"The Girl in Rain"

'Eyes..
The mirror of your soul..
The pathway to your heart..
The echo of your dreams..
And trust me, I have a pair of colorful ones.'

She put her pen down smiling at her own words. Her wavy hair was playing with the mild breeze tickling her neck every now and then. Her gaze shifted towards a tiny clock hung on the wall. The very same eyes with long eyelashes reaching out to comfort her with a pat on her cheeks. She sighed and gently caressed that thin page of her notepad neatly clipped to a clipboard. She had that same infectious smile plastered on her face.

'Diya!Can you please come over?'

'Coming Mom.'

She rushed outside to see off her mother to her office.

Neha: I am leaving dear. Will you be at home or do you have any plans of going out?

Diya: No Mom. I will be at home.

Neha: Are you sure? I mean, today is the last day of your vacation. School will reopen tomorrow.

Diya: That is not a problem Mom. I love going to school and you know that. Its raining today and I would love to stay at home in this atmosphere.

Neha: You are going to get drenched in the backyard once I go out. I know that. Take care. I will try to return early.

Diya: Great. We will enjoy our tea together then.

Neha smiled before leaving her daughter to her loneliness. Neha sat in her department car and waved a bye to Diya who stood leaning to the entrance door. She wanted to spend the day with her daughter, but had to go to office owing to the unexpected work that invited her. Whenever she thought about Diya, a smile unknowingly crept over her face.

Her little chirpy Diya has grown up to a 17 year old pretty girl possessing all the
traits that she wanted to cultivate in her daughter. While Neha wanted her daughter to be enriched with as much of humanity and truthfulness as possible, Diya instead grew up with much more than what she had wished for. As a mother, she wanted her child to be kind and considerate, but failed to wish that no one takes advantage of her humanity. But, there were some lessons that she had to learn step by step. Neha was proud of what Diya has groomed herself to be. A confident, bold and generous girl who finds beauty in her surroundings. She finds her happiness when she manages to get a thumbs up from her Dad when she sings some lines, when she aces in poetry and when her friends clap for her. She smiles when she finds her friends by her side every time she falls down. She feels contended when she becomes the cause for a good change. She was a rare gem rewarded to Neha and Nithin by the almighty. Neha wished that Rehaan- her younger son also grew up with all the good qualities of Diya. Neha let out a sigh closing her eyes and laid back on the seat breathing in the morning freshness.

Diya as a child, always wanted her entire family consisting of her grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins around her. Unfortunately distance and work life snatched all these from her. Still, she grew up to a woman that everyone looks upto. Wherever she goes, she manages to transfer her smile to people around her.

As Diya planted her crystal clear eyes to the clouded sky, raindrops splashed onto her faces drenching her soul in the earthly vibes radiated. She stood by the back door extending her hands to the rain. She will be going back to her routine from tomorrow morning. Getting up early, completing the morning chores and rushing to the school. It was her last year at that place where she had spend the most beautiful twelve years of her life. It pained her that there would be no more school bus funs and pointless running races. Few more months and all these will turn into memories. Each time you open a memory box, you end up smiling, laughing and even crying wondering how much you have left behind. Some bits of those memory saga will be coupled with tags of regret when we tend to think that things would have been different if we had reacted in a better way.

She made herself a cup of black coffee, switched on the music and whiled away her time thinking about where she would be exactly post an year. Life is certain to present you full of uncertainities. As she was drifting away in her pool of thoughts, her phone buzzed with a small message.

'Hey! Are you there?'

She smiled and started texting the person back.

'Yeah'

Just then, she recieved a call from the same person. She smiled before attending the call.

'Yes?'

'Must be enjoying the rain..'

'How do you always know?'

'C'mon Diya. You are my friend'

'Yeah. Sometimes, even better than me'

'By the way, there are only three more months left out for our exams'

'And then, everything is gone with the wind'

'Not everything. Changes are inevitable dear'

'Will you keep in touch with me even after school?'

'Is that even a question? None of us will survive without each other. All of us are that closely knit with fine threads of friendship'

'Which I hope are not that brittle. It should withstand the pulls of distance and lack of time now. Every one will be busy with their own lives'

'What are you going to do after school?'

'Mmm..I am going to marry and have kids.'

'Okay. Excuse me! What??'

'Just kidding. Going for a course in science may be. Mom and Dad are apprehensive about me chosing the path of poetry. They want my life to be safe and secure with a proper degree and job. They are not wrong. Its their dream to see me settled and earning.'

'And what about your dreams?'

'They have promised me that they will let me learn language and pursue my ambition of being a writer if I fetch a degree and educate myself enough to survive if at all I fail to prove myself in the career choice that I made.

'Don't they trust your talent? You are a magnificent writer lady! Your words have magic. I still read through your pieces of writing whenever I feel low.'

'They are my parents dude. I don't wish to do anything against them. I am just giving a break to my dreams, not deleting them. May be I can take it as a preparation period.'

'Are you confident?'

'Are you fine with my decisions?'

'Yes. I will always be there with you'

'Then, its decided. There is nothing to worry about. I would have wanted my children to graduate with a good course certificate too. Its okay.'

'Okay. Did your hot black coffee cool off because of my non stop banters?'

'Just a little. Wait a minute! You know that too!'

The person giggled and hung up the phone mouthing a bye in rush.

'Abhi..Abhi.. Did you just hang up?'

She smiled at the now dead screen and kept the phone aside. Its always good to have a word with your friends. Even better, when you consider him something more than a friend. He has no idea about the churning feelings in her heart. No one had made her feel special and worthy like he has done. She didn't want to disclose this side of her heart which vibrated with exponential magnitude whenever he stamped his proficiency in reading her like a novel. He knew her little fantasies which he randomly found out while observing her. She wondered if he knew anything about her this deepest secret too.

She was not a girl who fell for cute gestures, expensive gifts and cheesy lines. What attracted her was the sheer intelligence and truely considerate nature of that person. She couldn't help but wish for life long companionship with him. She didn't know how to put her feelings into words and thus decided to let time handle things. She, like every seventeen year old girl was unsure of how her life was shaping up and didn't want to jump into conclusions at the goosebumps that his caring one liners managed to inject upon her.

**********

She shook away her thoughts while she munched on the delicious vegetable cutlet that her Mom prepared keeping the promise of being back from work soon. Well, that had happened for the first time. She laughed at the silly jokes and recalls of past events by her mother. She paused for a second and looked at her mom. She loved her. There was nothing in this universe that could stop her from loving her family. Everything was simply gorgeous. Her chain of mental whispers where broken by a knock on the door. She went and opened it while Neha looked over her to check who was at the door.

'Hey Diya!'

'What a surprise Kartik!!'

#########
Just to set the plot. Its not that lengthy.
This is the same 'Nimmi-Kartik' love story that I started off in AvNeil to AdiZa. Just that I changed the female name and characterisation. Hope you guys have a good read since its my first venture other than fanfiction.

Do support and let me know of any opinions.

Excited?

Love...
Megha🤗❤️