Hot Chocolate

I for one never believed in ghosts.

Even if you replace the word with something fancy like “spectral disturbances” or other balderdash, it would still earn nothing more than an arched-up eyebrow and a pair of skeptical eyes.

Vidya, my friend-cum-roommate was more of a person who could get spooked by a sheet over a bolster. She was often exasperated about the way I kept poking holes in her theory, how the last flash of white was simply a torch reflection and that “weird” noise last night was just a leaky tap.

“There are ghosts, you know,” she muttered, applying butter over her toast.

Vidya Bagchi was of average height with pale skin, dark kohl-lined brown eyes and short curly hair. Her features were delicate and refined, something that contrasted with her wild nature. I was taller than her, with a darker complexion, long waist length straight hair and almond-shaped grey eyes. My features were sharper, giving my visage a more hawk-like countenance.

“Okay, I officially apologize for scaring you yesterday,” I said, stuffing my mouth with a banana to stop myself from guffawing and adding more insult to the poor girl’s injury.

Yesterday was Hallowe’en, the day Vidya preferred to stay in huddled under her blankets to protect herself from “evil spirits”. It was irresistible; I could not help myself but have a little fun on her account.

And apparently, my apology fell short.

“Hmpfh!” she huffed, stuffing the toast in her mouth.

“Alright alright, Vids,” I said complacently, raising my hands in an attempt to mollify her.

“I promise, I will not spook you out again.”

She raised her head, her brown eyes still bearing a look of anger.

“Hmpfh!”

**

Both of us lived in an apartment which was owned by a friend of my dad’s. The location was cool but the condition was something to be desired. A leaky tap in the kitchen, for starters.

Vidya wanted to shift to another apartment before the term ended in December as the creaky noises were freaking her out. So we had been house-hunting for over a month now, but nothing caught our fancy yet.

As I set to wash up the dishes, my phone buzzed.

It was an unknown number.

“Tanirika Sinha Roy?” came a voice from the other end of the phone.

“Yes,” I replied, holding up the phone with the help of shoulder as my hands scouted for a dry towel.

“You had registered at our site for searching for an apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Apparently our agent has shortlisted some based on your requirements.”

“Okay.”

“The name of the agent and the place he will meet you will be texted on this number.”

“That would be great.”

“Thank you.”

And the line went dead.

“OI VIDYA!” I hollered from the kitchen.

“IN A MOOD TO SEE A COUPLE OF APARTMENTS?”

Vidya poked her in her head; I could see her dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt and her bag slung across her torso.

“You going somewhere, Vids?” I asked.

“Yep…remember that group project? Ours is still left,” she said.

“Okay…”I trailed off.

“You go on ahead and let me know if something catches your eye,” she added.

I grinned.

“And please, don’t go overboard and get a spooky bin,” she sighed before leaving.

**

House-hunting is tiring, not to mention boring. I mean, it would be great if you had a couple of billion dollars in the pocket and price being no bar–but there again, if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.

“This apartment is the best of the lot,” said the agent enthusiastically, practically skipping with excitement. We were in perhaps in the seventh apartment of the list and though I was practically sapped out of energy, he was the living embodiment of a glucose drink advertisement.

“Like that you haven’t said for at least a million times,” I muttered as I looked around.

I admit it, it was nice and sunny. The living room was big and airy and so were the two bedrooms. The kitchen and the dining area too were done up tastefully and fortunately for Vidya, no leaky taps.

“This building is just a year old and so, the furnishing and fittings are new and in order, Miss,” said the agent, dancing around.

I went through the mental list of my requirements…and decided that this one fitted the bill.

“Okay. I am taking this one,” I said.

“You are very lucky, Miss. This one’s a real diamond in the market…”

And I tuned him out.

**

“Really?”

Vidya sounded ecstatic over the phone. It was noon and I was eating pizza in a nearby cafe to stop my stomach growl in hunger.

“Yeah…it’s nice and on a busy street. The supermarket and the bus stand are at walking distances and the taps are all nice and currently not leaking.” I said, chewing my slice.

“Hmm…I will take your word for it. Then get our stuff moving…it will take three hours at most.”

“You sure? You don’t wanna come for a peek?”

“I trust you, Tanirika…just get it done already. This one freaks me out.”

I scratched my head thoughtfully–the cleaners were already scrubbing out the apartment and if I could get hold of that tempo guy, I could get our stuff shifted in three hours flat…and I would be watching House M.D. in our new apartment tonight.

“Okay then…I will text you the address. How’s your project holding up?”

“Well, it’s been a disaster…” she sighed.

