“Here, give me the ball” I waved my hand and called for the ball.
“Take it…” Sam replied before sending a long ball towards me.
I controlled the ball with my chest and then brought it down at knee level and then took a right footed shot aiming at the top right corner… Louis dived in the same direction…
“Go in…” I said in a soft voice, audible only to me.
It didn’t go in… Louis easily caught it…
“Good effort but not good enough…” Louis said as he got up.
“That control of yours was good… it showed that your form is slowly returning…” Taylor commented on my effort.
“True… even under the pressure from Taylor you magnificently controlled the ball…” Louis seemed to be in agreement with Taylor.
“But you still couldn’t finish… it still wasn’t a goal…” Sam said.
“It is down to the goalkeeper’s prowess… Miroku can’t always beat the goalkeeper, can he?” Alex said.
“No, he can’t always beat a goalkeeper… sometimes the goalkeepers must get the credit for saving such shots…” Louis agreed to Alex’s comments.
“But I haven’t even beaten you once Louis, I must try to improve that…” I thought to myself.
A week ago I was at home recovering from yet another injury… Taylor inflicted it upon me that night… but that was the past… At the moment Taylor was training with us… helping me as well himself… his defensive skills were superb… he was one of the best defenders in England… only at the age of 19…
“Let’s resume training…” Louis said as he placed the ball in the centre spot.
“Yes, let’s start…” was the unanimous reply to Louis.
“No more straight forward shots… this time I will use something special…” I thought as I sent the ball towards Alex.
Alex passed the ball to Sam and Sam passed it back to Herbert… it was our usual passing game… Herbert passed the ball to Evan… and Evan to Alex… Danny tried to dispossess him of the ball but Paul provided him an option in the nick of time… Johnny did a sliding tackle to take the ball from Paul but he quickly lopped the ball to Sam… he was going to give me the long ball but with a wave of my hands I prevented him from doing that…
He understood that we were going into “Plan B” and passed the ball to Evan… then slowly we advanced as a team… and enveloped the opposition defense… Alex and Sam stood their ground in the centre of midfield… Paul took his position in the right wing and Evan in the left while I remained at the forefront of the attack, marked by Taylor…
Sam received the ball from Evan and gave a long pass to Paul on the right… Paul made his run drawing all the defenders towards him except Taylor. All the defenders being on the right the left was completely unguarded… Paul lopped the ball and it fell at Alex’s feet… he quickly passed the ball to Evan who had already started his run down the wings… I looked at Evan and he looked back… he neared the penalty box and rather than crossing the ball he entered the penalty box with the ball… just as I wanted him to…
The defenders had returned then… but it was as we planned… everyone expected Evan to take a shot but he didn’t he gave a back pass to Sam… and Sam instantly delivered a defense splitting through ball… a perfect through ball in front of the near post of the goalkeeper… I went after the ball and positioned myself to take a shot at the far post… I took the shot with my left foot…
As I kicked the ball, it rose and went in the direction I wanted it to… but somehow Louis got a fingertip to it even when he had lost his balance and before it could enter the goal Max cleared it…
“Darn it! Not even this worked! Then what can?” I thought to myself but the frustration was clear in my face……
Monday, February 22, 2010
Chapter 23: Lesson learned
When I woke up I saw that I was on a bed… my head still hurt a bit and body was in tremendous pain… I tried to sit up and see where I was but I couldn’t… I was too pain stricken to even sit properly… But still I managed to see what or rather who was beside me… it was Evie… she was still sleeping or rather she was unconscious… slowly I recalled the incidents of the previous night… a terrible thought crossed my mind… Taylor had struck her with a chain… was she alive? I hoped she was because I couldn’t do anything but hope…
“So, how are you doing Miroku?” It was Louis’s voice.
“I am fine…” I replied, still worried about Evie.
“Don’t worry; Evie is alright… the doctor was called last night…” Louis read my mind.
I didn’t notice before but I had bandages all over my arms and body… and also around my head…
“Don’t try to get up now… you need rest… I am going now… I have to check the other guy…” Louis got up.
“Other guy?” I asked him.
“Taylor…” Louis replied.
“It would have been better had I finished him off last night… but now that you have brought him with you I will kill him here…” I told him rather loudly.
“Stop it! Everyone makes mistakes… it’s about time you forgave him…”
“Forgive him!! Are you serious… after all he has done, you want me to forgive him? Never!”
“I know he has done some great deal of damage to you… I know he almost ended your career and I also know what he did to Evie…”
“And even after knowing those you want me to forgive him…”
“What he did wasn’t at all good, it was a terrible thing to do but please you must think about it…”
“No, there is nothing else left to think…”
“Sam told me what happened in that pub…”
“I was under the influence of alcohol…”
“So maybe Taylor was also under the influence of alcohol when he did that…”
The last part got me thinking…
“So what if he was under the influence of alcohol… he had every intention to do that…” I told recalling the comments Taylor had made that night.
“Alcohol brings out the beast from within a human…”
“Maybe it does, but Taylor is beyond forgiving…”
“Do as you please then, but Taylor has promised he won’t bother you guys again so, you must also promise the same…”
“I can’t do that… Taylor must pay for his deeds…”
“Let me make this one thing very much clear to you… Taylor almost ended your career but it was during a match… anything can happen during a match, players have even died while playing, but you didn’t do anything different did you? No, you did something different you almost ended his career but not during a match…”
“What you are trying to say is that we are very much equal?”
“No, not that… what I want to convey is that you must forget the past…”
“I never hurt anyone in my life… I didn’t beat him up for injuring me, I beat him for laying his hands on Evie… if Evie can forgive him then definitely I can too…”
“I have forgiven him Miroku, please listen to Louis…” Evie spoke after hearing our conversation.
“See Miroku, Evie has forgiven Taylor… now please try to forget about those incidents…”
“I am forgiving him… but not on a permanent basis, if he ever decides to hurt us again he will get killed…”
“I have learned my lesson Miroku, I was wrong in doing whatever I did… and I am apologizing for it… and if I again repeat those mistakes you can do whatever you like…” Taylor came inside the room.
His state was better than mine though he was hurt… those chains I hit him with had left their marks on his body… he couldn’t stand straight and also walked with a limp…
“So it’s settled then…” Louis said.
“Yes…” I told.
I can’t deny the fact that although I forgave Taylor I didn’t forget everything he did to me and Evie… so I decided to keep an eye on him… no, I didn’t trust him at all… after all those incidents who would have??
“So, how are you doing Miroku?” It was Louis’s voice.
“I am fine…” I replied, still worried about Evie.
“Don’t worry; Evie is alright… the doctor was called last night…” Louis read my mind.
I didn’t notice before but I had bandages all over my arms and body… and also around my head…
“Don’t try to get up now… you need rest… I am going now… I have to check the other guy…” Louis got up.
“Other guy?” I asked him.
“Taylor…” Louis replied.
“It would have been better had I finished him off last night… but now that you have brought him with you I will kill him here…” I told him rather loudly.
“Stop it! Everyone makes mistakes… it’s about time you forgave him…”
“Forgive him!! Are you serious… after all he has done, you want me to forgive him? Never!”
“I know he has done some great deal of damage to you… I know he almost ended your career and I also know what he did to Evie…”
“And even after knowing those you want me to forgive him…”
“What he did wasn’t at all good, it was a terrible thing to do but please you must think about it…”
“No, there is nothing else left to think…”
“Sam told me what happened in that pub…”
“I was under the influence of alcohol…”
“So maybe Taylor was also under the influence of alcohol when he did that…”
The last part got me thinking…
“So what if he was under the influence of alcohol… he had every intention to do that…” I told recalling the comments Taylor had made that night.
