Theandric Thursday : Birthday Revelations

This post was part of the meme 'Theandric Thursday', a fortnightly feature hosted by Ashna Banga.
The dictionary definition of 'Theandric' is 'Relating to the joint agency of divine and human nature'.

If you're interested in participating, write your own Theandric Thursday post and drop a link on her blog(link above). You can write fiction, real events or a mixture of both. You may use the image on the right for the same. Happy writing. :)

***

"But why this sudden love for the library that you have to go today", my mom said.
"You know ammi, sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do, because errr ... you-have-to-do-it"

I said the last words more as a question than a statement. She stood staring at me, definitely calculating my chances of ever becoming normal(as she would say) one day.

"I mean, I just have a feeling, you know, of going there ... from inside."
"Why don't you get a feeling of opening your course books ever ... from inside."
"My college is long finished ammi, I don't have course books now. Okay, I gotta go, Feliz must be at the bus stop already. Bye"
"Yeah whatever, remember to close the door on your way out."

I took my brother's scooty, zoomed on it to the bus stop where my dear friend was waiting for 4 minutes & 35 second. He hopped on and we rode to the metro station, parked the two-wheeler and lazily crawled to the platform which luckily was nearly empty.

"See that, people left the platform empty for me, because I was coming", I proclaimed with a smug smile.
"I wonder ... you can be so right sometimes", he said, laced with sarcasm.

I squinted at him with ferocity, hoping to shoot a cyclops style laser through my eyes and bake him. But, before I could do that, the train arrived. I elbowed him and dashed to the empty corner seat, he had to sit between two fat men. He looked like a kid whose lollipop has been snatched from his mouth and thrown out of the window, the rest of the way.

***

The guard at the outer gate of the library frisked us heartily while I wondered if he was just dabbing on or if he was getting some kind of feeling out of it. Because if he was, it didn't show on his face and which was creepier and made me shudder. Anyway, when he was done, he gave us a stony nod and we moved in to the inner gate where we had to go through another, what I call 'the airport check', only that we weren't asked to put our shoes in the scanner. We finally went in and while Feliz dutifully retired to one of the couches, looking extremely tired, I went to the reception to return some books.

"Excuse me! I have to return these..", I said extending my hand. The man just stared at me in reply. Unsure if he heard me the first time, I said again, "Umm ... I have to return these books", a little more clearly this time. He kept staring at me with a queer look on his face, which looked as if he was feeling uncontrollably itchy at different err.. places, and was hard suppressing the urge to scratch for the fear of embarrassment. I decided to come back later and went to the book-racks.

Some five minutes had passed when I almost shrieked, when a weird looking boy appeared out of nowhere near my right ear and whispered, "Excuse me, where can I find the 'Twilight'?"
"Whoa", I took two steps back, "What are you trying to do.."
"I wanted to ask, if you know where I can find this book", he said in the lowest possible whisper, still close. His mouth smelled of garlic.
"Well, you can do so from a distance bro, you don't have to stand like a cm close to me for that. And what do you want the Twilight for, it's for chicks man. And for God's sake, what do you eat?"

He stared at me in disbelief for a second, then hurried off to the last rack. I followed him to the corner and listened. He was sobbing and a female voice was consoling him in an unknown language. I thought it better to go sit and read a chapter from the book I had just picked up. I went and sat beside feliz on the couch. He was resting, with his head thrown back and eyes closed. I noticed, a boy at the far corner of the library kept staring at me, so did a girl sitting not too far from him. I shook Feliz,

"Hey ... look, is there something wrong with my face. Some people kept staring at me", I said, facing him. He examined it left to right for a minute, then said,
"Yeah, I think your whole face is pretty wrong, Actually, if you ask..."
"Thanks ... for your assessment. Douchebag!" 

He went back to his leisurely rest. I noticed, there was a girl sitting in front of me behind the low table with a shiny laptop on her lap. I tried to lower myself and get close to see a reflection. I kept changing positions and bending at odd angles, but just as I was down and close enough to it, she shut it's flap and glared at me like a hungry tigress. Apparently, I was in a plenty awkward position, and very close to her knees which were bare, as I then noticed that she was wearing a skirt.

"Pervert!", she snapped, picked up her things hastily and strode off.
"Why, why does it happen with me always", I thought ... then figured that it's better to get out of the library before something bad happens. I went to the counter to return the books and get the new one issued.

