Arakshi SS - Between the Pages of a Book - *Complete* pg 50 - Epilogue - Page 31

Chapter 10 - Thought Balloons

"Go away!" Sakshi's voice reached him from behind the wooden door.

"Not until you open the door!" He grinned.

"I don't want to talk to you. Go away!"

"You know you want to."

The door opened a little and he saw her head through the gap. "Two days! Do you know how much each day means to me? Oh, wait! Maybe it doesn't matter to you at all. No phones, no texts, no visits for two whole days and you expect me to just open the door and welcome you with open arms. Well, not happening."

Bang.

The door slammed on his face once more.

"Oh come on!" He pleaded. "You asked me to impress you."

She opened the door again and said, "Wow. ACP Arjun Rawte takes two days to come up with a plan to ask a girl out." She withdrew her face inside and called out to someone behind the door, "No! I don't care. He took too long, Aisha."

He waved the train tickets in front of her face and said, "Does this tempt you?"

She raised her eyebrows and said, "Really? After two days, is this all you could come up with?"

"Hey hey don't jump to conclusions! This is only the beginning. The proposal is at the end of this journey." He leaned against the wall and fanned himself with the tickets. "The choice is yours."

"Fine. I will give you once more chance." She disappeared around the door.

He stood there, smiling and hoped that things would go according to plan.

***

He watched her tilt her head back against the glass window of the train as it snaked its way through the trees. The patches of blue sky visible through the branches of the tree were reflected in her eyes. He watched her with a smile on his face from the seat opposite her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

She kept looking up at the sky, her head resting against the glass window and said in a dreamy voice, "The trees. They look so different like this."

Then she tilted her head towards him and said, "It all depends on the perspective right? Everything looks different when seen from a different angle, a different position."

"What do you see?" He rested his head against the window.

Her glance moved back to the sky and she said, "Branches, lots of them. Just flying by above me. Time passes by. So quick that you don't even realise it. I can feel the passing time when I look at trees from the train. Every tree gone by is every second gone. Puff, just like that." She gestured with her hands. "What are you looking at?" She moved her gaze towards him.

"Your eyes." He said, a dreamy smile on his face.

He could make out the slight colour in her cheeks as she spoke. "What about them?"

"I can see the trees in your eyes. The way they reach up towards the sky, waiting for the moment they will touch it."

She reached out and traced her fingers along the outlines of the trees that kept changing every instant as the train fled past them. "It might all be an illusion, right?" She glanced at him as if she meant something else. "Are you real?"

"Don't I feel real?"

"No." Her smile was mysterious, as if she were hiding something behind that smile.

"What are you thinking?"

"Wondering where you are taking me. You didn't exactly ask me out yet."

"I told you already. This is just a journey. We are just two friends on a train."

***

"You're joking." She exclaimed.

He stood grinning by her side as she stared transfixed at what was in front of them. They were standing in the middle of a green field which stretched out for miles around them. And in the middle of the field, stood a giant red and yellow hot air balloon. A fire burned just underneath it, keeping its massive body inflated from the smoke that emanated from it.

"Welcome!" She then spotted a middle-aged man dressed in a black overcoat and trousers coming towards them, a welcoming smile on his face. "Are you ready, Mr. Arjun?"

She watched, her eyes wide open in surprise, as Arjun shook the man's hands and said, "As ready as ever. Thank you so much for all the help."

"Good luck." The man winked at her, waved and disappeared down the field.

"You can close your mouth now." He said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Shut up. What is this?"

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"What...? No...but what..."

"That's all that matters." He smiled. "This is what I was doing for two days. Learning how to operate that thing."

She smiled and said, "Really?"

"Really." He edged closer to her, and offered his hand. "So, Sakshi. Now, will you go out into the sky with me?"

She lowered her gaze and gently, put her hand into his. "Always."

***

She bit her lips as she watched him step into the small cane basket, big enough to hold just about four people. She hesitated for a moment outside the basket and stared up at the giant balloon that loomed above them, like a piece of the sky. Fire crackled just underneath it, and its grey fumes escaped into the huge red dome, keeping it afloat. The balloon tugged at the ropes that held it fastened with the ground. It was waiting to be released into the sky.

