A December Meeting

A Story by Piyush

This is story of Peter, an ordinary boy like most of us. Who one fine day meets a very pleasant person.

Take a look at the cover image for this story, that I have made.

“Yes, I am free today, you can surely come. I was feeling bored anyway, I am sure it will be fun”, said my dad tasting coffee while lounging on the sofa.

He had just agreed on a get-together with one of his friend. I didn’t know much about him, except that Brown was my dad’s colleague in the good old days.

The sun was straight up, and the clock had struck twelve.

Time flew by and I forgot that someone was to come home. I was working in my room, the December Sun shone brightly, sunlight cascaded through the glass windows beside my study. The warmth made me feel cliquey and comfortable, and suddenly the doorbell rang.

A man similar to my dad’s stature entered along with his wife. Following them was a girl, of my age, probably, who had to be their daughter for sure. Dad greeted the couple, Brown cracked a lame joke while they settled down in the living room. Brown’s wife was an even contemporary lady who was wearing a cardigan and trousers. Brown wore frameless glasses, had a perpetual grin that seemed like never went away. Their daughter, just like her father, had a smile on her face, but unlike her father her expressions seemed original.

Everyone started talking, and to me Brown seemed quite funny. Some of his jokes were bad but not all. The ladies, I mean my mom and Mrs. Brown went busy seeing photos from our recent holiday. Meanwhile dad and Brown recalled their older days when they were less fat and more agile.

“I think you two are getting bored, aren’t you?” said Mrs. Brown lowering her eyebrows.

“Peter, why don’t you take Ashley and show her the house” said mom.

“Oh, her name is Ashley” I said in my mind.

Having no choice, I stood up to show my humble dwelling to Ashley. Quite uninterested she followed me while I gave her the tour of my condo.

“And… this is my room, the place where I hangout all the time.” I said to her ending the tour.

“You like chemistry?” said she locking her gaze on my chemistry themed calendar, while sitting down on the bed.

“Yes I do, but the Academic System followed in school makes it pretty boring, at least for me.” I said seating myself on my study chair.

“Yeah, I know. Things can get boring at school.”, said she in a sympathetic tone.

Ashley I noticed then, had a perfect oval face, a pretty smile, black long gorgeous hair and stunning shining eyes. She was about my height, which is about one point eight meters. Yes, she was beautiful. The sunlight coming from the big glass window which stretched from the ground to just near the ceiling made her squint her eyes a little. I pulled the cream curtains to balance out the light, and make it more diffused. “It really is a sunny day, isn’t it?” I said to her.

“Yeah, after so many days of cold, the sunlight does make me feel good.” she said.

I started by saying, “Shouldn’t we play something; I am sure you must be getting bored… Let me think, how about we play…”

“memorizing game?” she interrupted.

I used to be good at it when I was in primary I recalled, and so I said, “Okay… should we have a theme…?”

Looking up she thought and then said, “Umm…, countries or something?”

“Fine” I said.

This was nothing fun for me, as it had always been a pain for me to talk to strangers. This time I had pushed my limits and initiated a conversation and was sustaining it. Everything was artificial until I opened up with Ashley which required time.

The monotonous game started and ended, as we got bored after only a few minutes. She wasn’t enjoying it either, I assumed. You know, adoring conversations never happen unless you are talking about something you are passionate about. In return the person on the other side also needs to be equally interested in the dialogue. About fifteen minutes had passed, and my room witnessed an awkward silence.

Silence because I had nothing much to say, and I couldn’t bear the hollow conversations that I had initiated earlier now. All was now on her… after a few more seconds of silence she finally said “Do you read books, I mean novels, biographies and things like that?”

“I don’t have a habit, but I wouldn’t spare the book alone if it has got something in it that interests me.” I said in a fake laughing tone.

“That is exactly how I am… these books give feelings of inspiration, you know.”, she said.

“Yeah I know…”, I said. What is this, an interview? Tell me your hobbies, where do you live, what do you eat? Etc. I did not like all this, oh, I never like talking, you already know. Just a formality it was, and for sure she also felt the same way.

My guitar rested beside my chair, leaning on the window. I picked it up, and started strumming my favorite progressions. “You play good guitar…, this melody is wonderful.”, she said, looking a bit amused.

I started to sing… “Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you… That is how…”, she seemed immersed in the music, and was gazing at the instrument with an adorable smile on her face. I too was, by now absorbed in the melody the magnificent instrument was creating. Ashley had her face in both her hands, and was comfortably enjoying the show. I wasn’t stressed this time. Her persistent smile, made me feel warm and I got hypnotized quite literally. It is very rare when I feel highly optimistic from the inside. It seemed like, the darkness that usually rested inside me saw a sun rise, dried up and vanished. I was all lit from the inside, I felt great amounts of energy building inside of me. I wish I feel that way more often.

After few enchanted minutes of a spectacle, it ended. Ashley had an expression of satisfaction on her face, not like Oh it ended, I wanted more or anything. I too felt great, and it was not because of my guitar, but because of her. She had a mystical aura around her, and I hadn’t noticed that until the harmony.

