Just A Dream

The class had been going on for a while, his eyes were focused on his wristwatch. This period seemed to be much longer than the others, but then it always did. This was the period just before the recess, so the end of this period was always much awaited. 

The minute hand of the watch was moving lousily. According to him, it had been 11:10 for quite some time now.  He would look up and study his surroundings every now and then. There was the teacher, far across on her table, examining notebooks; his classmates, who were pretending to look busy, but were doing nothing actually and a bee that was scaring girls from time to time. At least, the bee seemed to be enjoying herself.  

He looked back at the watch. It was almost 11:15. The bell would ring anytime now. He was about to examine his surroundings again, when the bell rang. That noise was music to his ears. Suddenly, the silent classroom had exploded into a roar. He looked into his bag, fiddled aside his notebooks to get the ultimate prize: the tiffin box.

He left the classroom immediately, determined not to waste any more time. He reached outside and faced a crowded courtyard, brimming with children. He sat down quietly on the pavement with his tiffin box clutched in his hands, waiting for her to come out. He stared directly across the class room in front, knowing that she would be out any time now. He looked at a bunch of kids playing hide and seek. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. But, he didn’t want to play with them, he was waiting for her. He looked across the courtyard again and there she was.

She stood there, her hair tied in a pony. She wore a black baggy sweater and a navy blue skirt. The sweater was too big for her tiny frame. The sleeves of her sweater reaching down to her fingers. Her dark brown eyes sat behind her tiny spectacles. Her nose was a little bit peculiar. It was tiny (Of course, it was tiny. Her every feature was somehow a synonym to the word “tiny”), but it was slightly elevated at the end. She had explained to him quite many times, that she had a pert nose and it was very rare. Of course, he had no idea about what she was talking about, but since she was so in love with her peculiar nose, he knew one thing was for sure: No making fun of her nose. So, calling her names like Piggy, would not end up well for the speaker. Her fragile hands gripped her tiffin box tightly. She was delicate, refined and subtle. She was sophisticated. She was exquisite in her own ways.

Her mouth was gaped open and her eyes were searching for him in the crowd. He let her hunting quest go on for a while. It was amusing to stare at her while she wasn’t able to see him. He realised quickly, that time wasn’t going to stop for his amusement. He got up and walked upon a higher platform and waved meekly at her. Seconds later, she started walking towards him. 

There was profuse confidence in the way she walked. Her head held up high, her arms swinging back and forth subtly; every step she took, radiated pride and confidence. It was effortless. On the other hand, he felt like he had to call upon all his muscles and summon up all the energy, just to walk. His head always hanging low, staring down at his feet, taking calculated steps. It was anything, but effortless. He envied her sometimes, but that’s how he really was.

“Our bench?” she asked.  
 
He nodded. 

“It isn’t our bench. It belongs to the school,” he said.

“Well, we use it daily. That makes it ours.”

The bench was in the grounds. They used to have lunch on that very bench for as long as he could remember. They left the courtyard and started pacing towards “their” bench.

As they approached the bench, he nudged her hard in the stomach.

“Hey!! What was that for?” she screamed.

“You were late.” He declared and paced forward. He looked back to find her running towards him with her tiffin box held up high. He waited for her to hit him hard on the back, but it was just a mild bump on the head. He smiled at her. This was his favourite part of the day. He used to savour every moment of their meetings. 

They reached the bench. She sat on his left. He took out his round plastic tiffin box and took off its lid to find his usual lunch: Paranthas.

“Again?” she croaked.

“I like them.”

“Well, you eat too much of those. You’ll get fat soon”

He looked down at his stomach, trying to figure out how many Paranthas it will take to make him fat. A lot, apparently.

“Look what I got!!” she shrieked loud enough for the whole ground to hear. He slanted towards her to get a good look inside her tiffin box. It was Maggie. And yes, it was a big deal. Her scream was now justified. Her tiffin box was neatly organised. There was Maggie in one container and there was ketchup in the other. A small plastic fork was attached on the side. He then, looked inside his own tiffin box: a mango pickle wrapped inside two Paranthas. This was why, she was the sophisticated one.

