Stories have their own way of narrating themselves out.
However, there are always a few which are left unfinished. Sometimes, people do
pin their hopes on such life stories completing themselves to achieve a sense
of contention.
During his annual cleaning spree, Sam switched the light on
in his closet on a bunch of forgotten stuff. It was all the items which he seldom
or never used. As he was browsing through all his childhood stuff, he came
across a box labeled “old school stuff”, memories flashed through his mind. He
found that old school tie which still had those stains from ketchup and curry that
he used to hurriedly eat during the 30 minute recess. The tie even had the
“backup” meal coupon tucked in it which Sam would use if his friends ate more
than his fair share of food. He found his old school shirt, the one which he
wore on his last day. The one which was never washed as it had a farewell
graffiti of all his friends “promising” to keeping in touch. A history textbook
was uncovered in which he had given Gandhiji an extreme makeover (he was a
Pirate!).
While going through all this old school stuff, a smile broke
out on his face every now and then. However, the smile turned into a rather
uncomfortable grin when he saw something which wasn’t his. Lying in front of
him, tucked inside his school bag, was an old Math rough book. The handwriting
in it was poetically cursive and was nowhere close to the elephant-style
writing which he has mastered over the years. The math sums, although done in
rough, still had that proper indentation worthy of an A+. Flipping to the 1st
page, he gave out a dishearten chuckle by looking at the name written in 2-3
different colors & styles- ROMI.
Romi was a quite yet fun loving member of his school class. She
always loved to have fun and was a classic extrovert – unlike Sam. Both of them
were together since 2nd grade. Sam could still remember the day that
she had walked in. A confused, scared girl with 2 pigtail style pony with a
huge bag for her size walks into the class flanked by her mom. The teacher
directs her to sit next to another timid girl in the 2nd bench on
the 3rd row – Sam on the 5th bench. Her mannerism easily
sold her off as a studious yet artistic girl who had the outgoing spark in her.
As Sam flipped through the pages again, he came across a
loose piece of paper. At 1st he thought that the book was wearing
out. But when opened that piece of paper, his eyes widen and he couldn’t
imagine that he still had that letter in his possession.
It all happened sometime during the final few days of
school. Being the shy guy that he was, Sam had never, in the past 8 years,
mustered the courage to go up to her and tell her how he felt about her. He
never got the right motivation to walk up to her and explain his puppy love for
her. The fact that he alone knew of his emotions made matters worse as there
was no one else who could push him into talking to her. Finally, rallying his
emotions, he decided that he had to convey his sentiments through the most
basic of ways – the thought of writing a letter.
That very letter was in Sam’s hand at the moment. It was
pleasant as well as surreal to read it again.
Dear Romi,
My name is Sam. I am
in your class 10B. I sit 3 desks behind you. I always like when you wear a
single pony instead of 2 (although PT Teacher doesn’t like that). I always come 2nd in Maths as you
get better marks then me. But I am not sad about that. I like it when you smile
very big when teacher shouts that you have come 1st in Maths.
I don’t know if you
know, but I always liked you since 2nd grade. In all grades, I used
to sit 2 or 3 benches behind you. So, you may not have seen me as you always
concentrate on classes. But I like you. I wanted you to know that. I wanted to
be your BF if it was ok with you.
I know that after
today, we don’t know when we will meet. But I just had to tell you. But if I
tell you this in front of class, you may get angry and then everyone will make
fun of me. I didn’t want that. So, I decided to write this letter.
Sincerely,
Sam
“What a dork!!” let out by Sam as he finished reading the
letter. He marveled at the fact that he was such an immature kid at that age.
However, what amazed him was as to how this book and the letter in it ended up
with him in his old school bag.
He remembered that he had taken this letter and placed it in
her Maths rough book. During the hustle bustle of the last few days, he was
disappointed that Romi had never walked up to him and talked to him about the
letter. He had thought that she must have discarded the letter as just a piece
of paper sticking out of her used book. He was afraid that she might have read
it, showed it to her friends and laughed all about it.
However, he never remembered seeing this book ever again
after that letter incident. So, it was quite surprising for him to see this
turn up in his bag. After trying hard to remember, Sam gave up and thought that
he probably forgot putting the letter and the book in Romi’s bag altogether!
As he was folding away the book and amount to stove it away,
he noticed something different about the book. On careful examination, he
noticed that the book had some scribing on the last few pages.
When he opened those pages, his eyes lit up. A broad smile
came on his face and he said “She responded that very same day”.
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