1-An untimely stroll

Place:  a house somewhere in the out skits of a small town....

It was half a dozen hours after sunset.Pottu was half asleep as he tried to eclipse himself with a relatively small blanket.It was a hard task keeping in mind the chilled breeze which craved for bare skin.Apparently, people sleeping on the terrace became the bull's eye for the bitter winter currents of mid-december.The comfortable mass of mattress whistled soothing lullabies to Pottu's strained mind.

The futon beside him was rather empty.A few feet away a boy stood in the dark, his outline illuminated by  dim moonlight..His vibrant stance inferred that he was neither sleepy nor shivering.With both hands resting on his waist,he was looking at the sky above him.Without deviating from his gaze,he examined the sky from different perspectives by bending his head in different directions.Surprised by the limited freedom in the movement of his hinged head,he realized that the sky would look no different than it was now.And he traversed his head back to its normal position.

"Prashi, are u still awake? come on man! you have been watching the same sky everyday for about an year now.You have never missed  this part of the day.I wonder.... " Pottu yawned.
"Do you like the day or the night?"interjected  Prashi.
" no doubt he gives a damn about my queries" Pottu thought." Well, Why should I answer dumbo?"
" Its okay" Prashi laughed.
"I Wish I could vicariously live through you and discover your dumb reason to laugh at everything" Pottu muttered as he adjusted his blanket again."Good night" he said and heard himself whisper "get lost".

Prashi bid goodnight to Pottu and headed downstairs.The house was dead calm.He could hear his own footsteps as he walked down the foyer before stopping at the entrance door.After a few silent seconds,he stepped out and made his way to the dusty road ahead.On one side,Prashi could see the road gradually getting illuminated as it ran between other houses.On the other extreme, he saw the road vanish into a sea of darkness.The last ray of the street light stretched not too far from where he was standing.

He stood on the road facing his domicile,the last one in the chain of  about 10 buildings that were spread sporadically in a boulevard that was partially enveloped with dense trees.He took out his ipod from his nike lowers,stuffed the earphones in place and quietly disappeared into the dark.
He was not sure where he was going.He just loved the dark and the feel of its wind.No detour,he just followed the contour the road-turned-path traced. "beera beera...." the song was on full swing with maximum volume....


The wind stopped blowing,the leaves dared not to rustle,he was the only moving object in the vicinity.He went on with his head bent down unaware of the dead silence that spread around.It was half past 12 and he had travelled quite far.The echo of footsteps which had been tapping the path for a while now started to decelerate as Prashi came to a halt.His head still down,he quickly glanced around through the corner of his eyes.The music was still playing.He slowly started to lift his head as he began to see what lay in front of him.The path that led him this long now commenced to channel itself through a thick array of trees.

"Where the hell am I?" he wondered.

"Like I care" he answered himself in a whisper and stepped into the arena of trees.....


TO BE CONTINUED....