"Gullu stop running!" a stern voice shrieked out.
The lady who was the source of the scream received many sympathetic looks from the pedestrians who, just like her, knew the struggles of being a mother.
Especially when the children choose to conveniently ignore their instructions.
Jivika on the other hand, was barely able to contain her excitement for this game called 'school'.
And like many other innocents, she was tricked into believing that a school was just like a park. Plenty of children of the same age, countless friends and lots of fun. These were the perks and packages promised on this offer.
As she ran past the gate, even the watchman was surprised to see a child with a smile on her face inside the school premises.
Standing still in the dusty ground, she raised her eyelashes, taking in the sight of the tall building and people in front of her. For a place which was supposed to be 'fun', she only had one adjective to describe it.
Strange.
Yes. First impression about her new school. Strange.
She gave a three sixty degree turn, trying to understand what's so special about the place, that her mother had to coax her into bringing her there and even fulfilled all her demands the weekend before.
Coming to think of it, she was sure that there was something wrong with that place. Otherwise her mother, who was strict and never spoilt her beyond a limit, had permitted her to do everything which generally held a stern "No" in the household, including playing in the rain.
Watching the curious eyes of her child, the mother realized, that the time had come for her daughter to start learning to be independent. And leaving her alone at her soon to be second home for the next twelve years, was the best way to have a start.
Leaving her alone in a whole new world.
As she took two steps back, Jivika filled with glee, got her hand clasped to her mother's and squealed, "Mamma, let's go. We are getting late!"
Taking a deep breath, the mother understood how difficult it was to be the reason of the disappearance of one's own child's smile. Composing herself with a small smile playing along her lips, she tried to make her little one understand, "No baccha [my child]. Mamma cannot come with you."
But for once the mother was wrong in predicting her child's emotions. Instead of the disappearance of the smile she had foreseen, the child's face was enveloped with a mask of curiosity, making her next question of a 'why?' obvious.
Jivika, who was often scolded for her silly questions, rather than making a query decided to assert a statement.
"But mamma, the wall says 'no mobiles' not 'no mamma'!" she exclaimed, her curiosity breaking all the walls of her self restraint.
The mother laughed. For a woman who herself was a teacher in another school, her students never seemed to have asked such interesting questions or make an intriguing declarations like this.
Seeing her mother laugh rather than scold her for asking such petty things, she smiled, having felt the feeling of achieving something impossible.
But as a teacher of the school requested all the parents to leave the premises, the mother-daughter moment abruptly ended.
The young girl was admiring her surroundings when suddenly a wailing interrupted her inspection.
There he was. Clutching onto his mother's scarf, blowing his nose over and over again as the unending tears flowed along his puffed up cheeks like a river.
Such. A. Mamma's. Boy.
As the crying boy caught the sight of a smiling Jivika, recognition flooded over his features, his instincts screaming that it was that 'red riding hood'.
"You!" he spoke slowly, as if testing the waters.
The delight of meeting a known stranger, helped her feel contented. At peace, knowing she at least had a friend in that strange place.
In both their cases, curiosity got the better of them. Catching his black and her brown ocean depths, seconds passed yet none of them realized.
She looked.
He looked.
They looked away.
And they looked back again.
~
A/N: First line: "Gullu" is a nickname. It means sweet or cute.
YOU ARE READING
Us │✔
Teen Fiction- ❝So Jivika beta, how are your tenth class going?❞ - That moment when you let out an awkward smile because talking to strangers was risky, and I wasn't the one who would speak to any random fellow who claimed to be my relative. And opting to correc...
