RENDEZVOUS - PART 6
By Archana Vinod
The Iraqi helicopter, piloted by Col. Massoud, flies
over the dunes. He is accompanied by three men.
COL. MASSOUD: (gnashes his teeth) Found you!
On the ground, the Indian soldiers and hostages are in
a fix.
SIDDHANT: Run-run-run!
They break into a furious sprint. In spite of the
adrenaline rush, they struggle to waddle across the hot, sweltering desert.
MATAJI: (breathless) I"can't---run---anymore---
SIDDHANT: No! Mataji! Keep up - keep up!
The heat gets to Roli. She trips over and FLUMPS to
the sand.
SIDDHANT: Roli!
He dashes across to her but gets cut off by a sudden
blast of bullets from the air. He cowers in defense.
SIDDHANT: Everybody stay down!
The chopper opens fire as it flies across and back.
A humongous bullet hits Sujata in the leg.
SUJATA: Ahhh!!!
Siddhant is furious!
SIDDHANT: Alpha 2! Fire at will!
They adopt the crouch stance and spray a hard jet of
bullets at the chopper.
Their bullets CLANG against the metal of the chopper but
it flies across unaffected, turns around and returns full fire!
Alpha 2 gets hit on the shoulder and chest, inches
away from his heart. He is thrown off his feet from the impact.
Another bullet hits Mataji in the leg.
Siddhant is flustered. He fires furiously at the
chopper's tank.
SIDDHANT: Alpha 2! Not yet! Hang on! I need your
support!
Alpha 2 staggers to his knees and shoots at the
chopper.
SIDDHANT: The tank! The tank! Go for the tank!
Col. Massoud realizes that trouble is brewing.
The chopper's siren begins to SCREAM in protest.
He desperately tries to keep it afloat.
BOOOM!
The chopper BLOWS APART and CRASHES to the sand in a
smoking ball of flames.
ALPHA 2: (all smiles) We did it, sir! We did it!
SIDDHANT: (falls to his knees, busted) You did very
good, Alpha 2.
ALPHA 2: Thank you sir. You too. See? We told you that
you were the one.
Siddhant is quiet.
SIDDHANT: You're right. I guess that a strong sense of
purpose is what forces us to get through the impossible... Alpha... no... that's not
your real name, is it?
ALPHA 2: No. It's Shourya... Shourya Singhania.
LATER
Shourya, Siddhant and his family is finally picked up
from the extraction point. They are now headed home.
They are all covered in dirt, blood and grime.
Siddhant sits at the door with the rifle on his side. He
has just had an incredible journey of self realization. What he thought was
never possible has now been accomplished. What led him through it? Helplessness?
Desperation? Love?
His attention drifts off to Roli once again. He's
instantly surprised to see her watching him intently.
She smiles at him proudly.
However, he feels uncomfortable to look into the eyes
of the girl he bullied a few hours back, as a twelve year old. Is this incident
a glimpse to my future by any chance? Am I really going to marry her? This is
crazy... but how? I still can't figure out how all this is possible.
MUCH LATER
They fly through the portal from the blazing hot
Tikrit into the rain-beaten, cool comfort of their home land. But the eerie
emptiness of their once populated town gives them a sinking feeling.
In a moment, they touch down.
One by one, they all get off the chopper and make
their way home.
Siddhant shakes hands with Shourya and gives him a
quick hug.
SIDDHANT: In one way, I'm happy that it's all over and
in another way, I'm not.
SHOURYA: I get what you mean, sir. It was great
working with you. I do wish we could go on more missions together.
SIDDHANT: Is this going to end now?
SHOURYA: The game? It has been completed successfully.
SIDDHANT: But--- what about---
But Shourya simply gets into the chopper and takes
off.
SHOURYA: I'll see you tomorrow night.
SIDDHANT: Again? Why?
Shourya grins in response.
Siddhant watches on baffled as the chopper rises in
the air and disappears into the black sky.
He begins his long way home and catches up with his
family in a while.
It begins to drizzle again.
A cold, wet arm slides around his and startles him.
It's Roli.
ROLI: Thank God. It's all over.
Siddhant is quiet as they walk along the squelching
mud.
ROLI: I thought I'd never see you again.
Siddhant pauses, confused, so many questions running
through his mind.
SIDDHANT: Do you feel that this is all real?
ROLI: (after a long pause) I don't know.
SIDDHANT: (frustrated) They told me that everything
would be the same again once I got it over with. But nothing has changed.
They---
ROLI: They're right. And they're wrong.
SIDDHANT: What?
ROLI: They're right. Everything would be the same
again. And they're wrong. Nothing will be the same ever again.
SIDDHANT: What do you mean?
Without a word, Roli draws in closer and caresses him
on the lips with hers.
Siddhant is stunned.
The puzzle seems to fall into place.
Everything would be the same again ---
Nothing will be the same ever again ----
He pulls her close and gets lost as his kiss meets
hers. The freezing drops of rain prick their skin with an eerie sense of
reality.
God--- her kiss... it's taking my breath away... my chest...
it's pounding hard... she's right...
Nothing will be the same ever again...
Siddhant feels her warm, life giving breath travel
straight to his lungs.
His chest is about to explode! It almost feels as if
it's been pumped!
He feels choked.
He begins to cough.
Roli watches him intently.
COUGH-COUGH-COUGH!
She pounds him hard on the chest.
SIDDHANT: W-what are you doing?
She pounds him again!
He goes into a COUGHING fit...
---- and WAKES up as his 12 year old self.
Dr. Sharma, pounds Siddhant hard on his chest.
He had been struggling to resuscitate him all this while.
DR. SHARMA: He's come around. Get him something to
drink.
Rajendar and Sujata rub 12 year old Siddhant's back as
he struggles to catch his breath.
Little Roli stands on and watches the scene in terror.
Mataji offers him a drink.
SUJATA: Thank God!
Siddhant wheezes as he looks around in confusion.
Everything's the same again---
SIDDHANT: W-what just happened?
SUJATA: You got a terrific electric shock, beta. Now
do you understand why I tell you not to operate anything during a thunderstorm?
We thought we lost you.
Siddhant is baffled and relieved at the same time. It
was just a dream!
THE NEXT DAY
Roli's at Siddhant's home once again.
She is surprised to find him looking a bit dreamy.
ROLI: How are you now?
He looks over at her quietly. And as he does,
everything comes flooding back to him. The mission, the escape, the rain, the
kiss... God... she looked and felt like heaven!
ROLI: What? Why are you looking at me like that?
SIDDHANT: I'm sorry.
ROLI: Huh? For what?
SIDDHANT: I know that I was a bully. I could have been
a bit better.
ROLI: (gets it) It's okay.
SIDDHANT: From now on, you can play as much as you
want. I won't stop you.
ROLI: (excited) Really?
SIDDHANT: Yup.
ROLI: Why the big change all of a sudden?
SIDDHANT: Because--- (he doesn't know what to say)
because I love you yaar.
He hugs her, plants a quick peck on her cheek and runs
away. Roli is dumbfounded.
THAT NIGHT
Siddhant sits down to play another game of Rendezvous.
It all feels so different now... and eerie.
He finds his boys on the screen again - Alpha 1, 2,
Charlie 1 and 2. Is he ready for another mission? What if I get trapped in the
game again? I don't want to be separated from my family and Roli again!
To his surprise, Alpha 2 winks at him.
~ THE END~
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