Drabble: Fair weather we're having

“Don’t get out, Rohini,” he said, as he paid off the driver, “not yet.” And then he took her umbrella and disappeared behind the auto. “I see your plan,” she muttered, “you steal my umbrella, and then abandon …”

“This way, Mademoiselle,” Advait was at her side, holding open the offending object with flourish. She grinned, and daintily stepped out; he held it carefully above her head, gallantly getting half wet in the process. As they continued towards the hostels, she thought that it was extremely unfair, and pushed that darned umbrella towards him; she wanted to get wet too.

In Verse: To Dad

I.
Every night last winter, I covered you with a warm blanket,
and as I watched you sleep, sewed a patch onto my memory-quilt;
I knew it would be far too cold when you'd be gone.

II.
The fire goes out. Goodbye.
That quilt lies buried in nothingness;
I float in the cold.

Drabble: Negative Space

She could only stare.

She remembered that wave she called alone, washing over her, leaving her rooted to the ground, and at the same time, floating in space-time. Yes, she remembered very well, how it was to float un-anchored in a vast universe.

This was infinitely worse. He shrank into himself, as if that vast universe he was alone in was collapsing onto him, and would cease to exist, if he gave in. She was, once again, rooted in that nothingness, as she watched the fear in his eyes die, as she watched his hands stop trembling and go limp.

---
For those wondering where this fits into Kira's universe, stop. It doesn't.

Interlude: Dhruv

Snapshot's of his sister's birthday

1. Dhruv helps his sister gather flowers from their garden, and watches fondly as she carefully arranges them on the framed photographs in their puja room.

2. She announces her return from school by sneaking into the room and pulling his hair. He glares at her but snaps his book shut, and she settles into his lap like she did when she was younger.

3. She rubs cake all over his face, then darts out of reach. He catches up easily, and lifts her into the air, sending her into peals of laughter.

Interlude: Advait

The authoress wishes to let it be known that Advait was awfully secretive about his vacation, except that he kept himself busy, and played with his guitar, a little. The authoress is miffed, but not as miffed as Rohini was, who absolutely refused to talk to him for a whole sennight. If he was bothered by it, he did not let it show, and Kira eventually tired of it.

Interlude: Rohini

Rohini and the Cat:

One morning, our Rohini found a cozy corner in the park to read her book. It was a remarkably pleasant book, she thought, just like the warm winter day it was. She was startled out of humming ode to joy when she saw a rather ugly black cat staring at her. Disconcerted, she said, "please, monsieur chat, I do not quite know to hum ode to a cat. Will you not be a good cat and go on your way?"

It stayed stubbornly where it was.

"Run along now!"

It did not blink an eye.

"Why, you're as inconsiderate as that stupid cat in my book!" she cried, and pointedly went back to reading it.

---

For those interested, Rohini was reading Aunts aren't gentlemen, by PG Wodehouse.

Interlude: Ashi

Ashi writes an email to Rohini 
 
... If anybody ever made a checklist of what a girl could do at home in her vacation, you'd think I've been systematically crossing items off it: I've gone shopping, watched a stupid movie with my cousins, went out for coffee with old friends, attended an obligatory wedding, fought with my sister over nothing, baked a cake, and read a book I've been putting off for ages.


And I haven't been able to stop thinking of Dhruv. How I wish to talk to him! He is always formal,  but there is something about that formality that makes me believe that I'm the center of his world. Only, I'm so very afraid that I am not, and I dare not call.


Bah. I'm sure you have been more interestingly occupied. 

(Here, she clicks the discard button rather forcefully)

Chasm

Please note that this has nothing to do with Rohini, Advait or anybody that belongs to that perfect little universe I've created; Ashi refuses to stop being difficult.

----

Chasm

Her silence had once meant warmth: she'd been content to disappear into the kitchen when they'd had guests, to blush modestly at the affectionate compliments on the warm chai and pakodis. And she'd been content to let her husband carry on the conversation.

There was something remote and heavy, now, about her silence. She sat there, head bowed, wishing she had something to say to her visitors. Sometimes, the lull in the conversation would fill with praise of her husband. But silence would creep into the room again, and she’d find herself wishing that they’d leave soon, that they hadn’t come in the first place.

The months rolled by, and visitors thinned, and one evening, when she came back from work to an empty house, she thought that the accident had not just snatched her husband from her, but an entire family.

(145 words)

In verse: To Dad

I switch on your old radio; 
     its tunes wander 
into all the corners of the house  
          you aren't there.

Borrowing verse:

From a poem by E.E. Cummings

You are tired,
(I think)
Of the always puzzle of living and doing;
And so am I.

Come with me, then,
And we’ll leave it far and far away—
(Only you and I, understand!)

You have played,
(I think)
And broke the toys you were fondest of,
And are a little tired now;
Tired of things that break, and—
Just tired.
So am I.

e.e. cummings


---

For those wondering, Kira and Advait (and everybody else) shall return when they stop being so difficult.

Drabble: All roads do not lead to Rome

She tried, consciously, to forget him. And sometimes, when she did not try so very hard, she succeeded too; not everything led to him, you see. But he always wormed his way back into her mind. Because almost everything led to him.

--
Ashi and Dhruv. 42 words. Yes.

Contrast

There was something affected about that sorrow, Ashi thought. Oh, she liked Tanya well enough. She was a pleasant sort of girl who always attempted to make the other comfortable, despite being uncomfortable herself. Lately, though, she had taken to being quieter than her wont, to pay no attention to the people around her. Ashi knew she had a reason—everybody knew all wasn’t well at home. But nobody knew exactly what; she always seemed to assiduously make her way close to the subject, then suddenly veer off on tangents. And Ashi had lately begun to wish that she stayed off that topic altogether; she suspected that Tanya could be happy, if she allowed herself to.

Rohini, who had never been close to Tanya, took to spending hours with her. She didn’t quite know how to ask, and Tanya didn’t quite know how to confess, but they both knew what it was to hide and took comfort in each other’s company.
--

(161 words)