Like an Endless Dream

Editor’s Choice: Love Short Story

It was evening. I was sitting impatiently in the deserted corner of the City Coffee House. A magical golden yellow hue spread across the streets outside by the setting sun. It will be dark soon. Won’t she be coming..? A sense of hopelessness started to engulf me. Didn’t feel like drinking the ice cold coffee. How long should I wait for her..? Four years wasn’t good enough..?

People were pouring in into the shop. It’s the peak time. I couldn’t see anyone clearly. It was like the sun rays blinded my eyes. Suddenly a cell phone started to ring. Nokia’s theme tone broke the peaceful atmosphere. Involuntarily I searched my pockets and got the phone out. No. It wasn’t mine. I looked around. It was coming from the table behind me. Completing one round it stopped and then it rang again. No one was picking up the phone. It continued ringing again and again. Feeling annoyed and frustrated I stood up to leave. Before I could do anything my phone slipped from my hand and fell down. To catch it I lunged forward and hit my head on the corner of the table…

I woke up with a start. I wondered what the date and time was. I couldn’t figure out whether it was morning or evening for a moment. The hangover of the dream was still there. After a long pause I realised that I had been having an afternoon nap. My phone was still ringing and stopped as I reached for it. Seven missed calls. It was from my wife. I called her back. She wanted me to pick her up from work since it was raining heavily. Ending the call I checked the date on my phone. Saturday, 10th November, 4:30pm. I just felt some butterflies in my stomach. Memories started to drift backwards. Exactly eleven years backwards. I remembered my school where I studied three years. My friends, my adventures with them, my first love, everything came back to mind in a flash. Memories were like a slideshow before my sleepy eyes. It was dark inside the room. Parting the curtains I had a peek outside. It was a heavy downpour out there. The perfect time to curl under the blanket, I thought. No one will really want to get wet in the rain right from a cosy bed. But I had to pick her up and moreover I wanted to visit my school.

Within five minutes I was out, driving my car through the shattering splashes of rain. I was not really driving. I was tracing the path back to my school.

 

Monday, 10 November 2003 

It was a clear sunny day by the end of autumn. The day seemed pretty usual as I woke up at 7:30. I was in 10th standard. School started at 9 and I had to rush to the bus stop at 8:30 leaving behind a half-finished breakfast. Those days I was particularly happy to go to school. Unlike the past two years, school days were becoming so much fun with my best friend Sam. I reached school just in time. Sam was waiting for me at the entrance. He came by the school bus.

My school was a pentagonal shaped three storied building. There was a courtyard surrounded by all sides of the ‘pentagons’ inside, which had three levels. They wanted to make it as a garden, it seemed, but only a few dried plants were there that remained. There was a main staircase from the entrance hall. Opposite to it on the other side there was another staircase. On the first floor was the principal’s room facing the main stairs. Next to that on the left to it was office and on the right two rooms were computer labs. First one was with the old computers and the next one with new. This finished one side of the ‘pentagon’ and on the next side it was my class ’10-A’ then ’10-B’ and on the third side ’10-C’.

Our class was full when we entered and everyone was chit chatting. I felt some of them were still in the hangover of Sunday. There were three morning hour classes. All went unusually cool. Last one was computer. Before leaving the class at 1pm teacher threatened that those who not submitted the assignment will have to stand outside the lab in next practical class. Well, it so happened that I haven’t completed a single line of it and the next day was my practical class. Otherwise a slow eater, finishing the lunch in ten minutes I rushed to the lab. Sam agreed to come with me for company though we were in different batches. We entered the old lab. One system was allotted to two students each. And mine was 21. It was the last one on the side near the windows.

Though it was lunch time the lab was packed. I looked in the direction of my computer. It was also occupied. And it was a girl. Cursing in my mind I reached there. She was a fair and lean girl with curly hair. I had seen her a few times around the campus and I used to think she was a senior. When I looked into the system I could see that she was doing the same programme I wanted to complete. It looked like she was getting some errors and couldn’t complete it.

“Will this be over any soon..?” I asked.

She was aware of my presence behind her and sensing the tone in my question she was irritated.

“Don’t know. Can’t you see I’m not getting the result..?” She replied.

I had a second look at the programme and the mistake was obvious for someone obsessed with computers. I told her where to make the correction. She got the correct programme. Making the corrections in the notebook, saving the programme and without saying thanks she left.

While working on my programme I asked Sam.

“You know that girl’s name..?”

“Which girl..?” he countered.

“Well, man you were with me or not in the last 15 minutes..?”

“Err…I was having a little chat with that girl”, he said nodding towards the girl two systems away.

“Best friend”, I thought smiling.