“Alcohol brings out the beast from within a human…”
“Maybe it does, but Taylor is beyond forgiving…”
“Do as you please then, but Taylor has promised he won’t bother you guys again so, you must also promise the same…”
“I can’t do that… Taylor must pay for his deeds…”
“Let me make this one thing very much clear to you… Taylor almost ended your career but it was during a match… anything can happen during a match, players have even died while playing, but you didn’t do anything different did you? No, you did something different you almost ended his career but not during a match…”
“What you are trying to say is that we are very much equal?”
“No, not that… what I want to convey is that you must forget the past…”
“I never hurt anyone in my life… I didn’t beat him up for injuring me, I beat him for laying his hands on Evie… if Evie can forgive him then definitely I can too…”
“I have forgiven him Miroku, please listen to Louis…” Evie spoke after hearing our conversation.
“See Miroku, Evie has forgiven Taylor… now please try to forget about those incidents…”
“I am forgiving him… but not on a permanent basis, if he ever decides to hurt us again he will get killed…”
“I have learned my lesson Miroku, I was wrong in doing whatever I did… and I am apologizing for it… and if I again repeat those mistakes you can do whatever you like…” Taylor came inside the room.
His state was better than mine though he was hurt… those chains I hit him with had left their marks on his body… he couldn’t stand straight and also walked with a limp…
“So it’s settled then…” Louis said.
“Yes…” I told.
I can’t deny the fact that although I forgave Taylor I didn’t forget everything he did to me and Evie… so I decided to keep an eye on him… no, I didn’t trust him at all… after all those incidents who would have??
Friday, February 19, 2010
Chapter 22: Lesson not learnt – Part 2
Taylor’s car was closing in on us… I didn’t notice before but there were two more cars behind Taylor’s…
“What is he up to? What does he want?” I thought to myself.
Random thoughts were coming to my mind… drops of perspiration were forming on my forehead and then dripping down my temple to my cheeks and then further down… the sweat was going down but I couldn’t drown those thoughts… those thoughts were wreaking havoc in my mind… if I was alone it would have been a different scenario but the person whom I loved the most was beside me… and I knew that soon the lurking danger would come after her… the thought of that and also the flashbacks of the previous encounters with Taylor was getting the better of me…
“Faster Miroku, Faster, he will catch us …” Evie was much tensed.
“Don’t worry…”
That was all I could tell her… she still thought that only Taylor was following us… she didn’t notice the other two cars… at least she was less tensed than me… I pretty much had the idea of what would happen to us if we were to get caught by the following lot… I dreaded at the thought of it… more drops of sweat fell down and fresh drops formed…
I was going at 100kmph… my pursuers were going at more speed… I placed my foot on the accelerator and pressed it down and kept it in that way… we flashed past the buildings… everything was blurred around us… everything out of the car was distorted in shape, only Evie wasn’t… the street lamps seemed to be interconnected, their lights to be precise… the red, green, yellow and blue lights of the streets completely intermixed to give white light and at places everything went black… I saw the speedometer… the marker was pointing at 120 then 125… no I couldn’t go more…
“Have we lost them Miroku? I don’t see anyone behind us… we must have been faster than them…” Evie sounded calm but still had signs of tension.
“Didn’t I tell you not to worry?”
“Yeah…”
I slowed down but before doing that I looked into the looking glass once more… no car was behind us… I heaped a sigh of relief…
“Look ahead Miroku…”
“What the…”
The three cars were right in front of us… we were still going at a good speed… I removed my foot from the accelerator and placed it on the brake and pressed it down…
“We will die if we collide with those cars… it will be better if we are caught…at least we will have some chance of survival…” I reassured myself but didn’t utter a single word.
“Miroku, what will happen now? We will surely be caught…” Evie started crying.
“Evie, jump out of the car” I firmly told her.
“No, I won’t…” she firmly replied rubbing her tears.
“Do as I say… we are going at a lower speed now… if you jump you can escape…”
“I don’t want to… I will go with you… I promised I will always be with you so how can I break that promise now?”
“Please Evie… Taylor isn’t alone he has companions I can’t take the risk of taking you with me…”
“I don’t care… as long as you are with me I will go wherever fate leads us to… even if that means I have to suffer…”
“Don’t argue… do as I say…”
“I am staying put…”
“In that case I will protect you with my life… but if I die…”
“Don’t speak like that; don’t ever speak like that…”
Our car stopped and we were surrounded by at least six people… they had chains and rods in their hands… every single one of them had sinister look in their eyes and each of them grinned… the dog like devilish grin made me mad…I got down from the car…
“Where is Taylor?” I asked them.
“Here…” Taylor got down from his car.
“What is it that you want from me now?” I boldly shouted out those words.
“Revenge…” Taylor gave me a glare like that of a hungry dog.
“What for? You got what you deserved…”
“I will show you what I deserved… tonight I will show you…”
Saying that he looked towards my car and started laughing.
“So you have brought her along… don’t worry, I won’t do a thing to her… I have business with you and not that girl of yours…”
I was quite relieved after hearing that… all my concerns were only for Evie… I didn’t care for myself…
“Guys!” Taylor waved at those goons just as a master does to his dogs.
As soon as Taylor called for them they surrounded me and tied me with the chains they had… and after that there was relentless punching and kicking… they mercilessly beat me with their iron rods… I lost my consciousness…
When I woke up I saw that both my hands were tied to two pillars on both my sides… I couldn’t feel anything… my legs went numb… not only my legs but my full body… my shirt was torn at places and if one saw through it they could have noticed red marks all over my body… those were the wounds inflicted on me by those goons of Taylor… I was pretty much sure that more was in store for me… but I something was bothering me…
“Evie… where are you?” I suddenly gathered all my strength and shouted.
“She is here, don’t worry, I haven’t touched her… I promised you, didn’t I?” It was Taylor’s voice mixed with anger and satisfaction.
“Why don’t you leave us alone? What have we done to you?” It was Evie’s voice.
“You bitch…” Saying that Taylor thrashed Evie and she fell down…
“Taylor, what business do you have with me? I am here deal with me… leave her alone…”
“I will definitely deal with you…” Saying that he came towards me.
He had an iron rod in his hand but something was different about it… I didn’t know what but it wasn’t an ordinary rod…
Taylor brought down that rod upon my back… then I understood what was different about that rod… it was red hot… at the moment it made contact with my body I screamed… he pulled up the rod and with it a part of my shirt went away leaving my body bare against that hot iron…
“Today I will beat you so much that you won’t be able to play anymore… I will break every bone in your body…” Taylor was very angry.
“Please stop… please don’t hurt him like this… please Taylor, do whatever you wish to with me… but don’t beat him…” Evie came in between us and shielded my defenseless body by embracing it.
“Move away Evie… you will get hurt…” I tried to push her aside but didn’t have enough strength left in me.
“Damn you!” Taylor threw down that rod and brought out a chain, “here let me beat both of you…”
Taylor brought that down but I didn’t feel anything… Evie took the blow on herself… and left me and became unconscious…
“I will never forgive you for this, Taylor… Never…” I tried to free myself from my shackles.
Another blow… but I still tried to break free… I pulled the chains and tried to break it from its concrete bounds… Taylor mercilessly whipped me with that chain… but rather than screaming in pain I tried to break the chains… I knew that it was the only way… the unconscious body of Evie enraged me… it filled me with anger and the feeling of vengeance was getting the better of me… I didn’t feel the pain from Taylor’s whipping… I pulled the chains more and more and at last I succeeded in doing the impossible…
“Now let’s end this once and for all…” I said after breaking free.
