Reconciliation Part 1

*I know this is not related to the prompt but, I really wished to post this story.*

Half the items on the list had already been crossed off.

I shoved the looks of despair into the travel backpack. There was no more room for the rest items.

Thoughts rose in my clear mind as I struggled to stuff the rest items into and zipping the travel backpack tight. This is going to be the most important journey in my whole life. I’m going to Bangalore to do a course in Photography at Hudson Academy of Photography.

Sometimes, I feel like I could just drop this whole journey and stay with my family, even though this is significant for my career; a career as a travel photographer. After a long time, I’m going to be apart from my family.

Snapping wonderful moments in my life is the thing I loved the most, other than spending time with my family, especially with my little sister, Ananya, and our family dog, Truffles.

I heard a small, cheerful bark from somewhere nearby.

“Come here, Truffles.” He ran to me, wagging his tiny white tail with a brown patch. He’s gonna miss me, miss me very badly.

I am gonna miss him too; his mischievous but, adorable look, the days he would roam around through the snow along with me and Ananya in winters, days we swam in the river near our house, the days he would play in the sand at the beach watching us make sandcastles, and funniest part: those days when I find him in the washing machine when I was going to do laundry. I’m gonna miss not only him but also my whole family.

He had fetched a book for me. No, it is not just a book. It’s a diary.

“Thank you, Truffles!” I thanked him and patted his head.

He went back, sniffing; probably towards Ananya’s room. He loved her more than anyone else in the family.

Soon, I looked back into the diary. It looked regal and mysterious, instead of my diary which looked boring, and desperate with my shabby-looking handwriting. It took a long time to recognize the diary. It’s one of my best friend’s diary, I suppose.

I think it’s Naishan’s….. No, it might be Faiza’s or even maybe… Atharva’s.

I’m confused! Whatever.

I’m sure that it might be the diary of one of those people I mentioned. They are the only friends I had in my whole life.

“Rowan, haven’t you packed your bags? It’s getting late, you’ll miss your train.” I spun around toward the door, listening to that voice. That’s my mother, Ritika. She is a nurse.

“Coming, ma,” I replied.

I got to keep going. I squeezed the regal diary into my bag and rushed down the staircase. Ma and Ananya were waiting downstairs.

On Ma’s face, she had the typical lovely grin that she wore always. But, I could feel that she was feeling sad deep inside to see me leave.

You know, my father, Mahesh; he’s in the army. He is currently on the India-Pakistan border. It’s been about six months since we saw him. Army officers work twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. But, he finds time to video call us every week.

I can see how happy Ananya and ma were when Pa video called us. She will be glowing with joy.

“Hey, ma! Don’t worry. I’ll return real soon. I love you both a lot.”

Ananya ran to me and I hugged her back, running fingers through her ash black hair.

“I’ll miss you, Ro Bhaiyyah!” She mumbled, taking short breaths.

I noticed Truffles. He was standing there, howling, like he did whenever he felt sad.

“It’s okay, Truff.”

Suddenly I felt like bringing Truffles with me. I asked,

“If ma and Ananya would not be sad, can I bring Truffles with me?”

They grinned at me like they always do without saying anything.

***

The cool breeze was fluttering towards me.

I shivered, “How cold is it!”

I raised my hood sweater to cover my head. I rubbed my hands against each other, producing heat. I got relieved as my cold body got warmed.

I started to miss my family, and it’s just four days since I began my journey. And I just reached Karnataka yesterday evening.

I looked around. The road was sparse and not busy. I noticed those few vehicles that went through the national highway. Everyone might be asleep.

I looked up.

“Wow!!”

The bronze sky was decorated with silver clouds like an orange cake covered with silver frosting. I could see patches of light blue here and there; not that light as of baby blue or dark as of sky blue. I love observing the dawn sky. How lovely is it!

It’s about an hour and a half since I’ve been waiting for the bus. The buses weren’t stopping. Maybe, they might have thought that I’m just a jerky boy aiming to create a nuisance for people in the early morning.

Honk, honk. I looked back. A bus was coming. Finally. I got relieved. It was the sixth bus that came this way, the other five buses completely ignored me. My first thought was to jump in front of the bus, but, I was not that stupid to do that.

I still remember those days when boys and girls of my age would jump in front of the bus and do Tik-Toks. I’m not that jerky. When Tik-Tok got banned in India, I thought they would stop doing those stupid things; creating trouble for themselves and others.

Boy, I was wrong.

Then came an Indian version of Tik-Tok called Moj, and you know people still do those types of stupid things.

So, I stuck my hand out, as to make the bus stop. Hopefully, the bus stopped. I went on the bus in a hurry and grabbed a seat. I sat on the window seat and placed my bag on the aisle seat.