***

The man still sat there staring at me without a word. Another heavy, big guy who stood behind him came around the counter and stood uncomfortably close to me, taking deep, slow, cold breaths.

"Err ... ahem. I wanted to get this issued", I said waving the new book and leaving the old ones at the counter quietly.
"Can I see your card?", he whispered with deep breaths.
"Yeah ... sure. Umm, here." (More cold, deep breathing)
"Hmm..", he returned the card. (Some more deep breathing) He smelled of cigarette and mint.
"Are you ... okay? I mean, why are you breathing so heavily, do you have asthma?" He didn't answer. Just as I opened my mouth to ask something else, a sudden  low cheerful whisper came just millimetres away from my left cheek,
"I want to take these ..."
"What the fu.." I recoiled, startled at the voice and bumped into the girl who just said those words and who was standing so close, I wondered why didn't I notice her coming. She didn't get perturbed by the jolt, instead she smiled, still standing so close that I could feel her breath. She definitely had a lot of strawberries today.

"Hey, you almost gave me a heart attack, what do you think you were doing sneaking up behind me like that."
"I wasn't sneaking, I was just asking this gentleman to issue some books here.."
"Well, you can ask the gentleman ... "
"I think Sir and Ma'am, for these books, you two would have to follow me inside", said the big guy, cutting me halfway.
"Okay!", said the girl, cheerfully. But before I could object, the big guy opened the black door on the side of the counter and went in.

***

I stood there thinking, confused for some time, but the girl then said, "After you" and  I had to move ahead. I halted at the door where a sign was stuck reading 'Do not enter' and the girl bumped into me again.
"Would you please stay ... not to close, you know"
"Okay", she said and moved 1/4th of a step back.
"Great", I murmured.

Inside the black door, was another door with a sign board which read 'I said do not enter you nut'
"Err ... don't you think this is weird", I asked pointing at the door,
"No", when I didn't move she said "Go on", encouragingly. I opened the door to find a third one, this time it read, 'You wouldn't listen, would you. Go on punk, you'll regret this'. This was definitely getting weird. I hesitated for a moment, but the sweet strawberry smell, now coming from her whole body, was filling the small space and making me nervous, so I opened the third door too and walked into a medium sized room.

It was a dark space only illuminated by the, wait a minute, people?? The 4-5 people already present in the room were actually glowing, filling the space around them with a soft white light. On my arrival, they all stood up and formed a neat line, beaming & excited. The girl behind me went and joined them, she too was glowing now. I noticed that most of them looked familiar. There was the boy and the girl who stared at me from the far off corner, the book-rack boy, the big guy who led me in and some old fellow I didn't recognise, apart from the strawberry girl.

The old chap begun, "Hello my boy, I am Sao Pa, I am sure you don't know any of us so let me introduce ourselves first. Right?", I stood silent. He continued, "This is Yev and Sem", pointing to the boy-girl from the corner, "this is Kobu", (the crying boy) "and her sister Daema"(the strawberry girl), "and this here is your uncle Romet"
"My uncle, pardon me ... and who did you say you guys were again and ... why are you glowing"
"We are your family from your home planet, Kabilaar."
"Home planet? Wait wait wait, you mean a PLANET, like aliens and stuff? That's great, but you know what, you'll just have to find somebody else today, my day has already been too weird. And turn off the tube lights please, they're creepy.", I turned around to go back.
"Wait, I knew you wouldn't believe at first. But before you go, please see this", he flicked his hand and a kind of err... video orb formed in mid air and showed me in detail, how as a penalty of having a third kid to my parents, I was packed and exported to earth the day I was born. To be allowed to return only after 25 years. I must say the video was tailor-made for me because it did had an effect and I sat at the floor, quiet after watching the video, contemplating still, about how much to believe and how much to not. Daema came and sat by my side, with her scent overpowering me. After much time, I asked,

"Where are my parents?"
"They are home. They are still not allowed to visit you here, neither are your siblings. That's why I came here with your uncle and cousins"
"What, strawberry girl is my cousin? Shoots, I was just starting to ...", but I scratched that thought mid-way and said "I am an alien after all then, my friends were right all along, huh" instead.
"My parents, I mean my parents here. Do they know it?"
"No". I went into another long thinking session.
"Why am I not glowing like you"
"Oh, your powers are deeply reduced because you never used them"
"Hmm"
"So ...", asked Daema after some time.
"So?"
"Are you coming with us?"
"Can I choose otherwise"
"Umm ... yes. But everybody's waiting for you there and we've come with great hopes"
More thinking followed.