I dual wielded the chains and started whirling it in the air… I could see that the fear in Taylor’s mind had shown itself in his face… I waited no more… I proceeded towards Taylor and Taylor started backing away… soon Taylor had his back against a wall… I didn’t hesitate before lashing one of the chains against one of his shoulders… then I brought down the other one… Taylor was almost finished… I could see that he was losing his consciousness… I threw down the chains… I caught his neck and pushed him against the wall… my force lifted him up… he was strangling…
“Stop!” it was Louis’s voice.
I went ahead with my plans of killing Taylor… he was choking… his face had gone pale… eyes had become red…
“Stop! Don’t do this…” the voice of Louis came closer.
“Today I will finish you off…” I didn’t look at Louis.
“I will stop you…”
Saying that Louis came from behind and struck me on my head... everything went black…………
“What is he up to? What does he want?” I thought to myself.
Random thoughts were coming to my mind… drops of perspiration were forming on my forehead and then dripping down my temple to my cheeks and then further down… the sweat was going down but I couldn’t drown those thoughts… those thoughts were wreaking havoc in my mind… if I was alone it would have been a different scenario but the person whom I loved the most was beside me… and I knew that soon the lurking danger would come after her… the thought of that and also the flashbacks of the previous encounters with Taylor was getting the better of me…
“Faster Miroku, Faster, he will catch us …” Evie was much tensed.
“Don’t worry…”
That was all I could tell her… she still thought that only Taylor was following us… she didn’t notice the other two cars… at least she was less tensed than me… I pretty much had the idea of what would happen to us if we were to get caught by the following lot… I dreaded at the thought of it… more drops of sweat fell down and fresh drops formed…
I was going at 100kmph… my pursuers were going at more speed… I placed my foot on the accelerator and pressed it down and kept it in that way… we flashed past the buildings… everything was blurred around us… everything out of the car was distorted in shape, only Evie wasn’t… the street lamps seemed to be interconnected, their lights to be precise… the red, green, yellow and blue lights of the streets completely intermixed to give white light and at places everything went black… I saw the speedometer… the marker was pointing at 120 then 125… no I couldn’t go more…
“Have we lost them Miroku? I don’t see anyone behind us… we must have been faster than them…” Evie sounded calm but still had signs of tension.
“Didn’t I tell you not to worry?”
“Yeah…”
I slowed down but before doing that I looked into the looking glass once more… no car was behind us… I heaped a sigh of relief…
“Look ahead Miroku…”
“What the…”
The three cars were right in front of us… we were still going at a good speed… I removed my foot from the accelerator and placed it on the brake and pressed it down…
“We will die if we collide with those cars… it will be better if we are caught…at least we will have some chance of survival…” I reassured myself but didn’t utter a single word.
“Miroku, what will happen now? We will surely be caught…” Evie started crying.
“Evie, jump out of the car” I firmly told her.
“No, I won’t…” she firmly replied rubbing her tears.
“Do as I say… we are going at a lower speed now… if you jump you can escape…”
“I don’t want to… I will go with you… I promised I will always be with you so how can I break that promise now?”
“Please Evie… Taylor isn’t alone he has companions I can’t take the risk of taking you with me…”
“I don’t care… as long as you are with me I will go wherever fate leads us to… even if that means I have to suffer…”
“Don’t argue… do as I say…”
“I am staying put…”
“In that case I will protect you with my life… but if I die…”
“Don’t speak like that; don’t ever speak like that…”
Our car stopped and we were surrounded by at least six people… they had chains and rods in their hands… every single one of them had sinister look in their eyes and each of them grinned… the dog like devilish grin made me mad…I got down from the car…
“Where is Taylor?” I asked them.
“Here…” Taylor got down from his car.
“What is it that you want from me now?” I boldly shouted out those words.
“Revenge…” Taylor gave me a glare like that of a hungry dog.
“What for? You got what you deserved…”
“I will show you what I deserved… tonight I will show you…”
Saying that he looked towards my car and started laughing.
“So you have brought her along… don’t worry, I won’t do a thing to her… I have business with you and not that girl of yours…”
I was quite relieved after hearing that… all my concerns were only for Evie… I didn’t care for myself…
“Guys!” Taylor waved at those goons just as a master does to his dogs.
As soon as Taylor called for them they surrounded me and tied me with the chains they had… and after that there was relentless punching and kicking… they mercilessly beat me with their iron rods… I lost my consciousness…
When I woke up I saw that both my hands were tied to two pillars on both my sides… I couldn’t feel anything… my legs went numb… not only my legs but my full body… my shirt was torn at places and if one saw through it they could have noticed red marks all over my body… those were the wounds inflicted on me by those goons of Taylor… I was pretty much sure that more was in store for me… but I something was bothering me…
“Evie… where are you?” I suddenly gathered all my strength and shouted.
“She is here, don’t worry, I haven’t touched her… I promised you, didn’t I?” It was Taylor’s voice mixed with anger and satisfaction.
“Why don’t you leave us alone? What have we done to you?” It was Evie’s voice.
“You bitch…” Saying that Taylor thrashed Evie and she fell down…
“Taylor, what business do you have with me? I am here deal with me… leave her alone…”
“I will definitely deal with you…” Saying that he came towards me.
He had an iron rod in his hand but something was different about it… I didn’t know what but it wasn’t an ordinary rod…
Taylor brought down that rod upon my back… then I understood what was different about that rod… it was red hot… at the moment it made contact with my body I screamed… he pulled up the rod and with it a part of my shirt went away leaving my body bare against that hot iron…
“Today I will beat you so much that you won’t be able to play anymore… I will break every bone in your body…” Taylor was very angry.
“Please stop… please don’t hurt him like this… please Taylor, do whatever you wish to with me… but don’t beat him…” Evie came in between us and shielded my defenseless body by embracing it.
“Move away Evie… you will get hurt…” I tried to push her aside but didn’t have enough strength left in me.
“Damn you!” Taylor threw down that rod and brought out a chain, “here let me beat both of you…”
Taylor brought that down but I didn’t feel anything… Evie took the blow on herself… and left me and became unconscious…
“I will never forgive you for this, Taylor… Never…” I tried to free myself from my shackles.
Another blow… but I still tried to break free… I pulled the chains and tried to break it from its concrete bounds… Taylor mercilessly whipped me with that chain… but rather than screaming in pain I tried to break the chains… I knew that it was the only way… the unconscious body of Evie enraged me… it filled me with anger and the feeling of vengeance was getting the better of me… I didn’t feel the pain from Taylor’s whipping… I pulled the chains more and more and at last I succeeded in doing the impossible…
“Now let’s end this once and for all…” I said after breaking free.
I dual wielded the chains and started whirling it in the air… I could see that the fear in Taylor’s mind had shown itself in his face… I waited no more… I proceeded towards Taylor and Taylor started backing away… soon Taylor had his back against a wall… I didn’t hesitate before lashing one of the chains against one of his shoulders… then I brought down the other one… Taylor was almost finished… I could see that he was losing his consciousness… I threw down the chains… I caught his neck and pushed him against the wall… my force lifted him up… he was strangling…
“Stop!” it was Louis’s voice.
I went ahead with my plans of killing Taylor… he was choking… his face had gone pale… eyes had become red…
“Stop! Don’t do this…” the voice of Louis came closer.
“Today I will finish you off…” I didn’t look at Louis.
