She kept looking at the bubble gum stuck to the ceiling, it missed the fan by a few inches. She looked at it long enough that her vision blurred, so much that she had to blink her eyes twice to see perfectly again. She turned to her side and started looking at this big guy lying next to her, probably fully naked, but the sheets covered everything beyond his ‘transversus abdominis’. She thought it was weird for her to know that word, most people just know it as ‘V-Cut’ or the ‘Sex lines’. But she is a fitness freak and so is this big guy who laid next to her. She could not stop looking at his body, and is probably one of the reasons why he was there sleeping next to her.
She again shifted and kept looking at the gum. This time even her thoughts blurred along with her vision.
“Kanna, how many times I have told you not to spit the gum on the walls?”
“But it is a game daddy. I am practicing, so that I can win when I play with my friends during our su-su break”
“Last warning Kanna. I won’t buy you any more bubble gum if you continue spitting it into the walls. Also, it is not a real game, and definitely not something to do during your su-su break!”
.
.
.
“Divya, wake up. We will miss the show’’
She woke up with an amputated dream. Her mind longed for more, it also urged to scream at Arjun for being the surgeon who did surgery on her dreams, without her consent. But she kept her calm. She is a ragpicker, picking up bits of her dreams scattered all along her journey, hoping to put it all together on a scale one day, and hoping that the rag sack would weigh down against the odds of reality.
.
.
.
“Bye baby, I will pick you up tomorrow at 11. Be ready on time, please.”
“Hmm..I Can’t Promise”, Divya said teasingly
Arjun grinned because he likes it when she kids around with him. They hugged, and soon after that Arjun vroomed away on his two-stroke, leaving a trail of sound and smoke.
She didn’t cross the road, instead, walked straight along the line of smoke her boyfriend’s bike left and stopped by a ‘Kirana’ store that was a little ahead.
“Bhaiyya, do Boomerang”
“Ji…2 Rupees”
“Lelo Bhaiya”
She kept one on the side pouch of her handbag. She tore the other one and started chewing it, hoping to find the remaining rags of the amputated dream that she had that morning.
Arjun grinned because he likes it when she kids around with him. They hugged, and soon after that Arjun vroomed away on his two-stroke, leaving a trail of sound and smoke.
She didn’t cross the road, instead, walked straight along the line of smoke her boyfriend’s bike left and stopped by a ‘Kirana’ store that was a little ahead.
“Bhaiyya, do Boomerang”
“Ji…2 Rupees”
“Lelo Bhaiya”
She kept one on the side pouch of her handbag. She tore the other one and started chewing it, hoping to find the remaining rags of the amputated dream that she had that morning.
.
.
.
She changed to nightdress and laid down on her bed while still chewing the gum.
She thought she could hear the school bell ringing. The break time was over!
“Divya, fast. Suresh sir is already in the classroom”, Aarti screamed on top of her voice.
Divya did not listen to anything, all the noise and shouting just echoed around her.
“One..Two…Three..”, she recited on her mind
With all her strength, she spitted out the gum.
“She won again. Divya, you can’t play with us again. You always win”, Aarti cried disappointingly
Divya grinned. The girls ran towards the classroom.
Divya stared into the ceiling, the gum she just spat got stuck into the ceiling, again missing the fan by just a few inches. She searched for the other one which she spat early that morning, but she could not find it. It probably fell and got stuck somewhere in the sheet, or maybe she just laid on top of it. She continued staring into the gum, long enough that her vision and thoughts blurred.
“Kanna……”
Originally published on 'The New North' in Medium
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