L3 - A letter, some love and damn luck (COMPLETED ✅)

Chapter 21

The colors you brought in my life,
Just won't fade away...

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L3 - A letter, some love and damn luck

Chapter 21

D A R S H A N

I sit with Hardik around the fire near didi. They had been making the whole dinner and the walking had made me hungry.

“I need food!”, I leaned back supporting my body by placing my hands on the ground.

“What? But we already ate the food”, Diya didi informed with a blank face and the other two girls nodded.

“Haaaaaa?! What are you saying?”, I asked, freaking out a bit.

“That's true. I had come earlier and we all waited for you. But you didn't show up, so we decided to eat the food”, Hardik said. No wonder, he was there before me.

“The least you could have done is wait for me”, I sobbed. I was literally hungry and being treated like a piece of trash by your friends doesn't do anything good.

“Oye... Don't be a cry baby. We were joking”, didi says and I look up.

“Wait, what?”, I asked her, again.

“We were joking”, she said again.

I scowl at her. I don't know how pathetic it must have looked. But you shouldn't joke like this to a hungry person.

“Here”, didi hands over the thormocol plate of rice and daal over it with the potato curry and cucumber salad beside it.

I look at her with gratuitous sparkles in my eyes.

“Hey, don't look at me like that. It doesn't change the fact that you ate my chocolate”, she said facing the other way.

“But you forgave me”, I tease her by poking her on the side.

“Shut up or I take your food back”, she threatens and I retreat. I don't want my food to be taken away.

“Ahh.. That was delicious”, I said with satisfaction as I ran my hand over my belly.

“If you work hard, everything tastes delicious”, Hardik said from beside me picking the food from the corner of his teeth with the help of a toothpick.

When did he become so comfortable with everyone else around?

“We will begin the game after thirty minutes.”, Sadhna said as she threw away the plates into the nearby dustbin, I didn't know that existed.

“So, what type of game is it going to be?”, I asked in enthusiasm.

“Well, you will partner with someone and the two groups take different routes. You will find two stones. For one team it is green and for the other it is red. So, you need to get both of those and get to the top of the mountain where there is a temple. You need to take both the stones so we know nobody cheated”, Sadhna explained as I listened carefully.

“It is somewhat similar to geo-catching”, Pri said from beside.

“What's geo-catching?”, I asked.

I hear a slap and I see Hardik slapping his forehead.

“Why do I have a dumbhead as you as my best friend?”, he dramatically asked.

“Well, be a good boy and answer my query”, I said giving him a lopsided smile.

“It's a game where you follow maps. Like, how I put this?”, he sat thinking.

“In this game, you follow maps and on the final destination, you find a treasure box in which there are treasures which are left by other people. You need to keep something exchange for any treasure you choose and pass on the map to someone else. It's sometimes used by the couples to propose each other not only to make it utterly romantic... But also for people who do not have courage to speak out their feelings. This is a great way to preserve the old treasure hunt game”, Pri explained and I see a glint in her eyes. She loved this game.

“You really love this game, don't you?”, Sadhna asked her.

“Yes. When my brother and dad were there, we used to do loads of it on weekends... ”, she trailed off.

Her father and older brother were a forbidden chapter. It wasn't opened so it kept hurting her.

Sadhna might have understood the discomfort, so she cleared her throat.

“I will go with Hardik and Darshan will go with Pri”, she cleared up.

“What? And here I thought it would be a boys vs girls”, Hardik said from beside me.

“Don't be a spoilsport, Hardik. Anyways, you wouldn't want that dumbhead to be your partner, would you?”, she raised her brows.

“Well... I am present, you know?”, I cocked my brow at both of them.

“Does that change that you are a fool?”, Hardik asked.

I puffed my cheeks.

“You are meany”, I stomped my foot.

“And you are a kid”, Hardik said poking my cheeks.

I hate it when someone does that.

“Well, let's start”, Sadhna said and guided us to the starting point.

“From here we take two different pathways... But they reach to the same temple so you don't need to freak out. You can use your phone to contact us if you get lost anywhere. Although there are villagers around to help... But still, if you find it risky, we would be there.”, Sadhna lessoned us.

“And, if the situation is mild, contact me.”, Didi came into the situation.

“You are going to be at the final point?”, I asked her.

“Yup yup”, she popped the 'p' twice.

“Then what are you doing here?”, I asked her.

“Keeping a watch on both of the teams”, she replied blandly.

“What are we? A bunch of kids jumping down each other's throat to win a pathetic game?”, I snorted.

“Well”, she seemed to think as she placed her forefinger and thumb on her chin. “You are way worse”, she stuck her tongue out.

My teeth clenched under the effect.

“Oh, now you see”, I said with raging flare booming from my body.

I grabbed Pri's hand and moved swiftly across the wood.

“Good luck, dear”, I hear her chime behind me.

Humph.

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// Hi hi hi... So basically, my exams are finally being conducted on August 18th, so there may not be any updates in between... And if there are... Then those won't be proofread ones... So, please pardon for any mistakes... Even Finally I found the energy to write this part due to a song that probably none of you know... But I love it already...Without grilling you any further, I will say, enjoy reading!! Love y'all//