“I will stop you…”
Saying that Louis came from behind and struck me on my head... everything went black…………
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Chapter 21: Lesson not learnt – Part I
After returning home that day I kept on pondering over Louis’s goalkeeping abilities… he had some exceptional skills… saving a long ranger was a different thing but saving a penalty was another … I got yelled at by Evie thrice during lunch… she was talking about her exams and expecting me to reply to her immediately but my mind was preoccupied with other thoughts… in my mind I was trying to figure out Louis’s weaknesses… but the more I thought about it the less I seemed to figure out… so I left that thought altogether, I decided to train more with him… and also thought that if I played more with him I would be able to understand his game play and then probably score against him…
“Are you listening???” Evie again started yelling.
“Yeah…” I replied.
“From lunch I am seeing that you are lost in your thoughts. What has gotten into you today?”
“I am absolutely fine Evie, don’t worry…”
“Let me check your temperature…”
Saying that she put her right palm on my forehead and the left palm on her own forehead…
“Your temperature seems to be normal…” Evie said after checking my temperature.
“Leave it Evie, come lets go shopping and then we will dine out tonight…”
“Oh I love shopping! After so many days we are going out together…” the frown on her face completely disappeared.
Girls are strange indeed… they yell, and get angry often without any reason but if the term “Shopping” comes up and if it is brought out along with the words “eating out” then their anger totally vanishes and they become a different person altogether… suddenly they start showing their love and affection… It was the same with Evie… suddenly I became so good that she forgot all my faults…
“So then let’s go…”
Saying that I put my hand forward and Evie held it and we went of the house… hand in hand…
Shopping with Evie was extremely exhausting… she wasn’t able to choose properly… once she chose a skirt and then after seeing another she decided to abandon her previous choice for the new one and the cycle continued… she took more than five hours to buy just five dresses… after shopping we went for dinner in an eatery…
“We finally finished shopping; I am so satisfied with my stuffs…” Evie left a sigh of satisfaction while at the table waiting for our food to be served.
“You took five hours to buy those!! Other than being satisfied what else can you be?!”
“And what about those jeans of yours? We spent two hours over there…”
I was caught off guard but I didn’t give up…
“It was the fault of that old man… whatever I chose he was refusing to give me…”
“It was your fault… you chose things what other people had already chosen…”
“If they had chosen them then they could have carried those with them rather than leaving them in the hangers…”
“But you should have left them and bought other things…”
“But I was right wasn’t I? The old fool didn’t know a thing…”
“Don’t blame the old man…”
Evie was going to say more but seeing the waiter waiting for us to finish our quarrel she stopped. I was embarrassed too… we were fighting like little kids…
“Enough fighting let’s eat now…” I said while putting in a sushi piece in my mouth.
The food was really good… Whenever Evie and I ate out we either took Sushi or Noodles and soup…
We finished our food and ordered coffee… while drinking coffee we talked with each other… we didn’t quarrel anymore…
“Did you like this?” I asked Evie about our evening in the Shopping Mall and the sushi.
“Of course I did” Evie replied.
“Evie…” I held her hands, “It feels great to make you happy…”
Evie started blushing…
“Now let’s go back it’s getting late…” Evie said.
She was still blushing.
“Alright let’s go back now…”
Saying that we left the eatery and were on the streets… we were walking on the pavements… it was some minutes walk to the parking area where we had parked our car… We were talking about the various incidents of the day… I told her about Louis… how he had saved my goal bound shot and also my penalty… she talked about a new girl she met while hanging out in the café with her friends… the girl was Spanish her name was Bella… the coincidence was astonishing… but still I didn’t think Louis and Bella had anything to do with each other… I told Evie about the Old Man and the incident with Johnny and Danny… and we shared a laugh… Johnny and Danny always managed to make every one laugh at their silly acts… They were nicknamed the “Clowns of the fall” in school…
We were at gate of the parking zone… I paid the usual parking fare and went ahead to get the car while Evie stayed behind…
As I got in the car and turned the ignition key the front lights penetrated the darkness and showed Evie running towards my car… She reached the car and entered it and spoke only two words… “Let’s leave” …
She was panting. I could see fear in her eyes…
“What’s the matter Evie? Why are you so worked up?” I asked her.
“After you left me I saw Taylor with a group of goons… they were ruffians…”
“So he is again after you… didn’t learn his lesson then…”
“Let’s leave immediately Miroku… ”
“Alright…”
Saying that I started to drive… in some moments we left the parking zone and were on the road… I looked in the looking glass… a Black Land Rover was behind us… it was the same car… the same car from which Taylor came out THAT night… how could I forget?! I could never forget that night… it was fate that had sent me to Evie’s house or else I would have lost Evie forever…
“Are you listening???” Evie again started yelling.
“Yeah…” I replied.
“From lunch I am seeing that you are lost in your thoughts. What has gotten into you today?”
“I am absolutely fine Evie, don’t worry…”
“Let me check your temperature…”
Saying that she put her right palm on my forehead and the left palm on her own forehead…
“Your temperature seems to be normal…” Evie said after checking my temperature.
“Leave it Evie, come lets go shopping and then we will dine out tonight…”
“Oh I love shopping! After so many days we are going out together…” the frown on her face completely disappeared.
Girls are strange indeed… they yell, and get angry often without any reason but if the term “Shopping” comes up and if it is brought out along with the words “eating out” then their anger totally vanishes and they become a different person altogether… suddenly they start showing their love and affection… It was the same with Evie… suddenly I became so good that she forgot all my faults…
“So then let’s go…”
Saying that I put my hand forward and Evie held it and we went of the house… hand in hand…
Shopping with Evie was extremely exhausting… she wasn’t able to choose properly… once she chose a skirt and then after seeing another she decided to abandon her previous choice for the new one and the cycle continued… she took more than five hours to buy just five dresses… after shopping we went for dinner in an eatery…
“We finally finished shopping; I am so satisfied with my stuffs…” Evie left a sigh of satisfaction while at the table waiting for our food to be served.
“You took five hours to buy those!! Other than being satisfied what else can you be?!”
“And what about those jeans of yours? We spent two hours over there…”
I was caught off guard but I didn’t give up…
“It was the fault of that old man… whatever I chose he was refusing to give me…”
“It was your fault… you chose things what other people had already chosen…”
“If they had chosen them then they could have carried those with them rather than leaving them in the hangers…”
“But you should have left them and bought other things…”
“But I was right wasn’t I? The old fool didn’t know a thing…”
“Don’t blame the old man…”
Evie was going to say more but seeing the waiter waiting for us to finish our quarrel she stopped. I was embarrassed too… we were fighting like little kids…
“Enough fighting let’s eat now…” I said while putting in a sushi piece in my mouth.
The food was really good… Whenever Evie and I ate out we either took Sushi or Noodles and soup…
We finished our food and ordered coffee… while drinking coffee we talked with each other… we didn’t quarrel anymore…
“Did you like this?” I asked Evie about our evening in the Shopping Mall and the sushi.
“Of course I did” Evie replied.
“Evie…” I held her hands, “It feels great to make you happy…”
Evie started blushing…
“Now let’s go back it’s getting late…” Evie said.
She was still blushing.