The school hours ended without anything unusual to mention that day.Then I didn’t know I was going to experience the most unusual things that never happened to me till then.

The next day I reached school 10 minutes earlier. The school bus was there already. Students were getting down and last one was Sam. He waved at me and walked towards me with a broad grin. I knew what that meant. He was getting ready to tease me saying “You guys have to walk from the bus stop to the school while I get down in front of the school.”

Teasing each other and laughing we entered the entrance hall and there she was, walking towards the west side avoiding the main staircase with her friends. I slowed my pace and watched her reaching the water cooler which was at the base of the other staircase. And then she vanished in a group that went up the stairs.

Days started to move in a faster pace… I didn’t see the girl for the next two weeks.Then one day I saw her again. It was another lunch time. This time too she vanished in a group of students. Then there was another no show for next few days.

December started, so also the second term exams. I wished I could see that girl again. I hoped she will be in my exam hall since I knew we were the same batch. But I couldn’t find her anywhere. Why is this anonymous girl bothering me..? Not knowing anything about her was annoying me and I decided I’ll talk to her the next time I see her.

 

Friday, 12 December 2003

It was noon, after completing a rather easy electronics exam I got out of the exam hall. I was having a post exam discussion with those who were sitting in the entrance hall finishing the exam early. Then I noticed a girl near the water cooler and had a wish if it was her. I felt it was the same unknown girl when she tilted her head to smooth the hair.

She was talking with some other girl animatedly facing the water cooler. I walked towards them. She could no way have seen me approaching. Suddenly I felt a strange fear inside. My heart started beating in such a way that I could feel the pulse in my ears. What is happening to me I thought. What should I ask her..? What if it was someone else..? This was the first time I saw her standing still after meeting her in the computer lab…From a distance I could clearly see she was the same white, lean girl with curly hair…She had the same hair style always…She wore a rosary with orange thread and brown beads…That revealed she was a Christian…I had this idea in my mind that if something went wrong I’ll just pretend that I came to drink water from the cooler. When I was few feet away from her, someone poked me on the back. My heart stopped. I looked back…it was Anish, my classmate.

“How was the exam..?”, he asked with a broad smile…For a moment I was puzzled what to say. Cursing under breath and smiling, I said “It was good.”

“Did you get the solution for 7th question..? It was a rather tough problem right..?”

Will you please leave me alone, I wanted to say…But now he got an eye on the two girls talking nearby and the other girl was his cousin…He said ‘hi’ to her and both turned to face us. Thank you my dear friend, sorry for the hatred I felt to you just before…You did a great job…I shouted in my mind…She was so beautiful…Twinkling brown eyes and thick eyebrows were distinct on her face. She said bye to her friend and started to walk away…

“This is the moment man, go…” Someone screamed inside…I approached her casually…She was just in front of me..

“Hey you are in 10-C right, what’s your name..?”, I asked

She was just taken aback…It was clear she had forgotten me…Despite that she answered.

“Yeah, I’m Leah.”

I was hearing that name for the first time…I couldn’t figure out what to ask next…She walked away confused while I stood there hypnotised…So she is Leah, she’s my batch mate and she’s a Christian…This much I know about her, I thought. Next step was researching on the name and finding out the match percentage between us. It was revealed that Leah was one among the top 10 common names in the US. It originated from the ash tree and it’s given to boys and girls alike…Hmm cool…The little bit disappointing fact was that her name had only 71% match with mine…Well, it was high time to know her full name…I guessed all possible Christian surnames names except one…Leah Joseph gave 81% while Leah George gave 87% match…

“Yeah this is good…Oh God please make her father’s name, George”, I prayed.

By that time I learnt she was coming by school bus. Those days the school authority introduced a new rule that all should walk in a line while leaving the class after national anthem. And from each class there had to be two volunteers to check whether the line is maintained…When the teacher asked who will volunteer from our class, me who was otherwise not at all interested in stuff like this, stood up first. The benefit was I could see her leaving the class till reaching the bus.

Exams got over and it was ten days leave for Christmas…I started to draw a picture for her…I knew I won’t be giving that to her… Though it was a good feeling drawing something for someone…After two days of the holidays I forgot her face completely…It was like some enchantment…I couldn’t remember it again…This reminded me of some fairy tales…I never felt such a longing for school ever..

.I wanted the school to be opened soon and I wanted to see her again…But I couldn’t see her anywhere when the school re opened in January…I went to school early, waited for the school bus, hanged around the 10-C veranda during intervals and lunch time…Moved my volunteering position near the stairs next to 10-C.. NO…where did she go..? I started to feel like she was my imagination only…I never enquired about her to any of my friends since I knew they had been looking for a reason to tease me for long.