He stood inside and offered her his hand, "Come on. It's waiting for you."

She bit her lips again and stared up at the sky; the small tufts of white floated on the pastel blue sky, as if beckoning her to join them.

"Sakshi?" He called out to her and her eyes moved back to his hand. "What are you afraid of?" His lips curved into a smile. A smile she had begun to trust more than herself.

She looked into his eyes and then put her hand into his once more. "Nothing."

***

She clutched his shoulder as the balloon broke free from the ropes. The wind whipped her hair across her face and she pushed them away as the balloon rose higher and higher into the sky. She had been on an aeroplane before, but this was different. The sun was shining down upon them and she squinted as she looked up at the white clouds above. There was a silence around them that was interrupted only by the subtle crackling of the fire that kept the balloon alive and flying. She took a deep breath and watched the fields, the trees, the houses in the distance grow smaller and smaller by the minute, her hands still clutching to his grey overcoat.

He put his arm around her, keeping the other on a valve above that operated the balloon's ascent and said, "It is beautiful isn't it?"

She rested her head on shoulder as the balloon began to make its way over the meadows and forests. "It's like another world."

"Changing perspectives." He smiled.

"It feels as if everything is possible from here. Nothing worries me. Not even the fact that..." She paused and glanced at him.

He smiled bleakly in response and said, "All that lies below. We have left the world behind. We have left everything behind. It's just you and me and the sky." He leaned towards her and whispered in her ears, "You can touch the sky."

She shook her head, her eyes fixed on his, "We can. The sky is ours."

***

"I must say you are a good pilot!" She grinned as she leaned against the cane basket.

He took a little bow and said, "At your service, ma'am."

She giggled and rummaged through the bag he had brought along. "What's in this?"

"Ah." He moved a valve above so the balloon kept moving at a steady pace along a direction and joined her on the floor of the basket. "You don't mind where we end up, do you?" He threw her a teasing look.

"Do I ever?" She grinned.

"You and your love for the unknown." He snatched the bag from her and pulled out a plastic bag full of balloons.

She raised her eyebrows at him and said, "Balloons in a balloon?"

"Why not?" He tore at the plastic and took a few in his hand. "Let's leave a part of ourselves in the sky."

"How?"

He reached into the pocket of his overcoat and took out a black marker. "Go on." He handed her the marker. "Write what you are thinking on to the balloon when you are done inflating it. Anything. Whatever comes into your mind. Just one line though."

She smiled and hugged her knees to her chest, "And what then?"

"We free it into the sky of course."

"What? That's silly." She giggled.

"That's why we're doing it." He laughed. "So you remember it."

She rested her head on her knees and said, "I will remember it anyway."

He blew into the white balloon that he held in his hand while she reached for an orange one. When she was done, she wrote the first thought that came into her mind.

If only we could stop time.

When she peeked a glance at his white balloon, it was inscribed with the words:

Wishes do come true.

They laughed as they both read each other's words and he said, "Ok. Together?"

She nodded and they both stood up to release their balloons in the air.

The fire crackled behind them as they watched the two balloons float through the air, away from them; they drifted towards the direction the wind took them.

"Where will they end up do you think?"

"I don't know." His eyes moved to her face. He watched the few strands of hair playing across her face as her eyes stared towards the balloons in the distance. "Does it matter?"

She answered, "They won't stay in the sky forever. They will descend down to the earth. Who knows where they end up?"

He absently pushed away the loose strands of hair from her face and said, "What does it matter where they end up? Maybe they were meant to be there."

***

They conversed through balloons.

One after the other, their thoughts poured out. Random, unrelated thoughts. Sometimes even just a word. But the words didn't stop. They watched their balloons glide through the air, towards an unknown destination. Very soon, they left a trail of floating balloons of all sorts of colours floating in the sky. They bobbed along, moving in the direction the wind took them. The red, yellow, green, blue blobs of colours, bobbing against the clear blue sky, filled with their random words.