“Alright let’s go back now…”
Saying that we left the eatery and were on the streets… we were walking on the pavements… it was some minutes walk to the parking area where we had parked our car… We were talking about the various incidents of the day… I told her about Louis… how he had saved my goal bound shot and also my penalty… she talked about a new girl she met while hanging out in the café with her friends… the girl was Spanish her name was Bella… the coincidence was astonishing… but still I didn’t think Louis and Bella had anything to do with each other… I told Evie about the Old Man and the incident with Johnny and Danny… and we shared a laugh… Johnny and Danny always managed to make every one laugh at their silly acts… They were nicknamed the “Clowns of the fall” in school…
We were at gate of the parking zone… I paid the usual parking fare and went ahead to get the car while Evie stayed behind…
As I got in the car and turned the ignition key the front lights penetrated the darkness and showed Evie running towards my car… She reached the car and entered it and spoke only two words… “Let’s leave” …
She was panting. I could see fear in her eyes…
“What’s the matter Evie? Why are you so worked up?” I asked her.
“After you left me I saw Taylor with a group of goons… they were ruffians…”
“So he is again after you… didn’t learn his lesson then…”
“Let’s leave immediately Miroku… ”
“Alright…”
Saying that I started to drive… in some moments we left the parking zone and were on the road… I looked in the looking glass… a Black Land Rover was behind us… it was the same car… the same car from which Taylor came out THAT night… how could I forget?! I could never forget that night… it was fate that had sent me to Evie’s house or else I would have lost Evie forever…
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Chapter 20: The brick wall
“Wanna try some more?” the boy said again as he threw the ball towards me.
“Definitely, but by what name shall we call you?” I asked him.
“Call me ‘muro infranqueable’…”
“Can’t we shorten it??” Sam asked him before I could.
“Ok call me Louis…” he replied.
“What language was it?” Danny asked.
“Not English definitely…” Johnny added.
“No definitely not… Do I look like being English?” Louis said.
“Then?!” Max asked.
“I am Spanish… I came here last week and play for…” he didn’t say more.
“Play for??!!” Sam almost fell down from his bench.
“Later dudes… I will tell you later… Let’s get back to training shall we?” Saying that Luis brought us to the field.
“What I saw from your game was that you guys do like the passing game but lack the craft, you guys are not skilful enough to penetrate the opposition defense…” Our new friend gave us his view about our playing style.
“And what makes you say that??” Sam interrupted him.
“I watched everything, whatever you guys were trying to do…”Louis replied.
“So what must we do to improve?” Sam asked again.
“It’s simple you can’t improve… the reason I came here was for Miroku, I have to help him get back his clinical finishing…”
“Miroku?! You came to help Miroku?! But how do you know that he requires your help???!!!” Sam asked again, this time he was very much eager to know.
“Miroku wouldn’t have been training with you guys if he was alright… Besides I know what happened to him… I know it all…”
“And may I know how??!!” This time Max joined the interrogation.
“Am I some thief or some terrorist that you guys are asking me so many things? I won’t answer any of your questions; at least not now… anyways let’s get back to training… Miroku now you try to put in a goal from the penalty spot…”
“But…” Danny was going to ask something but everyone ignored him.
I placed the ball on the penalty spot and went back a few steps… I saw Louis’s face before starting the run up… he wasn’t looking at me but at the ball… his confidence and concentration could be seen easily in his face… the look in his face was very much familiar… it was almost like Jack’s… that same level of concentration I saw in Jack’s face years back was there in his face…
I kicked the ball aiming at the top right corner… I kicked with all my power…
“Looks like you have totally lost your finishing skills” Louis said after saving my shot.
“Yeah, you are right… I have lost all my skills but surely it isn’t too late is it?! It can’t be too late…” I consoled myself after thinking about my sorry state.
“No, there is still time… you just have to keep the faith in your abilities only then you will rediscover yourself as a player… as the poacher…” Louis read my mind.
“Enough you guys… now I wanna have a go at you…” Danny snatched the ball from Louis.
“Me too…” Johnny joined the queue of penalty takers after Danny.
“Ok… try as much as you can…”
Danny was going to shoot but Johnny came from behind and stopped him… and both of them started fighting for the ball…
“Here we go again… Johnny and Danny simply can’t stop fighting…” Alex told the eternal truth.
“Can’t you guys quit this? You have passed out of high school now… about time you guys grew up…” Sam tried to stop them.
“Sam, we haven’t received our results yet…” Danny and Johnny together gave Sam his answer.
“You guys fight and when you have decided… let me know…” Louis was opening his gloves.
“We both will take the shot…” Danny said.
“Alright make it quick…”Louis again pulled on his gloves.
Danny and Johnny had already done weirder stuffs in school as well as while playing… they didn’t leave any other weird stuff to be done… starting from entering the girls toilet while fighting with each other to kicking the headmaster’s head instead of the football during training we have seen it all… another one of those acts were going to be added… the guys were holding their breath to see Danny and Johnny back in action…
Danny ran up from the left while Johnny ran up from the right for kicking the ball… they connected superbly… but the ball flew over the bar…
“WHAT THE??!! AY YOU FOOLISH BOYS, WAT IS YOU DOING HERE?? CAN’T YOU SEE I IS DRINKING??!! IS YOU BLIND??!!” it was the voice of Mr. Arkus Buros.
Arkus was supposedly the Greek sailor who was said to have been found in the English shores after his ship, the “DRUKEN” had sunk in the English Channel…
“Run guys it’s the OLD FOOL… run or he will catch us…” Sam already started to run.
“WHO IS YOU CALLING THE OLD FOOL? I IS BUROS THE GREAT… A MASTER SAILOR… A LEGENDARY MAN OF THE SEAS… HERE TAKE YOUR BALL… I HAS GOT BETTER…”
“Take the ball and run guys… run we still have time…”
“WAIT! LISTEN TO ME POEM…”
Saying that Arkus again started his same old poem…
“WHEN THE OCEANS RISE,
WHEN THE THUNDERS STRIKE,
WHEN BALLS FALL,
WHEN STONES ROLL,
WHEN DRAGONS FLY,
WHEN WOMEN CRY,
THAT IS THE TIME WHEN PEOPLE DIE,
BUT STILL I SAY ‘WHAT CARE I!!’
‘CAUSE INDEED WHAT CARE I!!
WHAT CARE I!! WHAT CARE I!!
WHY CARE I?!”
“SO YOU YOUNG PEOPLE SAY HOW YOU LIKES ME POEM??”
“Good poem… but we have to go now… good bye…” Sam was almost out of the field when he said that.
We ran away too… we could hear the old man talking rubbish as usual… he was indeed the OLD FOOL!! Always dead drunk…
“Definitely, but by what name shall we call you?” I asked him.
“Call me ‘muro infranqueable’…”
“Can’t we shorten it??” Sam asked him before I could.
“Ok call me Louis…” he replied.
“What language was it?” Danny asked.
“Not English definitely…” Johnny added.
“No definitely not… Do I look like being English?” Louis said.
“Then?!” Max asked.
“I am Spanish… I came here last week and play for…” he didn’t say more.
“Play for??!!” Sam almost fell down from his bench.
“Later dudes… I will tell you later… Let’s get back to training shall we?” Saying that Luis brought us to the field.
“What I saw from your game was that you guys do like the passing game but lack the craft, you guys are not skilful enough to penetrate the opposition defense…” Our new friend gave us his view about our playing style.
“And what makes you say that??” Sam interrupted him.
“I watched everything, whatever you guys were trying to do…”Louis replied.
“So what must we do to improve?” Sam asked again.
“It’s simple you can’t improve… the reason I came here was for Miroku, I have to help him get back his clinical finishing…”
“Miroku?! You came to help Miroku?! But how do you know that he requires your help???!!!” Sam asked again, this time he was very much eager to know.
