New SS: Starlight Express CLOSED Indefinitely - Page 99

Dismissed indefinitely...

He knew what that meant in the line of work he came from. The newspaper wasn't going to require him to report for duty until all the dust around the death of the actress would settle and no one can remember anything of it, unless they were to make a movie of it. But even as others didn't ask of him for answers, he was already aware that every waking day required him to face them just the same. He was in long denial that seeking out his childhood home at this hour, was merely to save on the exorbitant rents of Mumbai, while he waited out for the office memo to arrive. While he was asked to sit and meditate on the shadow of invisible yet indefatigable power his words wielded on the lives of men and women who read them.

Today, the last stretch of bus journey to his Chacha's place in purana Lucknow wasn't any different from the other times he'd traveled these aged roads and there was the same familiar welcome in the pits of the highway that bounced him high and low in his seat. The air in Lucknow, to him, was just as old, filled with stories of a lost beauty of another time and royalty. Of fragrant Urdu and overtly polite addressing and the ever-present fading scent of cardamom and basmati in the air. It was the land were people cussed with intractable respect for the object of their frustration.

Mumbai had changed it all for him, when he left in search of a living after his higher education in Bangalore. Going behind stories that wanted to be told, which held the glorious lifetime of one living day on the thin frail paper on which it was printed on, satisfied him more than sitting behind a desk and a computer. He worked in the streets, in the run that tired his limbs, in the sweat that flooded his pores from the searching, in the days and nights that sometimes went by without food or water. It was more than an addiction. It was his way of living the story.

Now, not so subtle in its irony, his own story was haunting him, determined to make into every one of his awakening thoughts. Without reason, he assured himself he wasn't going to let that happen to him in Lucknow. He was going to shut himself in the second floor room, he was used to having in his Chacha's home and sleep until he could no longer sleep; until he could claim he was weary of sleep.

But little did he know then that it was wishful thinking only proposed from his end. That the room had been disposed off to tenants new to their town: a school teacher and her six year old daughter.

"I didn't think you would ever come back here, Dhruv...She was new...and the child looks like the one you would have had, had you been married by now...I wouldn't have rented it out had it been anyone else" His Chacha told him right after they sat at the chai shop, opposite their greying home.

His eyes lifted to the pink, blue and purple dupattas that billowed in the gentle drift of sun warmed breeze, as he said, "Chacha...I'm here...And can we do without your could-have-beens for this one chai?"

Towards the last sip of hot tea, a sprightly little angel in two pigtails and thick glasses came running down the stairs, almost without stopping until she dashed in his Chacha's arms.

"Daadaji..." She said gasping for air, "I'm going to school now...you take care and don't forget to water the seeds we planted yesterday"

"Ok..beta" Chachaji lifted her up into his lap.

She planted a firm kiss on his Chacha's prickly cheek, wrinkling her nose, "Daadaji...please shave. Else I won't kiss you tomorrow"

"Naina...Come let's go" He heard a woman's voice call out, when he turned in the direction of their home. The sight of her stunned him and a tight fist pummeled his heart at the same moment, making him jump up from the wooden bench he was seated in, the empty glass tumbling down to the floor from his stiffened hands that felt a shiver from the knowing haunting her eyes brought to him.

No...it wasn't her. But this woman was also her in so many forms.

So much for running into the shadows, he thought then, when there was just as much light in the depths of grey to leave him wakeful, to bring out the anguish of nightmares into the days of his life.

To be continued...

I will continue to put up story so far posts as and when there are enough additions made to the plot.

Now I have enough for 5-7 parts...But I'm hoping I will receive more participation...

Girls...common...

A will-o'-the-wisp is a ghostly light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. It resembles a flickering lamp and is said to recede if approached, drawing travellers from the safe paths

Folk belief attributes the phenomenon to fairies or elemental spirits.

In European folklore, these lights are held to be either mischievous spirits of the dead, or other supernatural beings or spirits such as fairies, attempting to lead travellers astray.

Can you guess who is Will-O'-the-Wisp here? 😆

Thank you...

You can only read more if you all add to it. 😉

Today's additions will only hold up for another couple of parts.

-H

i still like kunal on page 96...😆

You never know...They are getting married right? We will post it then...😆

Then you girls better add to the plot that lead up to their wedding night...

I sure as hell have back-up, because I don't trust you girls to indulge me. But that is besides the point of playing the game.

If I get at lest three unique suggestions, then I might surprise you with a update even before the wedding. Else this part below doesn't show up.

Want to see a precap? 😆

"She came out wet and wandering, the house was a maze to her, hallways coming out of nowhere leading up to dark corners that always led her to skip a beat. Her blouse began absorbing the water drops that clung to her skin and she pulled the hair that swayed in the back, over to the front to make up for the sari that still hadn't made past her waist.
...

"Hold on...don't move now...you are going to trip and fall" And she did just as he asked, clumping his shirt in her fisted hands, while her eyes scrunched into slits and she moved in closer in his hold.

He heard her screech into his chest once again - perhaps from sensing the mouse scattering close to her feet - and now he was helpless, but to tighten his arm that rounded her hip, the thin sheen of wetness there making them slide down until it rested against the curve of her waist.
...

Ok I will stop here...😉
PS No Jyoti, you giving me three plot points, doesn't count...😆

😆