After episodes of an awkward game, talking and music we had lost the track of time. It didn’t felt like an hour had passed, and now contrary to how I was feeling some moments ago, I could stay there forever.

“How about we go out cycling? I know good tracks we can ride on, your parents are I am sure staying for another two or three hours.”, I said.

“I would be delighted to, but I don’t have a bike” she complained.

“Don’t worry about that, I have got that figured out.” I assured her.

So, we stepped out of my room, towards the living room. The ladies were still busy talking, while the men were sitting out in the open balcony on the artificial grass that we had got just a few weeks ago. The time was three in the evening, the sun had lowered down and light was now more gentle and a bit red.

“Where are you going Peter?” mom inquired.

“I am going out cycling mom, and Ashley’s coming with me”, I replied.

“Good, I think you do need a bit of an exercise Ashley”, said Mrs. Brown in a mocking tone.

“Oh really mom? Anyway, I will get some fresh air.”, Ashley replied to her mom.

I faked laughter and got out, Ashley followed. We used the elevator to get down, and while we reached the bike stands, I explained Ashley how I had the bike deal figured out.

“You see that bike? It is someone’s from the neighborhood who is too lazy to ride it or lock it. I’ve rode it many times. Actually there are many people like this gentleman, and you can pick any bike for a few hours and nobody will ever know.”, I explained her.

“That’s interesting, I think I’ll ride this one.”, she said getting on the bike.

We exited my apartment and were out now.

“We have to go left, there is a good route I’ve planned out.”, I said to her while cycling, and so we went left.

We said nothing more, Ashley followed beside me. Sometimes she got ahead of me, looked behind when we were nearing a crossing, speeded up or slowed down. “I fell in love with cycling just a few months ago, it really is a good sport. I never miss a chance to get outside, whenever I have time.”, I said ending the silence.

“I know why you’re liking it so much, doesn’t it give you time for self-reflection and deep thoughts?” she asked.

“Exactly, how’d you get to know that so quick?” I inquired.

“It is quite evident, so many thoughts have crossed my mind cycling today. Debates, questions and good arguments, I’ve done during this time.”, she said.

“Definitely a good way to live life…, do you see those greens in the distance, that’s where we are heading to, that’s a grassland with wild animals.” I said pointing to the distant greens.

“Are you serious?” she asked.

“Definitely not, there is no grassland in the middle of this city. It is an under construction golf course, it is not barricaded, makes a good spot to sit down and relax.” I revealed.

She said, “I knew that…” in a giggly tone.

The sun had lowered even more now, and we were riding at a steady pace. Everything that came ahead of us, was lit in a mystical way. Edges of trees were glowing due to sunlight. Ashley too was glowing, she was ahead of me, the wind coming from the front swirled her lovely hair and made it shine even more. Whole of her back shone. She was a very admirable sight then.

We got near to what seemed like a lush green grassland. We rode into the ‘green’ land, onto an elevated area, which offered a nice view of the buildings being constructed in the distance. “Let’s get off our bikes here, this is a sweet spot.”, she suggested.

“Yeah, let’s hydrate ourselves” I said.

We got off, and sat down on the soft green grass. It must have just been watered, as the little droplets shined on the grass, making an illusion of pearls scattered all around. Imagine doing all this on a morose, cloudy, not so sunny day. It would have been quite wishy-washy, and so I believe the weather played a foremost role.

We sat there, just gazing at the distant buildings, occasionally at the clouds in the sky which was about to get red. For another fifteen minutes, we relaxed, talking about cycling and swimming. “I think it’s time now, let’s go” she said.

“You’re right, it will be dusk in no time, let’s head back now” I said.

Got on our bikes and we were good to go. The sky had turned orange by now, and we rode faster this time. We managed to make it on time, parked our bikes at the stand like we never had even left.

Everyone was having snacks when we got back, the men were in the living room. We sat there, and then Brown asked both of us, “Where have you guys been?”. “We were out cycling dad, it was fun.” Ashley replied.

Quite uninterested, Brown continued his talk with dad after giving a nod and then stuffing a fried fish fillet in his mouth. Mom and Mrs. Brown were busy in the kitchen preparing more snacks. We ate a bit, and then everyone was through.

“It was a wonderful day, Pierce.” Brown said to dad. I forgot to mention my dad’s name was Pierce. “I am glad you enjoyed it Dan”, they got up, shook hands. Brown and his wife walked towards the door, mom and dad accompanying them. It was dusk by now, the sky was dark blue in color.

All of them except me and Ashley went out in the lobby towards the elevators, Ashley still with me, looking into my eyes said, “It surely was a magnificent day Peter, I enjoyed a lot. Thanks for being such a nice friend.” I was flattered, and nothing much to say just barked “Thanks to you, actually…”

“I hope I’ll see you again soon, Peter” she said.

“Yeah, sure” I just lied, because I didn’t know when that ‘soon’ is going to be.

“Bye” she said waving her hands, walking towards her parents who were still busy talking.

And I just replied, “Good bye”, showing my palm in the air.

I saw her leaving in her car. It was dark by now, stars had come up. I held my head towards the heavens, dreamt and hoped to see her… again.

-The End-