“Miroku wouldn’t have been training with you guys if he was alright… Besides I know what happened to him… I know it all…”
“And may I know how??!!” This time Max joined the interrogation.
“Am I some thief or some terrorist that you guys are asking me so many things? I won’t answer any of your questions; at least not now… anyways let’s get back to training… Miroku now you try to put in a goal from the penalty spot…”
“But…” Danny was going to ask something but everyone ignored him.
I placed the ball on the penalty spot and went back a few steps… I saw Louis’s face before starting the run up… he wasn’t looking at me but at the ball… his confidence and concentration could be seen easily in his face… the look in his face was very much familiar… it was almost like Jack’s… that same level of concentration I saw in Jack’s face years back was there in his face…
I kicked the ball aiming at the top right corner… I kicked with all my power…
“Looks like you have totally lost your finishing skills” Louis said after saving my shot.
“Yeah, you are right… I have lost all my skills but surely it isn’t too late is it?! It can’t be too late…” I consoled myself after thinking about my sorry state.
“No, there is still time… you just have to keep the faith in your abilities only then you will rediscover yourself as a player… as the poacher…” Louis read my mind.
“Enough you guys… now I wanna have a go at you…” Danny snatched the ball from Louis.
“Me too…” Johnny joined the queue of penalty takers after Danny.
“Ok… try as much as you can…”
Danny was going to shoot but Johnny came from behind and stopped him… and both of them started fighting for the ball…
“Here we go again… Johnny and Danny simply can’t stop fighting…” Alex told the eternal truth.
“Can’t you guys quit this? You have passed out of high school now… about time you guys grew up…” Sam tried to stop them.
“Sam, we haven’t received our results yet…” Danny and Johnny together gave Sam his answer.
“You guys fight and when you have decided… let me know…” Louis was opening his gloves.
“We both will take the shot…” Danny said.
“Alright make it quick…”Louis again pulled on his gloves.
Danny and Johnny had already done weirder stuffs in school as well as while playing… they didn’t leave any other weird stuff to be done… starting from entering the girls toilet while fighting with each other to kicking the headmaster’s head instead of the football during training we have seen it all… another one of those acts were going to be added… the guys were holding their breath to see Danny and Johnny back in action…
Danny ran up from the left while Johnny ran up from the right for kicking the ball… they connected superbly… but the ball flew over the bar…
“WHAT THE??!! AY YOU FOOLISH BOYS, WAT IS YOU DOING HERE?? CAN’T YOU SEE I IS DRINKING??!! IS YOU BLIND??!!” it was the voice of Mr. Arkus Buros.
Arkus was supposedly the Greek sailor who was said to have been found in the English shores after his ship, the “DRUKEN” had sunk in the English Channel…
“Run guys it’s the OLD FOOL… run or he will catch us…” Sam already started to run.
“WHO IS YOU CALLING THE OLD FOOL? I IS BUROS THE GREAT… A MASTER SAILOR… A LEGENDARY MAN OF THE SEAS… HERE TAKE YOUR BALL… I HAS GOT BETTER…”
“Take the ball and run guys… run we still have time…”
“WAIT! LISTEN TO ME POEM…”
Saying that Arkus again started his same old poem…
“WHEN THE OCEANS RISE,
WHEN THE THUNDERS STRIKE,
WHEN BALLS FALL,
WHEN STONES ROLL,
WHEN DRAGONS FLY,
WHEN WOMEN CRY,
THAT IS THE TIME WHEN PEOPLE DIE,
BUT STILL I SAY ‘WHAT CARE I!!’
‘CAUSE INDEED WHAT CARE I!!
WHAT CARE I!! WHAT CARE I!!
WHY CARE I?!”
“SO YOU YOUNG PEOPLE SAY HOW YOU LIKES ME POEM??”
“Good poem… but we have to go now… good bye…” Sam was almost out of the field when he said that.
We ran away too… we could hear the old man talking rubbish as usual… he was indeed the OLD FOOL!! Always dead drunk…
muro infranqueable - brick wall (figurative meaning: insurmountable obstacle)
Chapter 19: Probably a friend
“All right we are all here now… let’s start the training…”
As soon as Sam said that everyone went into the field.
“I will be the goalkeeper” Saying that Herbert, the goalkeeper of our school wore his gloves and took his position.
10 of us were there, all my school mates… they had come to help me with my training… Alex, Paul, Evan, Shaun and I formed our team which had only one task that was to pass the ball among ourselves and try to break through the defense… the other team had Sam, Max, Johnny, Danny and Herbert…
The training got underway, and our team had much possession of the ball but the defense held and we couldn’t break through… the five of us had cornered their defense but still we didn’t get the chance to score a goal… we passed and passed but still didn’t find any loopholes in the opposition defense… very much like what Arsenal face nowadays against strong defensive sides like Chelsea and Manchester United… in a professional game it was only one individual moment of magic that could give a breakthrough…
All of us tried many things starting from long range efforts to crosses… but the result was the same… Sam would always stop any of us from scoring… if it was a long range effort he would block it and if it was a cross he would always rise up and meet it before any of us and then would head it clear…
“Darn it! Why can’t we score?? Am I really that rusty??” I thought to myself.
“Hey Miroku, try harder buddy… you can do it…” Sam tried to cheer me up.
“Can I really do it? Or have I become an ordinary footballer whereas my friends have improved…” I wondered.
Alex took a long range effort… a drive from 20 yards out… it was terribly wayward… it completely missed the target and flew over the bar…
“You call that a shot! That is goddamned average… no below that even…”
The voice came from a stranger, a boy of our age but we didn’t see him in our area before.
“And who the hell are you?!” Alex was quick to respond.
“That is none of your business… I am only here to see HIM…”
Saying that he pointed towards me.
“Me? Who is this guy?” I wondered.
“Show me your skills…”
“Show him my skills… I am yet to find my rhythm, I can’t show him any skills… but why should I even bother about him??” I thought to myself.
“I am sitting down here while you guys play… let’s see what that poacher of yours can do…” Saying that the boy sat down on one of the benches kept beside the field.
That was my nickname… but I was nowhere near my best… “Poacher” was a far cry for me…
“Well, let’s begin once more…” Sam said as he brought the ball from the bushes behind the goal post.
We all began again. The same story, passing and no penetration. Crosses but no headers…
“I am fed up of you guys… let Miroku shoot from distance…” that guy spoke again.
“I think he is right Miroku, you take the shot from distance this time…” Sam handed me the ball.
I placed the ball 20 yards out of the penalty box… and readied myself for the shot…
“Here goes…” I said as I started my run.
I saw that guy getting up from his seat and looking intently at my run up…
I drove the ball for a goal…
“That was lousy… a toothless strike… pretty easy to score against an average goalkeeper but up against a good goal keeper… u can’t score…” that guy commented on my shot.
“Hey, we aren’t listening to your rubbish! Just get lost ok…” Sam was quick to come to my defense.
“Stop it Sam, he is right…” I said to Sam.
“Now Miroku, try that same shot against me…” Saying that he went and literally snatched the gloves from Herbert and took his place in front of the goal.
“Can I really beat that guy?” I thought to myself.
His confidence was absorbing whatever confidence I had in my abilities… I felt powerless…
He threw the ball towards me…
“Go give it a shot… I am ready for it…”
“Can I do this??” I thought to myself.
“Teach him a lesson Miroku, we know you can…” Everyone started backing me up.
I didn’t know what to do… I was absolutely dumbfounded… the sudden approach by that guy totally undid me…
“I will try to score against you… But I know I will fail…” I thought to myself.
