The boy around the same age chose to stay mum rather than facing the devil.

"Stupid," she continued, not discouraged by the lack of his reply, and instead, she chose to glare at his mud-stained hands. Her mother would've given her an earful had she seen the mess of mud anywhere in her line of sight.

"Rude," he muttered, not knowing how 'stupid' was the only word she had in her vocabulary at that age to describe his actions, quite the same way how 'rude' was all he had to express his remorse over her thoughts.

The young girl would probably have been thinking along the lines of 'his audacity!' had she been taught that word by her nanny.

She was becoming accustomed to his few words while he to her seething glare.

The twenty-five-year-old nanny feeling better from her short nap, let her voice reach the girl in red, "Jivi beta [child], let us go home, you have homework to complete." The child was unintentionally disappointed.

"Five minutes more! Please!" she begged not wanting to give up without a fight.

The nanny who wanted to reach home and cuddle with her cozy blanket was used to the child's tantrums. And as usual, she whisked her away, easily cajoling her with a Dairy Milk worth five bucks.

'Sharing is caring,' the moral of the bedtime story of the night before, echoed through the thoughts of our young Jivika.

But was the sacrifice of the silky and heavenly chocolate worth it?

Deciding to stick to her morals, she took a U-turn, marching to the boy with the muddy hands. Detecting a presence behind, the boy turned, groaning at the sight of the 'preaching red riding hood'.

Glancing back and forth at the chocolate and her, he concluded that perhaps this time it was not for another lecture.

"Had your hands not been dirty, you would have been holding half of this Dairy Milk right now!" she said, giving out a dramatic performance and walked back to her nanny.

As she walked out of the park, both the heads jerked up at the same time.

She looked.

He looked.

They looked away.

And they looked back again.

~