Thank you ankitaforever for editing the photos for me and listening to all my nitpicking as to how I wanted it! So much love being sent your way!(((HUGS)))
Age 6
Spring has always been myfavouritee season. The sky is bright and blue dotted with white fluffy clouds. The grass is green and the flowers are in full bloom creating an array of big vibrant colors for me to admire and lie around lie in and stare at the sky.
I am waiting for my best friend to arrive so we can spend the short break together before we start with our new class.
"Sumo!" I hear my name and I turn around to see Shravan Malhotra running towards me. Shravan is two years older than me and in the big fourth class with the other kids like him and I'm in second class with his younger cousin brother, Pushkar. Unlike the other girls in his class who love to wear dresses, I like my jeans and t-shirts and shirts and Shravan doesn't mind it either.
Me, Shravan, Pushkar, Varun Bhaiya and my baby cousin sister play together. Even though Varun Bhaiya is in sixth class and Preeti is just in nursery.
Shravan and I live a few houses apart, making it easier for us to spend a lot of time together. Plus his parents and mine are best friends too so we are always at each other's place.
Oh! I forgot to tell you that Pushy, Shravan and Varun Bhaiya live together in a giant house. It's big. Really big!
"Shravan!" I shout back with equal fervour. I see his smile widen and I run as fast as my little legs could take me, meeting him halfway and hug him tightly.
"I missed you, Sumo," he says hugging me tightly. I giggle at his statement because it has been only a few hours since we last saw each other. "But Shravan, it's been only a few hours."
He keeps staring at me as if I was missing something obvious. "I missed you," he repeats.
I smile at him. "I missed you too," I said.
Suddenly he grabs my hand and pulls me in the direction of my house. "Come on! I want to tell you something."
I follow him quickly, excited to know what he has to say. I smile wide when I realize that we are climbing the steps to my terrace which is our spot. Our safe haven. It is a public spot where anyone and everyone could and did come and go as they please but we still made it ours.
On, the terrace, there is a small ladder that takes us to a higher spot, our actual spot. When our parents realized that we loved the place too much to listen to any of their warnings, they secured the area with a sturdy grill on the border and covered it ,turning it into a make-shift balcony and put a small steel roof to protect us from the rain because that was when we spent most of our time here because we couldn't sit here until it was dry.
We reach the ladder and as always I am the first one to climb as he stood below, like always, ready to catch me if I fall even though my feet never so much as slipped on the steps.
Once I was inside, Shravan came up and joined me. The area was small; there was just enough room for both of us to sit comfortably and make it a cosy hang out. It was our small little world away from the world. With my favourite blanket and a few cushions lining against the wall made it all the more comfortable.
After making myself comfortable, I glanced at Shravan. He was looking out the small gaps from the grill and watching the street. I followed his gaze only to figure that he was fixated on the girl playing with a few of her friends. I recognized her! Her name was Urvashi, she is in our school, a third grader and she was here a lot because her best friend lived closer to my house.
I elbowed Shravan, giggling all this while. "She's pretty Shravan," I said teasingly. "Do you like here?" I sing.
"Be quiet, Sumo," he said gruffly, shooting me with a death glare making me laugh out loud.
"Go ask her out," I prod him further.
"Stop!" He said. "Or I'll... I'll beat you!"
I rolled my eyes at his last statement. He was bigger than me and could certainly beat me up if he wanted to but I knew he never would.
"Anywaaay..." I stretch, changing the topic before I embarrassed him more. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"
"Oh," he said, relaxing at the change of topic. "I just wanted to talk. We haven't done anything for a while."
I nodded, showing my agreement. "What do you want to do?"
"Hide and seek?" He suggested.
I rolled my eyes at that. "That game is for babies and anyway, we need more than two people to play that." I point out the minor flaw.
"Fine, what about tag?"
"Shravan," I groan, stretching his name in exasperation. "There are just two of us! Pick something that we both can play."
"Okay." He smirked, facing me fully. "How about truth or dare?"
"I'm going first," I say excitedly, already having a plan of action. "Truth or dare?"
He pondered the question for a minute before deciding. "Truth," he answered.
Oh, this is good! I thought. "Do you like Urvashi?"
"Let it be." He spoke in an annoyed tone. "I want a dare."
Oh, this keeps getting better and better. "I dare you to kiss, Urvashi," I laughed.
He shoved himself up to his feet. "I am not doing that, Sumo," he said angrily. "if you can't play fair..." He trailed moving to get down the ladder.