As I prepared my run up only one thought came to my mind… the thought that I will fail to score… the negativity totally consumed my positive belief in my abilities… as it is I wasn’t the same player I was before being injured… I had completely lost my touch…
I hit the ball with the same power and in the same direction… and as I had thought it didn’t go in… that guy saved it…
“See I told you can’t score against a good goalkeeper…” the boy bounced the ball while saying that.
“A good goalkeeper?” I wondered to myself.
“Who are you?” Sam stole that from my mouth.
“A good goalkeeper…just know that for now… you will come to know everything later on…”
That wasn’t the answer I was looking for… that wasn’t the answer anyone expected…
I smiled…
“You are smiling, Miroku?” Sam asked me astonished.
I didn’t answer him but I knew in my mind that the guy whoever he was, was really someone with great abilities… if I could train with him I could regain my former self…
As soon as Sam said that everyone went into the field.
“I will be the goalkeeper” Saying that Herbert, the goalkeeper of our school wore his gloves and took his position.
10 of us were there, all my school mates… they had come to help me with my training… Alex, Paul, Evan, Shaun and I formed our team which had only one task that was to pass the ball among ourselves and try to break through the defense… the other team had Sam, Max, Johnny, Danny and Herbert…
The training got underway, and our team had much possession of the ball but the defense held and we couldn’t break through… the five of us had cornered their defense but still we didn’t get the chance to score a goal… we passed and passed but still didn’t find any loopholes in the opposition defense… very much like what Arsenal face nowadays against strong defensive sides like Chelsea and Manchester United… in a professional game it was only one individual moment of magic that could give a breakthrough…
All of us tried many things starting from long range efforts to crosses… but the result was the same… Sam would always stop any of us from scoring… if it was a long range effort he would block it and if it was a cross he would always rise up and meet it before any of us and then would head it clear…
“Darn it! Why can’t we score?? Am I really that rusty??” I thought to myself.
“Hey Miroku, try harder buddy… you can do it…” Sam tried to cheer me up.
“Can I really do it? Or have I become an ordinary footballer whereas my friends have improved…” I wondered.
Alex took a long range effort… a drive from 20 yards out… it was terribly wayward… it completely missed the target and flew over the bar…
“You call that a shot! That is goddamned average… no below that even…”
The voice came from a stranger, a boy of our age but we didn’t see him in our area before.
“And who the hell are you?!” Alex was quick to respond.
“That is none of your business… I am only here to see HIM…”
Saying that he pointed towards me.
“Me? Who is this guy?” I wondered.
“Show me your skills…”
“Show him my skills… I am yet to find my rhythm, I can’t show him any skills… but why should I even bother about him??” I thought to myself.
“I am sitting down here while you guys play… let’s see what that poacher of yours can do…” Saying that the boy sat down on one of the benches kept beside the field.
That was my nickname… but I was nowhere near my best… “Poacher” was a far cry for me…
“Well, let’s begin once more…” Sam said as he brought the ball from the bushes behind the goal post.
We all began again. The same story, passing and no penetration. Crosses but no headers…
“I am fed up of you guys… let Miroku shoot from distance…” that guy spoke again.
“I think he is right Miroku, you take the shot from distance this time…” Sam handed me the ball.
I placed the ball 20 yards out of the penalty box… and readied myself for the shot…
“Here goes…” I said as I started my run.
I saw that guy getting up from his seat and looking intently at my run up…
I drove the ball for a goal…
“That was lousy… a toothless strike… pretty easy to score against an average goalkeeper but up against a good goal keeper… u can’t score…” that guy commented on my shot.
“Hey, we aren’t listening to your rubbish! Just get lost ok…” Sam was quick to come to my defense.
“Stop it Sam, he is right…” I said to Sam.
“Now Miroku, try that same shot against me…” Saying that he went and literally snatched the gloves from Herbert and took his place in front of the goal.
“Can I really beat that guy?” I thought to myself.
His confidence was absorbing whatever confidence I had in my abilities… I felt powerless…
He threw the ball towards me…
“Go give it a shot… I am ready for it…”
“Can I do this??” I thought to myself.
“Teach him a lesson Miroku, we know you can…” Everyone started backing me up.
I didn’t know what to do… I was absolutely dumbfounded… the sudden approach by that guy totally undid me…
“I will try to score against you… But I know I will fail…” I thought to myself.
As I prepared my run up only one thought came to my mind… the thought that I will fail to score… the negativity totally consumed my positive belief in my abilities… as it is I wasn’t the same player I was before being injured… I had completely lost my touch…
I hit the ball with the same power and in the same direction… and as I had thought it didn’t go in… that guy saved it…
“See I told you can’t score against a good goalkeeper…” the boy bounced the ball while saying that.
“A good goalkeeper?” I wondered to myself.
“Who are you?” Sam stole that from my mouth.
“A good goalkeeper…just know that for now… you will come to know everything later on…”
That wasn’t the answer I was looking for… that wasn’t the answer anyone expected…
I smiled…
“You are smiling, Miroku?” Sam asked me astonished.
I didn’t answer him but I knew in my mind that the guy whoever he was, was really someone with great abilities… if I could train with him I could regain my former self…
Friday, February 12, 2010
Chapter 18: All in a day
After a grueling training session Sam and I went to our favorite place… it wouldn’t be so special for anyone else but for us it was really special… It was a place by the canal… to be precise it was below the bridge over the canal…
As kids Sam, Paul, Alex, Max, Jack and I would go there every day after playing … we didn’t go there for fishing or other usual stuffs like smoking… we went there for just staring at the sky… yeah we just did that and nothing else… the bank of the canal was not a plain ground but was slanting… we usually went there in the afternoons… we used to lie down with our arms acting as our pillows… and then it was only staring at the sky…
The clouds flew over us casting their shadows on us and the canal… we cracked many a jokes while lying down… silly jokes as termed by grownups… were they really silly? Oh no. They weren’t. They might have been silly for the elderly but not definitely for us… the moments we shared… they were definitely the best…
“Do you remember buddy, the last time we came here, what Alex did to you?” Sam broke our silence and spoke.
“Yeah I do remember it…”
“He got so jealous that he pushed you in the canal…”
We started laughing… yeah after Jack left me and then my parents I rarely laughed liked that…
“You are laughing dude!”
“Yes I am laughing Sam…”
What happened was that on one fine afternoon all of us were lying down… the girls’ school got over and Evie was returning from her school… she saw me with my friends and waved her hands at me… I waved back… she came up to me and sat beside me… Now Alex had a crush on Evie… seeing her sitting beside me Alex got mad and pushed me into the canal… and hurled abuses at me… I knew how to swim but the suddenness of the incident caught me off guard… seeing me getting drowned Evie started crying… I can’t deny the fact that I enjoyed seeing her cry… I really liked it… after Alex understood that Evie really cared for me he gave her up and jumped into the canal to save me, despite not knowing how to swim… in the end it was me who saved Alex from drowning and not the other way round…
“Old memories pal…” Sam said.
“Good memories…” I replied.
