Destructive Distraction

“Dude. I am seriously bored now”, said Rahul who was trying to kill a mosquito. “Yeah! Man. Me too”, said Arav, who was just staring at the wall. The four friends had gathered at Rahul’s House to pass the time. But they were bored out of hell as nothing was exciting to do. “What about a game?”, asked Rohit. “See I don’t want to play any childhood games like Truth and Dare now. We are grown-ups man like we are all in our Mid 20’s”, said Parth. “Okay! What about a different game”, said Rahul. “Like what?”, asked Arav. “Mmmm…This may sound boring but there is a game known as the Quote game”. Parth cleared his throat and said,” Hey dude. I said we are grown-ups. I didn't say we are living in Old-Age homes”. Both Rohit and Arav laughed. “No Dude. Just listen to what I am about to say”. “Okay Rahul Granpa please speak”, said Parth and started laughing. Rohit and Arav also started laughing. Rahul made a face and finally killed the mosquito which he was trying to kill and then started,” See. In this game, we say a quote to each other and then to whom the quote is asked, that person should say the name of the person who originally said that quote”. “Looks good. Never played such an intellectual game”, said Rohit. Rahul continued,” And the losers of the game will cook the dinner tonight”. “Okay”, the other 3 said in Unison. “Good”, said Rahul and turned towards Parth, and continued,” So Parth, my first quote to you is, ‘Remember why you started’. Now say me who originally said this”. Parth’s face went pale. His face seemed to become red like a tomato. He said angrily, “You call this a quote, you idiot. This is the worst statement I have ever heard. These worthless quotes misguide you like anything. Trust me, Rahul, these quotes are good at hearing but they are nonsense when they are applied practically. I have experienced many setbacks in my life and every time I believed in these worthless quotes, I have experienced setbacks only”. After saying this Parth’s eyes were filled with tears. His eyes were clearly depicting his failures in life. Arav asked,” Rahul. Mmm, I don’t think he answered. So according to the rules, he should cook the food….”, Rahul interrupted and shouted, “Are you a complete mess, Arav?” He came to the side of Parth and put a hand on his shoulder and said,” Hey Dude. Calm down. I understand your situation.” “No Rahul. You don’t understand my situation. You don’t know what I am going through right now”, said Parth and started crying. Rohit came and said,” Parth. We completely understand you but I hate it to disclose to you but this quote is aptly suitable for you”. Parth threw up his hands in the air gesturing ‘what’. Rahul then cleared his throat, and said, “ We know that you have a habit of getting distracted even by the slightest things. You start many things but you eventually get distracted and you leave them. This habit has taken such control over you that you can’t even do the smallest things in your life properly. You get so distracted, that you eventually forget why you started.” Parth started laughing and said,” Are you guys out of your mind or what?... Oh! I understand now. You want me to cook food. Ok. I will do that. I accept I lose. Anyhow, losing has become my second nature.” Before anybody could protest, Parth quickly wore his shoes and went out and shut the main door with a bang. The other three faced each other with hopelessness. The main door slightly opened. “Does anybody need anything for tonight’s food? I am going out”. Rohit quickly said,” Hey Bro. Even I am coming with you”. Before Parth could protest, this time Rohit wore the shoes and took Parth’s hand, and went out closing the door with a bang. Rohit and Parth stood outside and were about to go when the door slightly opened, and then Arav came out and said,” I know this is not a good time but dude can we have an apple juice for dinner tonight. So please bring that”. Arav quickly said this and closed the door with a bang. Rahul shouted,” For a moment guys, please do not assume this is your father’s door.”

Outside, Rohit and Parth were walking silently towards the store to purchase the apple juice. The wind was cold and Parth put his hands in his Jeans pocket for warming them. A quick realization hit him. He turned towards Rohit and said,” Bro. I forgot to bring money”. Rohit quickly put his hands in his jeans only to find out that his pockets were empty too. He gestured the same to Parth. Parth made a bad face and said dryly,” Rohit. We have walked halfway only to find that my pockets are empty. I can’t go back now”.

“Well, I have a solution”, said Rohit.

“What?”, asked Parth

“There is an apple tree 1 km away from here. We will pluck the apples from there and we will put it in the juicer. We have a juicer at Rahul’s home”, said Rohit.

“Yeah. I guess this is the only solution we have. Let's go”, said Parth.

Rohit and Parth started walking and after a while, they reached the tree. The tree was very long. Many red Apples were hanging there. Parth took a stone in his hand and was about to hit the apple on the tree when suddenly he heard a sound. He gestured Rohit to listen to the sound and even Rohit heard some sound. It was the sound of somebody eating. When they went to the back of the tree, both of them were shocked. A beautiful girl of their age was sitting there eating the apple. Rohit looked at Parth who was shocked to the core as he was seeing his EX-girlfriend after a long time. Rohit understood the privacy thing and he gave them space by distancing himself. Being single for many years, Rohit had become a professional in distancing himself, whenever couples met. Parth was looking deeply into Simran’s eyes now. Her eyes said everything about her. Parth could tell from her eyes that she was sad. He quickly put his hands on her shoulders and embraced her. She too embraced him. After a few minutes, both of them separated. Parth took both of her hands and asked,” Why are you sad?”.

“I will surely say you why I am sad but you first tell me how do you always predict my emotion correctly”, she said this and started crying.

Parth took the tears from her eyes in his fingers and then said,” You see. Your eyes always speak the truth”. They then started walking with hands in hands together. Both of them discussed their problems with each other. They kept on talking while walking. The day had become night. And when Parth dropped Simran home, they kissed. Parth was very happy. He was thinking to himself about how illogical his friends were. He laughed at what his friends told about him being distracted from his goal and purpose all the time. He laughed more on the thought that his friends had told him that the distracting habit was so over him that he could not even accomplish small things in his life. He reached Rahul’s home. He was fully confident in how to deal with them now. He was surprised to see Arav and Rahul waiting outside the house. They were staring at him and Parth could feel that something was wrong. He came near them and then Rahul shouted,” Do you realize now, at least?”. Parth was puzzled by the question. He said,” What?”. This time Arav said,” Do you realize now at least?”. Parth had enough of this and he shouted,” Come to the point, you idiots”.

“Hey, Idiot! Do you even remember what you went for?”, shouted Rahul.

There were a few minutes of silence and then a realization struck him. A very bad realization. Parth quickly realized that he went away with Rohit to pick apples and now he had no Apple and no clue about where Rohit is. Parth knew that it was not about picking the apple but it was about not being distracted until the goal is reached. Parth knew that this was a small thing but he understood that small-small things determine the quality of a person. He was in tears and then he saw Rohit come out of the house. He quickly hugged him. Then both Arav and Rahul joined them in the hugging moment to make the scene even more dramatic. When they separated, he turned towards Arav and said, “Sorry about the Apple juice bro”. Rohit laughed and took an Apple and hit at Parth. “Oh! You brought them”, said Parth happily and continued, “Now according to the rules of quote game, since I lose, I will cook the food now”. After the food was cooked and eaten by all the four friends, Rahul cleared his throat and said,” Mmmm . About the Quote Parth, actually ‘Remember Why You Started’ is not at all a quote. It is just a line from a song”. Saying this everybody started laughing.