A STORY LITTLE LESS ORDINARY – part 6

I thought part 5 was the end of the story, but upon popular request, i see myself writing a part 6. Hope you like it, connect with it, whatever….

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It was the spring season again. Nothing new about it, except the fact that this time, there was no more college.
After four years of a journey called life, it was finally all over. But it was not only college. Many other things were over now for DAN. And many other things he wished to be over now. But then there’s always a bitch called life.

Last evening, he was siting on the roof of his house. It was a dangerous place to be in, but somehow since childhood, he had always loved to just sit there, brave the howling wind and watch the kites up in the sky. There were memories of his childhood there. One wrong foot, and he could always land up, 3 storeys down, without any parachute. But he never had a wrong foot till date. That day, he just wished he had one, for a moment. It was one of those wild impulses, every sane person gets once in a while.

Yesterday, it was just like childhood days. It was the same old position on the same old porch. It was the same old wind, that greeted him. And it was the same old sky dotted by a few adventurous kites. Dan had his eyes fixed on a red kite which seemed to be of a mischeivous yet innocent kind, soaring in the skies like a truant school boy , cutting through other kites as if they were no match for its potential. Somehow, that kite made him remind of himself. 4 years ago, he was like that kite. Innocent and full of mischief. Just wandering about, never knowing what to do but always excelling in whatever he did. And he was happy. 4 years down the line, he was back again on the porch. He had seen a lot, heard a lot, faced a lot. Now he knew what he had to do. His vision was clear now. But he wasn’t happy. He wasn’t innocent. He wasn’t mischievous either. Most importantly, he wasn’t excelling.

And he wondered, if all this was right after all. It was a question that haunted him every moment these days. And then, he noticed the red dot again, no more soaring, but sailing across the sky now. Some distance ahead, he could see a group of kids, antcipating the downfall, waiting to tear down what would be left of the kite.
That was last evening.

Today, he just sat at his window, enjoying the view outside. He could see a group of kids, playing in the park across the street. For a moment, he actually imagined himself with those kids. They played, they fought with each other and went home swearing. There was a friendly love in all of it, and it din’t hurt anybody, however hard they fought. He longed to be there. It was his childhood there. But then a cricket ball bounced off his window frame, and it jolted him back to the present. He realized he could never go back to his childhood now, no matter how much he wished.
He was now a adult, whether he liked it or not.
He had now seen LOVE, whether he liked it or not.
And he now, also had a future , a job, which for some time now, had been troubling his thoughts.

Being in a good college, gives you the advantage of getting some good offers for a bright future, while you are still in college. He basically had two offers, a lucrative research position in a big multi national firm, which promised a good brand value, but low cash inflow. The other, a local firm, that had achieved huge success of late, aimed the sky, and promised good work as well as money. So what, if the job took him to a city , where Lily would also be residing , now that she too was out of college. It was a big city, he thought. And if he could just be a bit careful, avoid mutual friends and social parties, ignore her everytime they bumped across each other down the street or the local malls or any other place, he thought he could just lead a perfectly happy life. The plan sounded simple enough for him.

Only he didn’t knew, if he really wanted to avoid her at all. Was this plan, only to keep himself from breaking down or was he really over her. It was a difficult question. A part of him, did want to see her. There were things he wanted to say to her, which she wouldn’t listen. There were things he wanted to explain to her, which she wouldn’t understand. He always choked infront of her. He could never express his feelings, in front of her. Now that he thought, he couldn’t really express his feelings in front of anyone. It was something, he never excelled in.

There was this other part of him, that wanted to get over her. Avoid her forever. Forget her like some bad dream. Erase her from his memories. But everytime he thought he had finally been able to do that, there she was, painfully reminding him of her existence and how it mattered to him. Not totally her fault though. Sometimes, on occasions called birthdays, we sometimes do remember once-upon-a-time friends.

Basically, the two parts were pulling him apart, right that moment. He couldn’t decide, if he should have this small-upcoming-company job, which promised a better return for his knowledge if he could only avoid Lily, or if he should have this big-name-company job that would allow him to escape from everything, maybe even start a whole new life, establish a whole new world.
The second option had been making a whole lot sense lately.
But it was a tough decision.
What would it be ?
Then there’s always that bitch called life, to screw things up for you.

- TO BE CONTINUED