He started eating his Paranthas, piece by piece. In all his time of waiting, he had forgotten how hungry he actually was. He looked straight ahead. The ground was immense, and was ornamented by a line of trees on both sides. The ground shared its boundary with a barren field. Even the word “immense” wasn’t grand enough to describe the magnitude of that field. It expanded to as far as they could possibly see. They had often wondered what might be at the end of the field. He wished he could travel to the ends of the field, but all he could see was the horizon.

A poke on his arm brought him back to the bench. She was staring at him.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“I am.”

“Oh I know it. You must be bored, eating the same thing over and over again.” She took a fork full of Maggie and placed it in his tiffin. He took one final look at the field and then dived back into his food.

In a matter of minutes, his tiffin was empty. He looked at hers, and to his surprise, half of her tiffin was still full. She caught her astonished look.

“Mommy says we should take our time while eating,” she said while playing with her food with her fork. “Besides, I’ll save the rest for later.” She packed her tiffin and in a matter of seconds, it looked like it had never been opened. He packed his tiffin box too and realised his fingers were covered with pickle. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, she wasn’t looking. He checked again to make sure. Then, very discreetly, he cleaned his fingers using his own pants. He looked at her again, she was looking straight ahead. Maybe she was wondering about the fields too. He exhaled. She hadn’t looked. He felt a sense of pride and accomplishment in his deed. Another evidence of him not being sophisticated.

Hiccup.

He looked back at her. Her hiccups were very frequent. He couldn’t recall a single time, when she hadn’t have hiccups. He had once started punching her whenever she had a hiccup. He kept doing it for some time until they both agreed it wasn’t funny anymore.

“Don’t worry, I brought my water bottle.” She grinned while holding it out for him to see.

“That’s great. Now, make some use of it.” 

She kicked his foot. He retaliated. Kicking each other after lunch had become sort of a tradition for them.

“Okay, okay! Now let me drink water peacefully or else I’ll spill it on your face,” she threatened. He backed up. It was cold enough already, he couldn’t risk the possibility of water getting inside his shirt.

The bell rang.

The noise that had sounded so melodious earlier, was now full of melancholy.

She got off the bench and picked up all her belongings. Then she looked at him, waiting for him to do the same.

“Why are you always in such a hurry?” he demanded.

“The bell rang. We have to go back to the class.”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I know.”

They started heading back for their respective classes. He noticed how the senior students were unmoved by that same noise. He wished the two of them could be like those seniors. He shrugged off that thought. He was about to reach his classroom, when he uttered, “I’m thirsty.”

So they changed their trajectory towards the water cooler. He wasn’t actually thirsty, but this was his tactic to spend some more time with her. He was pleased with himself. He smiled.

He was just about to drink some water when she said, “Make sure you remove that stain from the side of your pants.” She indicated at the point where his pickle filled fingers had been cleaned. He looked at her in utter disbelief.

“Oh I see everything, boy.” She smiled diabolically. “I’d recommend a handkerchief next time.”

She kept smiling at him. He drank some water and very carefully removed the pickle stain.

“I have something for you.” She said in delight.

“Well, it’s for the both of us,” she clarified, even before he could respond.

“Fine. What is it?”

She help up her hand to reveal a Kit Kat chocolate. It was a small chocolate. She removed the wrapper enthusiastically and divided the chocolate into two. Both of them took one half of it.
So this was the end of the day for him. Time for them to part. 

He turned back to leave for the class when she called him back.

“Let’s not go back to the class today,” she said, grinning excitedly.

“But you said-”

“Forget about it. You want to come with me or not?”

He nodded.

“Let’s go back to the bench.” She declared.

“Our bench,” he corrected. 

He sat with her on that very bench again. Even those seniors had left the ground now. He felt invincible.  He felt at peace. He was at his favourite spot with his favourite person. They didn’t have to talk much. Her mere presence was what made him happy. The cool breeze blew her hair in his side. He savoured the aroma. He loved it. He looked at her, she was staring at the field, deep in thought. He felt like telling her, how much this meant to him, how he craved for this particular moment every single day. But he chose not to. He stared ahead, realising that sometimes silence is stronger than words.

Hiccup.

His profound thoughts were again disturbed by her hiccup. He looked at her and punched her softly on her cheek. She began laughing and gently kicked his foot.

Then they turned their gaze back towards the field. He felt the air brush past his face as he stared across the horizon.