One week passed. Pressure of board exam was starting to build up. Most of the teachers started giving test papers, revisions and impositions of course. They all became aggressive and started to behave like football team coaches towards the end of the match especially when the team is a goal behind…

 

Wednesday, 7 January 2004

First hour in the morning was humanities…It was 3 chapters revision… Sir started asking questions from one end…Those who didn’t know the answer were standing, with an uncertain fate. Even the geniuses in the class were standing…Now it was my turn and to everyone’s and my own surprise, I answered correctly. I felt so high…In a class of 46 only 7 remained inside till the end of the class and I was so happy to be one among them even though I felt sorry for Sam.

The next hour was maths and we had to practice few problems…It went without much difficulty…Recess interval followed that class…I and Sam got out of the class..I had a glance towards 10-C involuntarily…My heart skipped a beat…Some twenty students were standing outside while humanities sir was continuing class with the rest of them inside…Standing in the left end of the line was Leah. I walked towards them…I could see her embarrassed and blushed face…And then I saw the two beads of tears falling down slowly from her eyes…For the first time in my life I felt empathy for another person…From that moment onwards I was seriously in love with Leah.

My surroundings changed instantly…I found beauty in everything. From the school to my home…The reservoir, the hills, the greenery and everything felt so wonderful…During those days the wind started to blow in the area…It usually lasted till March and used to blow with a sound…Even if it was a breeze, it made a sound with the fallen leaves…I loved to sleep hearing that sound and thinking about her…

Still there was no change for the event of forgetting her face once when I reach home…I spend most of the time trying to remember her face from my memory.

 

Friday, 16 January 2004

There was class till noon only…Grabbing my things I got out of the class and saw her leaving her class…Then it came suddenly to my mind that someone announced in the class that computer teacher had given some notes for 10-C students that everyone had to copy…I called her from behind.

“Leah, can you lend me your computer note book..? I’m in 10-A and teacher was telling us to take some notes from you guys. I’ll return it after copying”, I said all this in a single breath…She was startled. Though she got the book from her bag and gave it to me.

“I’ll return it Monday, ok..?”

“Oh no no. I want it back tomorrow itself”

“Oh no problem, tomorrow then”, smiling and with an inflating heart, I turned away…

“Err by the way what’s your name..?”, She asked slowly.

Grinning ear to ear, I said my name and had a sprint towards the stairs…I went directly to the stationery store ‘Classic’ which was on the way to bus stop and got a photocopy of the notes…It was like I got a gift worth millions…Then I noticed her full name on the book. Leah Mary Thomas. I don’t know how many times I went through those notes. One of the advantages, I never forgot the difference between LAN and WAN ever since. I noticed that she wrote the small letter ‘f’ in a particular way and I liked it…I spend that whole night researching on her handwriting. And I suddenly had this idea of giving her a gift. I tried to remember her face and started drawing her on a small sheet of paper.

It was the first time I did a portrait and it looked exactly like her making me proud of my artistic skill. Then I loosened the cover of her book and placed the drawing safe inside. She will find this someday and then she will know I cared for her, I thought. The next day I returned her the book…I couldn’t say thanks, instead I enquired about her preparations for forthcoming exams…She said it was going alright.

Model exams started. All were in the exam tension…By that time I told Sam about my crush…Most of the students used to study in the open area behind the school…I used to see her there once in a while…It became Sam’s hobby to poke me whenever she was around. I would ask her something in general and she answered…Thus went our acquaintance…Still the heart behaved abnormal in her presence…Days passed…All started exchanging autographs…After two months everyone had to leave the school. I also had one and I wanted to get her autograph. I asked her a couple of times. But she said she will write later…I had a doubt that she started to suspect me…Whatever, I wanted her to write something for me.

 

Friday, 13 February 2004.

I was standing out of the class during lunch break…I saw her walking through the ground floor veranda and I knew she was heading for the main stairs..I rushed to my seat, grabbed my diary from the bag and reached the stairs. Pretending everything is normal I walked down casually while my heart was having a drums concert.

I met her shortly. Gave her my diary and asked if she could write on a particular page, just to know her attitude…She left with my diary. Anyway, I was sure she has not found out her picture hiding in her book. While I got back to the class feeling elated, Sam was waiting with a surprise…He got her phone number from some others’ autograph…How could I ever thank you my friend..? I expressed my gratefulness in a hearty smile…She had given my diary to one of my classmate and I got it back in the evening. She wrote just best wishes and that too in some other page…She was clearly responding negatively…I was really disappointed…

 

Tuesday, 9 March 2004

We had to collect our admit card for the board exams and we all gathered in school…That day I saw her in a dress other than the white and blue school uniform..She wore a violet dress…She was so pretty in it…

The school bus was not there on that day and so she with her friends walked to the bus stop…I and Sam followed them at a distance…They entered ‘Classic’ and so did we…I bought a pen for the exam…She was standing next to me buying a handful of orange candies. I just wanted to tell her, Hey Leah you just look awesome…Instead I asked.