“But let’s get going now… Evie must be back from school now…she must be waiting for you…”
“Yeah…Lets go then but tomorrow we are again coming back here…”
Saying that we went on our separate paths…
When I returned home I saw that the front door was locked… I thought that Evie would be late so I waited in front of the house…
1 hour passed and there was no sign of Evie… where could she be? I was really getting tensed… all sorts of thoughts were coming to my mind… I went towards the door again and checked the lock… it was perfectly locked… I checked again but couldn’t find any difference… I sat down on the steps and kept my hand on one of the steps… I felt something there… it was a piece of cloth… it was a part of Evie’s handkerchief… it had blood stains…
I rang the doorbell but no reply came… then I went to the garden… there was no one… I was going to get out of the garden but then I saw an open window… I thought of nothing else and entered my house through the open window…
Blood was there on the floor… it had dried up… I was really getting desperate then… I was just thinking of Evie’s safety…I ran about the full house checking every room… but I couldn’t find her anywhere… only one place was left to be checked… the bathroom… I didn’t think twice… I went towards the bathroom door and then with my full force I barged against the door…
“What the….” It was Evie’s voice…
The bathroom door wasn’t locked and Evie was in the shower… I collided with the door with my full force but as it was not locked my momentum made me crash with the curtain of the shower… the curtain fell and with it I fell in front of Evie…
“Oh thank God you’re here…”
Before I could finish my sentence I got hit by a cake of soap…then by the shampoo bottle…
“What was that for?!” I shouted at Evie.
“You foolish boy… where do you think you are at the moment?”
“In the bathroom…why? Oh! I am really sorry… I was so worried…”
Again Evie hit me with the Shampoo bottle…
“Now mind telling me what is the reason this time?!”
“You idiot! You locked the front door and went out in the morning… I had to go out by that window… see I also got a cut in my foot…”
She showed her cut…
“And now again after returning back from school I got another cut…”
“Where? Let me see…”
“Here see for yourself…”
There was a slight bruise in her ankle…
“That little cut over there is making you so mad…”
Again I got hit…
“All right… I am sorry… But where is the key of the front door now?”
“Check your pocket…”
“It is not there… Oh wait… yeah… I found it…”
Silly me I never checked my pocket… the key was there all along…
“But to say the truth Evie, I was really scared today… I thought that…”
Another time I got hit… this time a punch on my head…
“Now what was THAT for?!”
“This is the bathroom and I am taking my bath…”
“So?”
“You fool! Is a boy supposed to be in the bathroom when a girl is in the shower?!”
“Oh! I am so sorry I am leaving… but… make it quick… I am too exhausted… I also have to get in the shower… or…”
“OR?!”
“If you don’t mind we can do this together…”
This time Evie picked up the shampoo bottle again…
“Whoa… I am leaving…”
I was really in a very good mood… never before did I say such naughty things to her… But Evie had got down from the bathtub… she was coming towards me… I ran towards the door… that scary look on her face gave me goose bumps…
“I will get out of this room then surely you can’t come out like that and beat me…”
Evie threw down the bottle… she was going red… she was blushing… she realized that she was talking to me the whole time without having any sort of clothing…
“All right I am going…”
As I was going out Evie held my hand and pulled me back…and then closed the door with a bang…
As kids Sam, Paul, Alex, Max, Jack and I would go there every day after playing … we didn’t go there for fishing or other usual stuffs like smoking… we went there for just staring at the sky… yeah we just did that and nothing else… the bank of the canal was not a plain ground but was slanting… we usually went there in the afternoons… we used to lie down with our arms acting as our pillows… and then it was only staring at the sky…
The clouds flew over us casting their shadows on us and the canal… we cracked many a jokes while lying down… silly jokes as termed by grownups… were they really silly? Oh no. They weren’t. They might have been silly for the elderly but not definitely for us… the moments we shared… they were definitely the best…
“Do you remember buddy, the last time we came here, what Alex did to you?” Sam broke our silence and spoke.
“Yeah I do remember it…”
“He got so jealous that he pushed you in the canal…”
We started laughing… yeah after Jack left me and then my parents I rarely laughed liked that…
“You are laughing dude!”
“Yes I am laughing Sam…”
What happened was that on one fine afternoon all of us were lying down… the girls’ school got over and Evie was returning from her school… she saw me with my friends and waved her hands at me… I waved back… she came up to me and sat beside me… Now Alex had a crush on Evie… seeing her sitting beside me Alex got mad and pushed me into the canal… and hurled abuses at me… I knew how to swim but the suddenness of the incident caught me off guard… seeing me getting drowned Evie started crying… I can’t deny the fact that I enjoyed seeing her cry… I really liked it… after Alex understood that Evie really cared for me he gave her up and jumped into the canal to save me, despite not knowing how to swim… in the end it was me who saved Alex from drowning and not the other way round…
“Old memories pal…” Sam said.
“Good memories…” I replied.
“But let’s get going now… Evie must be back from school now…she must be waiting for you…”
“Yeah…Lets go then but tomorrow we are again coming back here…”
Saying that we went on our separate paths…
When I returned home I saw that the front door was locked… I thought that Evie would be late so I waited in front of the house…
1 hour passed and there was no sign of Evie… where could she be? I was really getting tensed… all sorts of thoughts were coming to my mind… I went towards the door again and checked the lock… it was perfectly locked… I checked again but couldn’t find any difference… I sat down on the steps and kept my hand on one of the steps… I felt something there… it was a piece of cloth… it was a part of Evie’s handkerchief… it had blood stains…
I rang the doorbell but no reply came… then I went to the garden… there was no one… I was going to get out of the garden but then I saw an open window… I thought of nothing else and entered my house through the open window…
Blood was there on the floor… it had dried up… I was really getting desperate then… I was just thinking of Evie’s safety…I ran about the full house checking every room… but I couldn’t find her anywhere… only one place was left to be checked… the bathroom… I didn’t think twice… I went towards the bathroom door and then with my full force I barged against the door…
“What the….” It was Evie’s voice…
The bathroom door wasn’t locked and Evie was in the shower… I collided with the door with my full force but as it was not locked my momentum made me crash with the curtain of the shower… the curtain fell and with it I fell in front of Evie…
“Oh thank God you’re here…”
Before I could finish my sentence I got hit by a cake of soap…then by the shampoo bottle…
“What was that for?!” I shouted at Evie.
“You foolish boy… where do you think you are at the moment?”
“In the bathroom…why? Oh! I am really sorry… I was so worried…”
Again Evie hit me with the Shampoo bottle…
“Now mind telling me what is the reason this time?!”
“You idiot! You locked the front door and went out in the morning… I had to go out by that window… see I also got a cut in my foot…”
She showed her cut…
“And now again after returning back from school I got another cut…”
“Where? Let me see…”
“Here see for yourself…”
There was a slight bruise in her ankle…
“That little cut over there is making you so mad…”
Again I got hit…
“All right… I am sorry… But where is the key of the front door now?”
“Check your pocket…”
“It is not there… Oh wait… yeah… I found it…”
Silly me I never checked my pocket… the key was there all along…
“But to say the truth Evie, I was really scared today… I thought that…”
Another time I got hit… this time a punch on my head…
“Now what was THAT for?!”
“This is the bathroom and I am taking my bath…”
“So?”
“You fool! Is a boy supposed to be in the bathroom when a girl is in the shower?!”
“Oh! I am so sorry I am leaving… but… make it quick… I am too exhausted… I also have to get in the shower… or…”
“OR?!”
“If you don’t mind we can do this together…”
This time Evie picked up the shampoo bottle again…
“Whoa… I am leaving…”
I was really in a very good mood… never before did I say such naughty things to her… But Evie had got down from the bathtub… she was coming towards me… I ran towards the door… that scary look on her face gave me goose bumps…
“I will get out of this room then surely you can’t come out like that and beat me…”
Evie threw down the bottle… she was going red… she was blushing… she realized that she was talking to me the whole time without having any sort of clothing…
“All right I am going…”
As I was going out Evie held my hand and pulled me back…and then closed the door with a bang…
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