She went on to tell how her entire model was ruined by some puppy taking it for a fancy kennel while I comforted the poor girl.

“You do your project while I take care of this end,” I said.

“Thanks a lot, Tan…that’s a blessing. I mean it.”

**

It was eight in the evening.

It was dark.

“Sorry memsaab…the transformer blew out. It will take a minimum of three hours to get it up and running,” said the watchman.

What an innovative way of saying hello.

I was angry…I was missing my favourite show after all.

I lay sprawled on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. Unlike Vidya, I did not get spooked out by random power-cuts, though I sincerely hoped the lights came back before she returned–I had no desire of listening to a paranormal lecture.

Someone knocked the door lightly, making me jump. I scrambled for my torch and hurried to the door. To my surprise, I found a little girl standing at the door clutching her teddy bear. Her hair was plaited neatly down her back and she held a torch in her other hand, which she presently shone on my face.

“Hello, little girl,” I said awkwardly.

“Hello, miss. I live upstairs and my parents haven’t returned yet. Can I stay here? I am scared.”

She did have a cute voice.

I nodded, standing aside to let her in. She looked to be around seven years old, plump and chubby with light brown eyes.

I guided her to the sofa, helping her sit.

“You live alone, miss?” she asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

“Not really, a friend of mine bunks up with me.”

“Uh huh…”

She looked around interestedly, taking in the room.

“What’s your name, kiddo?”

“Anusha.”

I smiled at the girl, ruffling her hair.

“I am Tanirika.”

“So how come you have moved in here, Tanirika-didi?” she asked.

I yawned and then launched in an explanation.

“Cool,” she whistled.

“You are like an adult…like my cousin sister.”

“Hmm…”

She went on to tell about herself. Her parents worked as dentists and ran a clinic some couple of streets away. She wasn’t well thus was home presently.

“You are home alone?” I asked incredulously.

“Um…not exactly. Nana was with me like till half-an-hour ago when she had to go…so I was alone when the lights went out.”

I patted her head sympathetically.

“You know what. You sit here while I go and make you a cup of hot chocolate…what say?”

She nodded energetically, swinging her legs to and fro.

I walked over to the kitchen and set the milk to boil.

“Um…Tanirika-didi, what do you do? Like, in college…” she asked, standing next to me.

“Hmm…I am in the English division so my classes are pretty chilled out…we enact plays, have discussions on novels and the like…get the flow?”

“That’s so cool…” she sighed, inhaling the chocolatey aroma.

“Don’t worry…enjoy your school days, kid,” I laughed, seeing her face filled with longing.

“But your life seems so amazing!” she countered as I handed her a steaming cup. She blew over the cup as she went over to where she was sitting. I took out a plate from the rack and filled it with some choco-chip and butter cookies.

“So tell me, kiddo,” I began as I seated myself next to her. I had lit candles all over the apartment and their flickering glow lent a cozy feel to the house.

“What about your school? Tell me about it.”

She turned towards me, her eyes shining with excitement.

“It’s so cool!!! I mean, it’s time for our annual function…”

I smiled as she began narrating her school events…how her dance practices went on etc. This reminded me of my school days…all those squabbles with the classmates…

I sighed, grinning to myself. Ah school days!

“So what do you want to be when you grow up?” I asked after she finished her narration.

“A doctor!” she squealed, clutching her teddy bear to herself.

“I have always wanted to be a doctor…treating people and saving lives sound so grand and amazing, right?”

This was certainly one excited kid.

“Yes, it certainly does…doctors are no less than the Almighty where saving lives are concerned…what say?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Yeah…my parents seem cool to me but I want to be a heart doctor..what are they called…uh…car..car…”

“Cardiologist?” I suggested.

“Yep. A cardiologist. That’s what I want to be,” she said proudly.

“What do you want to be, Tanirika-didi?” she enquired.

I was slightly taken aback; now that I come to think of it, I had never thought what I wanted to be…since like eighth grade.

“Um…kinda goes with flow, eh?” I said, twiddling my thumbs.

I looked at her to encounter a visibly shocked face.

“What????” she squealed, bouncing up and down on the sofa.

“It’s not that scandalous,” I muttered, looking away.

“It is!” she reinforced, looking very angry now.

“How could you stop dreaming?” she demanded, pouting.

I couldn’t help but laugh; her petulant face was too cute for words.

“I didn’t, kid…you will know when you grow up,” I said, pinching her cheeks.

“Thank goodness I will never grow up…I mean that’s horrible,” she said, still sounding hurt.

“Dreams are to be dreamt forever!!! I refuse to accept anything otherwise.”

I patted her head, still amused at her outburst. She clutched her teddy bear tightly, huffing in annoyance.