"Okay, I'm sorry. You can have a re-do." I said.
He glared at me before moving back to his place, getting comfortable.
"Truth or dare?" I asked again.
"Dare," he quickly says, not giving it a second thought.
I think hard about what to ask when it strikes me. I quickly stand and go down the ladder, laughing all this while. "Shraavaan," I said slowly, dragging his name.
He looks down at me, staring at me suspiciously. "Yes?"
"I dare you to kiss me!" I shout, before running out of the terrace and down the stairs towards the main gate. Shravan would never refuse a dare unless it was absolutely out of line, quickly got up and about to chase after me. I knew it!
It was simple. Dare him to this and then take him for a wild goose chase then reach my room and close the door, not coming out until he went back to his home.
I was out the main door already, half of my plan complete. It would have worked. It would have, had I just not turned around to see how far he was. Because that was when I fell on the grass, face down. Hard.
Well, there goes my well thought out plan.
I winced in pain and became aware of the mixed smell of grass and the wet dirt, as my body slammed. Ouch.
I took a quick inventory of my injuries. The inside of my left leg hurt but other than that no broken bones. I didn't move when I heard Shravan laughing at me. He came to my side and poked my left arm.
"Sumooo," he said in a sing-song manner, still laughing. I did not give any indication of it I had heard him. Let's scare him a little and see how he feels. Idiot.
"Sumo," he said again, this time with concern. "Please get up."
I still don't move.
"Sumo!" He shakes me now, his voice starting to become a little hysterical. "Come on! Please get up. I promise I won't laugh. Just please get up."
I smiled, making sure my face was hidden from him. I knew this was the best I could get from him, I used both hands to push myself off the ground and onto my knees.
Once he did his own thorough checking and realized I was alright, a teasing smile spread across his mouth. "Next time you run, keep your eyes in front rather than doing a 180," he said.
"Thanks for the advice," I replied sarcastically.
"No problem," he said cheerfully.
I turned away with a huff and walked towards the house.
"Wait, Sumo," he said from behind me. I stop and turn around, partially, looking over my shoulder.
He took one step forward and leaned down. He roughly shoved his mouth against mine and pulled away as fast as possible, grinning cheekily. "I win."
"I am going to kill you, Shravan Malhotra!" I shouted. I was shocked that he actually kissed me because I did not expect him to.
"Try not to fall," he replied teasingly, racing off further into the house, laughing like a maniac.
When we went inside the house and find our fathers sitting on the veranda, laughing at our display. "Keep your son away from my daughter," my dad said jokingly to Ramnath Uncle.
Shravan only smirked at that and I blushed even though this was not the first time we had heard them say such a thing. It was a running joke in our family that Shravan and I would fall in love when we were older. I didn't believe that though. I already loved Shravan because he was my best friend. After we were done with our dinner, both us dragged our sleeping bags outside on the roof so we could sleep under the stars. There were no clouds in sight so I wanted to take full advantage of that.
Shravan's parents came up to say goodnight to both of us and told him to behave before going home themselves.
We climbed into our sleeping bags and leaned back to look at the sky. The night sky was beautiful. I began searching for familiar designs within the stars. I easily spotted the Big Dipper and turned my head to get Shravan's attention so I could point it out to him only to find that his head was already turned in my direction, his eyes shining bright with a naughty grin on his face. I knew that look. He already had an idea in place that was most likely to get us in trouble.
"No Shravan," I said forcefully not wanting to bear his plan.
"Okay." He shrugged, chuckling. "I mean, melted chocolate sounds really amazing to me, thought you would have wanted it too. I guess not." He heaved a long dramatic sigh making an elaborate puppy face.
Melted chocolate? Yum!
I quickly jumped out of the sleeping bag. "What are you waiting for?! Let's do it!" I friend.
Shaking his head at my antics, he got out of the sleeping bag far more gracefully than I did.
He grabbed my hand and together, we snuck into the kitchen, careful not to wake up my parents. We climbed on the marble slab and took out the chocolate stash that my mother always keeps on the top shelf of the corner most cupboard, giggling uncontrollably this entire time.
Eeks! Here is the first chapter of my new story Through The Years. It is very different from The Wedding and I hope you enjoy this as much as you did the first one. This won't be a long story; around four chapters focusing on different age groups of their lives.
As always don't forget to VOTE & COMMENT!
PS. The Wedding is not complete, yet. There is still one more chapter and an epilogue left.
Until the next chapter...
Cricket
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
