"Alright, it's 12 noon. Deal or not?"
I couldn't look at him, so I stared at the beauty in front of me. Somehow I knew he was watching it too.
I felt like we were characters of a famous story, standing side by side, gazing ahead.
I hesitated, my he...
We started walking, none of us knowing where to go next. I didn't even feel the need to go somewhere. Wherever we stood seemed like a perfect place for sightseeing. We were in heaven, the most dangerous one there exists. We continued walking on the road in a comfortable silence. I looked at him, he was busy looking at beauty around too. Manali is one of the most beautiful places of India. It's been 24 hours since I came here and I still don't feel the need to go somewhere special to enjoy the beauty of this place. The air had a different hint of peace around here.
It was obviously cold, even at 3 in the afternoon there was no hint of the sun even existing. And I had the sudden realization that it's 3. I spent the last 3 hours with a stranger, a stranger I'm going to be spending the next 21 hours with. The good thing was it didn't suck, and even if something happens that would suck, I wouldn't be alone to handle it.
We walked for another twenty minutes before we reached yet another beauty.
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I waited, my eyes wide open. It was so beautiful I was afraid it's going to disappear the moment I close my eyes. Remember those innocent dreams you saw when you were a kid? One that didn't involve money or success or fame. One that was the result of just your imagination and the eyes you saw the world with. It had no complications, just a beautiful place and you, happy. And then adulthood did it dirty with dreams that hijacked those and changed it with dreams of a never ending thirst. Thirst for fame and power and money and success and with all of these, you left out happiness. For these to fulfill you worked hard, so hard that you forgot that a younger version of you would forever be ungrateful to you for this. He would miss himself when he was free of unnecessary thirst, and looked at life like it was meant to be. I was lost in the scene, it seemed fictitious. Fortunately, there was a hand right next to me who held on to me as I finally closed my eyes, capturing the picture forever. It must have been more than a few moments because I felt him tugging at my hand, he was a few steps farther, wanting for me to continue. I walked, loving how it feels. Loving how I had never felt something like this before. If I had the money, I could have bought a house there and stayed there forever. In that moment, nothing mattered, not my life back in my city, not anyone I knew, just me and an unfamiliar paradise.
After staying for about 20 minutes on the bridge, we started walking again.
"You looked quite amazed back then." He said. "I was, I have never seen something so beautiful before." still remembering the glimpses of it. "Me neither" his voice was low, thoughtful.
And there it was, my obsession to connect more, know more. There, I wanted to ask about him, even though just three hours ago I had promised myself I won't. I won't let this stranger any close to me then he already is. I wouldn't ask for anything about him. Strangers don't hurt you, close ones do. Reluctantly, I tried something else.
"You like where you live?" I asked, trying to frame the words correctly. You don't anger a stranger you trusted with your life. Funnily enough the 'stranger' seemed odd adjective for him.
"I don't like my home." He said. His voice was devoid of the blunder of emotions it held a few moments back. However, the absence I felt the most was love. I could tell he hated it, and I could tell I would ruin it.
I was never good with confrontations, I was afraid I will ruin our small agreement with my not so thoughtful mouth. So I stayed quiet.
He didn't speak either, and we kept walking.
"You afraid of me?" He startled me, first with his sudden speech and then with his question. Have I finally triggered his psycho killer button? Is this the time he finally decided to kill me?
"Why do you ask that?" I tried to counter. My voice stayed firm, I had a feeling my mind just had a panic attack.
"Just felt that before, I'm not a killer, just so you know" he smiled at me, and for some reason I believed him. I smiled back. He's not going to kill me.