Sometimes, she reached out and burst a few of his balloons with her long nails. And sometimes, he stole away her marker so she wouldn't be able to write with it. But mostly, they laughed, they talked and left a trail of their conversation in the sky.

***

The sun was nearing the end of its journey and its rays were turning slightly golden. Below them, the waters of a lake glittered in the evening sunshine. She stood there, leaning out of the basket, watching the reflection of the massive balloon in the waters below as she held the last balloon in her hand. She could feel his gaze on her from the corner of his eye and she turned towards him, her fingers brushing over the rubbery red surface of the balloon.

Her balloon had her deepest desire etched upon it.

I wish you'd never be away from me.

She knew it was an impossible wish and yet, her heart hoped that the sky would somehow fulfil it. She smiled at him and let go of the balloon.

She watched it float in the sky, the little drop of red against the golden sky and hoped that it would stay afloat forever, holding on to her desire.

***

When he saw her eyes, he wanted to pour out all his thoughts to her. Not on a balloon, but straight to her face. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to hold her close to his heart, forever and ever. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want to leave. He wanted to tell her that he had seen her last words on the balloon. And he wanted to tell her what his last thoughts on the balloon had been.

I will always be with you.

But he didn't say any of that.

"I love you, Sakshi." It was all he could say.

He heard her sharp intake of breath as he finally blurted out the words he had been holding captive in his heart since Christmas Eve. Her eyes locked with his and he saw her smile. She opened her mouth a couple of times, but words failed her every time. The sun's slanting rays filtered through her dark hair and turned it into a shade of golden.

Her smile remained frozen on her face as a tear appeared around her eyes. She breathed in again and tried to get her words out. Nothing.

He gently touched her shoulder and felt her tense shoulders relax at his touch. "I know what you are thinking. But it..."

All of a sudden, she sniffed and jumped into his arms. "I love you too, stranger." She whispered.

***

She buried her face in the warm white scarf that was draped around his neck and said, "It took you so long."

He laughed and she felt his hands caress her hair as she sniffed against his chest.

She pulled back and said, "This is the oddest place for a confession."

He brushed at her tears and replied, "The most unique! And stop calling me stranger."

"I like that name." She smiled teasingly. "Won't you give a sappy romantic speech saying why you love me?"

He scrunched up his nose and said, "Honestly? I don't read many romantic novels. So, no. Sorry to shatter the image you had of the hero of your love story."

"Hmm yeah. I had imagined him riding a white horse to my door. But here you are, proposing on a hot air balloon. Like, seriously."

"You are so ungrateful. If it had been some other girl, she would have swooned over me."

"Please, you aren't even good looking."

"What?"

She laughed and said, "Shouldn't you be getting us down now, Mr. Pilot?"

"How about I don't?" He brought his face closer to hers so their noses touched.

She pushed his face away and replied with a smirk on her face, "I don't date pilots."

"You're too demanding." He grinned.

***

He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned against the edge of the basket and rested his head on her shoulder. The balloon was now slowly making its descent down to the fields below.

"Not a pilot anymore." He said.

"What do you want?" She laughed.

"New Year's eve with you."

Her face dropped as she realised how close they were to his day of departure.

He tickled her sides then, making her laugh despite herself. "You cannot be upset anymore. I don't want to see you sad."

She hugged his arms tighter to herself and said, "So I can be sad when you move away?"

"No. See, the hero is supposed to carry his heroine's share of sadness." He grinned.

She smiled at his response and he continued, "So, New Year's Eve?"

"I'm surprised you are even asking, ACP Arjun Rawte."

"Another question."
"What?" She smiled.

"Did I impress you?"

She laughed and replied, "I think you already know the answer."

***************

Lalalalaaa...the hopeless romantic gives you the most absurd and unique proposal! It's not impossible though...some day I actually want to go on these hot air balloon rides😳

Anywaaay, now time to click on the like button and comment!😛