“What’s your hall ticket number..?”

4342 she answered without looking at me and left…I felt rather miserable.

And then it was exams…There was no time to think about anything else but only exams…

 

Wednesday, 24 march 2004

All exams got over. We had to get back our submitted records…It was the last day of school…I had my camera with me…I went to take the electronics record from sir’s room and she was there…Then it struck me…I could take a photo of her…I had no idea when would I meet her again…I said hi…She smiled at me…I got out with my record, went down the stairs and waited for her in front of principal’s room..I wanted to tell her that I cared about her…

She came down with two of her friends. “Shall I take your photo?”, I asked. She was puzzled and panicked…Saying no she ran away…

Damn it…everything went wrong…I was also worried…She would certainly have had a bad impression on me…Cursing my stupidity and bad luck I walked away.

Bidding everyone goodbyes I walked to bus stop with Sam by my side and a sinking heart inside. On reaching the bus stop I saw a bus passing and from the side seat a pair of brown eyes was staring at me with fury…

That was the last time I saw her in three years running. Few months after school, I called her and we had a very good chat on the weather. Like that I used to call her once in a while. The weather was the highlighted topic always.

 

Saturday, 27 October 2007

I was in college…It has been almost four years since I first met Leah. By this time I forgot her face completely. But I had this feeling that I have to meet her again. I called her. It was a pleasant chat. We talked a lot about everything except weather. Finally I asked her whether I could meet her. She said nothing, neither yes nor no. I had a plan in my mind and I told her if she is free on November 10th we could meet at the ‘City Coffee House’ in the evening. She asked whether it’s necessary to meet in person. She was the same old reserved and conservative girl. May be on a second thought, she said she will come. I was delighted.

 

The sky was still dark and the rain had no intention of stopping. I always loved to drive in the rain, despite the heavy rain obstructed the long distance view. Five more minutes driving took me to the school bus stop. The place was so crowded with school children with and without umbrella. It was half a mile to the school from there. Those days walking with the friends it never felt that much of a distance. I noticed new shops sprouted within the last few years on both sides of the road.

It was almost five when I reached the school which was on top of a small hill. The pentagon stood elegantly. The paint was new. And they made some gardens and lawn in front of the building. Otherwise eleven years made not many changes to it. I parked the car in the porch and walked inside the entrance hall. Two girls were sitting on the steps to the hall and looked at me with full of expectation in their eyes.

I had a feeling like that when you reach home when I entered inside. I missed this building ever since I left it. I could feel my friends walking by my side, in fact it was the young generation but the white and blue uniform reminded me of my friends only. And there she was. The white, lean girl with curly black hair and brown eyes was coming down the main stairs towards me who stood still in the middle of the entrance hall. She wasn’t wearing the white and blue uniform, but a white sari with light green shades on it. She wasn’t carrying a school bag either but a hand bag on her left shoulder. With a pleasant smile she reached near me and I asked. “Shall we go..?”

“Yeah, but it seems you are still sleepy”

“No, I’m dreamy”, we laughed and walked towards the car.

The two girls came running to us and asked her. “Leah ma’m, can you please give us a lift till the bus stop..?”

On driving back home, Leah by my side I remembered my school once more. She was a gift the school gave me. And now she is a gift in return for the school as a computer teacher.

 

Saturday, 10 November 2007

It was evening. I was sitting impatiently in the deserted corner of the City Coffee House. A magical golden yellow hue spread across the streets outside by the setting sun. It will be dark soon. Won’t she be coming..? A sense of hopelessness started to engulf me. Didn’t feel like drinking the ice cold coffee. How long should I wait for her..? Four years wait wasn’t good enough..?

People were pouring in into the shop. It’s the peak time. I couldn’t see anyone clearly. It was like sun rays blinded my eyes. Suddenly a cell phone started to ring. Nokia’s theme tone broke the peaceful atmosphere. Involuntarily I searched my pockets and got the phone out. No. It wasn’t mine. I looked around. It was coming from the table behind me. Completing one round it stopped and then it rang again. No one was picking up the phone. It continued ringing again and again. Feeling annoyed and frustrated I stood up to leave. Before I could do anything my phone slipped from my hand and fell down. To catch it I lunged forward and hit my head on the corner of the table…Grabbing the phone I stood up and was looking right into a pair of brown eyes, and she was smiling at me.

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