April

This story prologue makes it's way into my blog because I just discovered it in my old diary ( I have dozens owing to my variable moods)and thought it could have been a story or a novel perhaps. But, again, I think I had written this during a time of creativity overload which nowadays I feel too lazy to manifest. So, here goes...



This Prologue is dedicated to my lovely family, loyal cat and my inspiration always- Nicholas Sparks. Keep writing love stories, it's the reason we dream happy at night!

 PROLOGUE 

 The batch of 2010 gets the roomiest classroom, with huge windows and hovering curtains. The podium up front, elevated as it is, enables Ms. Joy to get a fine look at all of us in class. If not for the podium, we would have had a tough time looking for her amidst us. 

 Ms. Joy, a 30 year old unmarried woman of a short stature, was our Psychology Lecturer. She proved to be a vivid example of 'small things coming in big packages'. Of course one would say that when they found her travelling in a Hummer on the creaky, bumpy roads of Raupadi. It reminds me of the game 'Monster truck madness' my brother was very fond of. I look around the classroom from my seat and catch Shruti's eyes and quickly turn my sight away. I love observing people, it is one of the things I am blessed with from the above. 

 Shruti Kakkad, a girl with deep brown eyes, always shining with a hint of kajal and a splash of mascara. Carrying the scent of Burberry, she loomed across the desks like she were playing the role of Cleopatra in a play, which incidentally she has! I was always envious of her since the first grade and now, a decade through and I still can't look her in the eyes. When puberty struck us all, I looked like a rotten apple pie while she was the crowning glory- no slightest hint of post puberty despair. Five years down the line, I don't think I look as bad. I might just be the next ugly duckling turned princess for all you know. 

 Oh, by the way, I am April. 5 feet 4 inches, 46 kgs and a size 32. The origin of my name comes from my grandparents whose grandparents were all born in April. Strange? Just not yet. I was born in the month of April too, my parents had a love marriage and apparently they hooked up in April. My younger sister hit puberty in April and the geyser in my bathroom collapsed in the month of April on one deadly night thus, killing my cat.

 As a toddler, I watched other kids with a thumb stuck in my mouth. This habit got replaced by a pacifier. Nothing worked better than my self induced fear of bleeding my thumb and possibly amputating it. I was self reliant from a tender age, hated being carried around and hated being in diapers during the night. I was a bed wetter and I hated that too. 

One fine day during my early teenage years, my parents sat on an opposite couch defiantly arguing amongst themselves, then and again, throwing a look of worry at me. I sat cluelessly looking around and humming "Bring me to life" under my breath. I remember my Dad telling Mum, " She doesn't talk to the kids in school?" 

" She talks to that backbencher Usha, know?", replied Mum as Dad nodded disapprovingly. 

I squinted at him as I swallowed a huge lump of saliva down my throat and muttered ,"Dad, I am not mad."

Yeah, the story  didn't progress beyond the prologue. Maybe , in old age when I have the time. You'll see this one out and about.