"When can I come back?"
"You can come back to visit every once in a while, but once you come with us, you won't be able to come back and stay"
Another thinking session started.
"Well, let's celebrate your birthday first" said Yev as Sem produced the most beautiful cake I've ever seen. We cut the cake, sat, ate and talked about many things, mostly including my curious questions about Kabilaar and my cousins answering. I tried to not look at Daema all throughout, but the strawberry scent became more mesmerising with each passing moment. After what seemed a long time, we stood up as their trip was coming to an end, and this time, Kobu asked, "So, are you coming?", with eager eyes.
"No, I am sorry but I can't leave my parents here, my real parents..."
"You know, you won't be able to contact us, only we can visit you, and that too not very often", he said
"Hmm. I guess I'll just have to wait then", I said with a sigh.

Nobody said much after that, only that I saw tears in most of their eyes, of joy, of sorrow and maybe of hope. We exchanged hugs and they started to disappear with a shine, one-by-one. Daema was the last to go, "I'll come to meet you", she said while she held and squeezed and rocked my hands. Almost when she was about to disappear, I remembered something,
"Hey, why were you all whispering so low out there?"
"It was the library, right? Sao Pa asked us to stay quite and talk in whispers", and with that, she vanished.

***

I came out of the room carrying my and daema's books. I decided to get them issued too, one of them was 'Twilight'. The man at the counter has obviously become normal now. I shook Feliz awake and we started walking to the door while I narrated in a hurried and excited tone, all that had happened with me. He sleepily listened to half of it, then said,
"Come, let's go to the washroom, I have to show you something"
"What, let's go where?"
"Washroom, I'll show you something"
"No homo, I'm good outside."
"Not that you pervert. Come on, seriously"
That was twice that I was called a pervert on my birthday. I was going great. We went to the washroom, he turned to the mirror and said, "Look at your face", I did. "Now look at my face ... Does it look from any angle that I am interested in hearing an old overused filmy crap right now. And for your kind information, I hate strawberries."
"Yeah ... don't believe you moron. When I get back my powers, the first person to get butt-spanked would be you. Just wait and watch you..."  

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
P.S: The post was long again, I know. I just hope it was not actually as boring as it looks to me. I was thinking about writing this since 25th of july and so I just had to write it.


Comments

  1. This is actually so funny and so good to read, I tell you! I just couldn't stop laughing. Okay, that's an overstatement, but I was sure smiling real big throughout and went off when you came to realize you're an alien! :P

    I love the way you describe everything! I actually visualized you in AC and that door! I think I've seen one 'Do not enter'.. and the additions were super cool! Plus Daema! Too bad she's your cousin ;)

    While reading, I could relate it to a couple of books I've read.. one of which was something like what you described.. people from a different place looking for someone from their clan, though that was more like searching. Err.. I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess it's just the obsession to connect everything with books :P And I loved the setting ;)

    I loved the humor, all of it. This is a fantastic post! I wish I could do it this well. :) Keep writing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, you make it sound too cool(I know how it is). I guess that's because you're always nice and appreciative. Thank you so much for going through this ordeal of a post. :P

      And yeah, I don't know how, exactly how I manage to make each and every story a bit sad. It was supposed to be funny when I sat to write. God save me.

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    2. That's the wonderful thing about stories. You can always have a sequel, bring in surprises (like, it could turn out that Daema isn't really your cousin or a blood relation :P)

      Delete
    3. Oh yeah, that's a great suggestion. Hmm... now I'll definitely think about that. :)

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  2. Hey! Wow! This was amazing and sort of hysterical. It's really good! The way you've written the whole thing is just perfect!! If this was part of a novel, I wouldn't be putting it down till I finished it! Now, since I'm dying to read the next part, I'll hop onto Ashna's blog :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ruya, thanks a lot for those lovely words. To tell you the truth, when I came back here from Ashna's post, I had forgotten the detail in it and so I decided to re-read it and maybe it will look like gloating, but I don't know if I'd be able to write even like this for the sequel, much less like how Ashna wrote, because she's got something that comes only naturally in her writing style.
      I am just hoping to not let down Ashna and other readers when I sit down to write a sequel eventually. :D

      Love and hugs. :)

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