SS : Clinking Wind Chimes - Chap 3 : Pg 6 - Page 3

The episode revolved around a night in the colony when there was a power break down. All the doors of the tiny rooms and homes were open, giving an audio glimpse into the lives of different families. The protagonist who was barely in touch with her neighbors owing to her busy schedule was suddenly introduced to her extremely reclusive neighbors to her left who even hesitated to open the door for a minute and were comfortable staying in a dark room with no lights for the entire duration. The neighbors to her right sang prayer songs in the dark to keep them occupied and after they were done with it, locked the home and went away. After a few minutes of blankness, the protagonist was occupied with the thoughts of her sexy boss in the office who was known for his irresistible looks and sharp presence of mind accompanied with slightly repulsive arrogance with the former two dominating the latter one, he was the talk of the premises and every lady in the office desired to be noticed by him, she wasn't an exception. As she faintly wove a fictional encounter of hers with the boss, with him smiling for the first time in decades upon her insistence, hence giving her the importance which left the other lady employees seething, she inwardly giggled and beamed at the fictional account.

As the chain of her thoughts broke, she didn't fail to notice the sounds which came from the opposite flat of hers that scandalized her. She wondered if the flat was occupied by a newlywed couple reveling in their honeymoon phase which made them continue with their blissful sex life amidst all the humidity and darkness. Parallels were drawn between the temperature and environment outside as well as inside. Not just between the couple, but within the protagonist who couldn't help but take a flight into the world of fantasy which carried better sounds and moans. There was darkness, pleasure, some moans and sweat everywhere.

But what came as a twist climax was that the flight of fantasy taken by the protagonist didn't involve her sexy boss but the timid accountant in her company who was painfully shy but still tried to pursue her with his nerdy ways. There were times when he struggled to ask her out for a coffee which she understood but pretended not to, for he looked cute while trying, she enjoyed it. She didn't quite realize that the physical attraction between her and the accountant ran really deep. Realization dawned upon the protagonist as the lights turned on and she wiped her sweat. She was in need of a shower. And what came as the part 2 of the twist climax was when the next morning somebody knocked at the door of the protagonist, inviting her to the silver jubilee anniversary of their parents who lived in the flat right opposite to that of hers.

Geet's jaw dropped she reached the final full stop. How could she overlook the inspiration he had taken from those old stories? One of the stories had a similar background of a power break down with a newlywed couple not being able to find comfort and ease in each other's company, who decide to part ways for a while to sort things out when the absence of lights made them realize how much they were familiar with each other's habits that they could pack their bags in the dark and guide each other about every detail of the house and the arrangement without a block. Something about the sense of familiarity with each other's things and habits brought them closer that night.

Realizations were dawned, misconceptions were slightly cleared, darkness acted as a mediator and new beginnings were due.

She quickly climbed up the stairs, skipped a few steps and knocked at Maan's door.

"Hi", she greeted him excitedly.

"Geet?"

"I just read your story and guess what? I get the similarity."

"Geet, please come in."

She entered the room as he looked at her puzzled, "What similarity?"

"Similarity with the old chanchal story? You know, how both the protagonists come to know of their true feelings."

Geet looked at him while his frown turned into a tiny laugh.

"Deep."

It was her time to frown.

"Why?"

"Madam, you find meaning in the most meaningless stories, I see. I was going through that old stories and was bored to death during those excess descriptions in breakdown episode. I just made a better use of the background and added a little spice to keep it engaging till the end. Nothing more to it." He laughed off. "Now if you don't mind, I have an important appointment, so if you excuse."

Geet walked out of his house as she saw him locking the flat. She probably did draw the parallels forcefully, her mind was probably too occupied with the old stories, she probably did give too much importance to the non-existent underlying theme. She wondered if she needed more sleep, better time-pass or the next episode of his serial. She saw him as he walked on towards the lift . Was she giving him too much importance? She was.