“Grown-ups stink,” she stated, still angry.

“Okay okay kid…I am sorry I stopped dreaming…I apologize?” I asked, putting my right fist over my heart and bowing my head.

When I lifted up my head, I saw her expression soften slightly.

“You know kid…it’s not that every adult stops dreaming because they don’t want to…it’s because…once we grow up, we realize that the world’s like the big bad wolf from the Little Red Riding Hood…it stinks big time and is ever-ready to gobble up any stragglers. It’s this race we sign up for from the moment we are born…if we lose, we get thrown out pretty bad.”

She looked glum as she looked on ahead.

I slung my arm over her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze.

“But thank you, kid,” I said softly.

“Thanks for making me realize that I still can dream.”

“It’s nothing,” she huffed but I could say she was no longer angry. She snuggled against me with her teddy bear.

“What do you want to be?” she asked, looking up.

“A writer…like the one who writes novels…” I replied.

“Like J.K. Rowling??” she asked, her brown eyes growing to the size of dinner plates.

“Um yeah…something like that…” I muttered sleepily. All that talk and the flickering candle-light was making me sleepy.

“You will be an awesome writer one day…” she murmured before drifting off to sleep.

That hot chocolate remained untouched.

**

“Anusha you big prat! Pass the ball!” I yelled at a seven year old girl as she ran away with the ball.

“Won’t won’t! And you can’t make me!” she yelled back, dancing on tiptoe.

**

“What did you fill in for the ‘Future You’ thingie?” I asked as we sat in the swings at the park.

“A cardiologist!” she replied proudly.

“What’s that?” I enquired, confused.

“A heart doctor!” she answered, her eyes shining in the light of the setting sun.

“What about you, Tanirika?”

“A writer…duh! You know that’s my super-big dream…” I said, rolling my eyes.

“How mean of you to forget that, Anusha!”

She stuck out her tongue at me.

“Phooey!!”

“Phooey to you!”

**

“Mom? What’s the matter?” I asked. Mom and Dad looked ashen and shaken up.

“Oh Tanirika!” she wailed, hugging me tight. Dad patted my head, unshed tears swimming in his eyes.

“It’s Anusha…she got run over by a truck an hour ago…and she died on the way to the hospital…”

That cannot be…my diaper buddy…she wanted to be a cardiologist…she cannot die so easily…

“Mom, there has to be a mistake…” I squeaked, as tears ran unbidden down my cheeks.

“Anusha has a lot to do, Mom…she just can’t die…she’s my best friend…”

**

My best friend…

Holy crap!

I jumped awake to find the TV running “The Big Bang Theory” while a cup of hot chocolate and a plate of biscuits lay untouched on the table. That little girl was no where to be seen.

That teddy bear…

Those brown eyes…

I was a dunce…how could I have not seen it…

I ran all around the apartment…but it was empty.

And the main door was locked from inside.

I sat down on the sofa with my head in my hands. My watch beeped 11:30 pm.

What happened?

The shrill doorbell almost made me jump out of my skin.

It was Vidya, looking pretty harassed.

“I QUIT THE SCIENCE DIVISION!” she roared as she lay down on the couch, spent and tired.

“Those creeps better know to take care of the model or I will have their freaking brains for dinner,” she seethed.

Noticing my lack of a sarcastic quip, she cocked up an eyebrow towards my direction.

“Wazzup?” she enquired.

I shrugged, trusting myself not to speak.

She gave me a puzzled look before stretching her limbs like a cat.

“You rest up while I whip up some pasta for dinner,” I suggested before walking to the kitchen.

I heard her grunt in reply before she promptly fell asleep.

There were no candle stubs; I called the watchman’s cabin from my cellphone.

“Power-cut? No memsaab, we did not have any power-cut for at least the last three months.”

When I inquired about the people living in the flat above mine, I got a strange reply.

“A flat, memsaab? That is the community hall. You didn’t know?”

I quickly hung up before he started to think I took drugs or something.

Come to think of it…

I put in the sauce to boil.

Anusha lived in the floor above mine when we were kids…

Was she really…

I shook my head. How could that be possible? The door was locked and there was no power cut…I must have made myself a cup of hot chocolate and fell asleep…a day of shifting and moving stuff is bound to make a girl tired, right?

That must be it, I said to myself, happy to have found a logical answer.

As I prodded Vidya to wake up and wash before dinner, I noticed a brown furry paw poking out from underneath the cushion. As I pulled it out, I realized it was a teddy bear.

Just like the one Anusha had.

Oh Gods…

You will be an awesome writer one day, Tanirika…

__END__