My mind got relaxed. You can see a relieved smile on my face. I think you all are excited to know my name, am I right?

My name is Rowan Rahesh. Strange name, right? It could have been funnier and stranger. There is a short-long story behind my sister’s and my name. Ma and Pa always wanted to name me and my sister two names combined by their names. I was going to be named ‘Rahesh’ and my sister ‘Mritika’. But, grandpa and grandma were there to save the day. They decided to name me ‘Rowan’ and sister ‘Ananya’. So, the names our parents created became our surnames.

I imagined how it would be if my first name was Rahesh. Everyone would make fun of me, will bully me because of my name, even though I kinda liked how it sounded. Everyone would make fun of my name except Atharvika, Naishin, and Faiza. Yes, my besties!

Screech! I turned around, astonished to hear the rough screech and to sense the smell of burning rubber.

I could hear indistinctive swears of the bus driver and the conductor. Both of them sounded furious. I saw the conductor scurry off the bus and back in. His face had turned red with anger. He reached out to the bell, rang it as a ‘go command’ to the driver, and turned the radio on.

He came near me, slightly relieved from anger. Streaks of gray hair were visible throughout his deep brown hair and wrinkles in his tough skin. But, his warm smile made him look so young.

He said something in his unique alto-ranged voice. It took me lots of time to understand what language he said. It was Kannada.

He repeated, this time in a language that I understand, “Where d’ya want to go to, kid?” I think he read my mind and understood that I don’t know Kannada.

“Bangalore North,” I replied, softly, fearing that he would be angry again.

“That would..” He paused and looked down into his old-looking calculator, probably as old as he was. “…be 180 rupees.”

I rummaged in my jeans pockets for money.

“Here.” I grinned at him. I saw a name tag on his khaki uniform shirt. It read: Jatayu Harish.

I asked, as he counted the money, “Jatayu Ji, What had happened?”

He opened his eyes, and chewed his lips, “Um. What d’ya mean, kid?”

I got embarrassed being called kid for the second time. Normally, people don’t call me like that.

“Mm. A few minutes ago. I heard the bus screech. What happened at that time?”

His smile reappeared, “Oh…That’s just- A stupid girl of somewhat yer age jumped onto the front of the bus.”

He looked back at me and smiled.

“Thank you! Enjoy yer ride!”

My thoughts jumbled over. Who is that stupid to think as I did? She might be just as jerky as I’m.

I spun over. Right behind me was a girl of my age. She might be the girl who leaped onto the front of the bus. I looked at her curiously. I was going to grin at her and hoping to be friends with her, cause she was the only one in the bus who was on the same wavelength I was in.

But, she was as furious as the conductor, Jatayu Ji was.

She yelled out, in a lovely, but bold soprano voice range, “Can’t you hear me? Are you dumb?”

I was deep in thoughts that I didn’t hear her asking.

“What?”

She began cursing in Kannada as if she knew that I don’t understand that language.

“I asked you, if you, you could…”

I interrupted her, “A single ‘you’ is enough in that sentence. Don’t repeat ‘you’ like you dump all those sprinkles in a single cupcake.”

You know correcting other’s grammar is another thing I liked to do.

She continued; this time showing all those anger towards me by stressing every word she said.

“DON'T EVEN TRY TO CORRECT MY GRAMMAR!!”

“Keep quiet, kids.” A grown-up raised his voice.

“Sorry, sir.” I apologized to him and the whole passengers, even though I am not the person who is responsible for this.

Suddenly, she started to look into my bag, as if I had stolen something. The backpack was slightly open, and anyone could perfectly see the regal diary that I mentioned before peeping out.

She roared, but in a low voice, “What! You stole my diary?! How dare you?”

She pulled my backpack, and I pulled it too. It was a tug of war between me and that mystery girl.

I looked at her from head to toe. She wore a doctor’s classic white coat over a simple, light-colored gown and denim pants. I thought. Can a doctor be this angry?

After a big tug of war, the rope, I mean, my bag tore. I am not a person who gets angry, but this made me super angry.

“What! You tore my bag! That’s my best friend’s diary. You’re not even my friend, anyway. I don’t even know…”

She interrupted me, but a look of furiousness had disappeared from her face. A look of confusion appeared. I could see her shrug.

“Rowan?”

The temper melted away from me, even before you could take a deep breath.

“Atharvika?”

I grinned at her, and she grinned back at me, with her pearly teeth; both of us in equal excitement. Her grin made me go scarlet in my face. Before I could open my mouth, she threw her hands over my shoulders and embraced me warmly.

The feeling of nostalgia and memories filled in my mind, it rose goosebumps on my brown, tough skin.