The sound of a gun firing came— 'Thaan!'
Aryan immediately turned back to look. His gaze fell on the 'Target Hit' game stall in front of him. "Now the time to spend time together has come!"
He had just extended his hand to hold Anaya's hand when suddenly he remembered that stinging slap from 'Sheeshmahal'. His hand stopped in mid-air. With a bit of fear and hesitation, he asked, "Shall we go there... over there?"
Anaya simply said calmly, "Okay," but then she looked at Aryan's face and asked, "But what happened to you, Aryan?" Aryan looked away, "Nothing... let's go."
They reached the stall. Aryan asked, "What should I take out?"
Anaya's face was completely flat, she said, "Win whatever you want to win, everything will be a gift for me."
Aryan didn't buy this, "What is this? Take out anything? You tell me what to take out."
Anaya again said the same, "Whatever you take out."
Aryan got frustrated, "Hey, tell me at least!"
Anaya again repeated the same, "Whatever you can win."
Aryan muttered, 'Hey man, what kind of talk is this! You mean take out anything?' This argument kept dragging on for a long time, finally Aryan said, "Okay, I admit defeat to you." He thought that girls usually like teddy bears, so a teddy bear it is.
He asked the shopkeeper, "How many rounds for how many rupees?" The shopkeeper said, "7 rounds for 70 rupees." Aryan said, "Okay, give them." Aryan had a lot of confidence, he was acting like a professional. He picked up the gun as if it was his everyday job, then he set it, then he put his finger on the trigger and pressed— 'Thaan!' The target was hit, but the teddy bear didn't even move.
Aryan put the gun down and said calmly, "I hit it!" The shopkeeper pointed to a board on which it was written— 'If it falls, take it, otherwise go to hell!' Aryan was getting angry but said calmly, "I know, but you have stuck it! What is this?" The shopkeeper laughed, "Don't talk like that! You don't have strength in your own arms and these today's kids will tell us."
Anaya hid her face and started laughing at Aryan. Aryan got annoyed and said, "If I don't make him a beggar, then my name is not Aryan." He fired all his bullets, but not a single aim was hit. His face fell completely. The shopkeeper said, "Earlier it was your luck, kid."
Aryan didn't give up. He bought rounds again and lost. Then bought again... didn't even touch once. He wasted money again and again, but by now he had become very troubled. Out of 18, only 5 items were left on the rack, other people were winning and taking them away and the shopkeeper was laughing at Aryan. "If such guys come, we will have silver... no no it will be gold gold!" He was saying this while counting his money and was laughing at Aryan very badly.
"Enough is enough!" Aryan took a deep breath. Sweat started coming from his face. He put his finger on the trigger and pressed. He felt as if the bullet was going in 'slow-mo'. The target was hit, but the bullet touched the teddy's ears and went ahead. He wasted 6 bullets. When he was about to fire the 7th bullet, Anaya took the gun. "Let me try this time."
Anaya picked up the gun, took aim and 'Shoot!' The bullet directly hit an old box and it fell down with a thud. The shopkeeper was stunned! That box had been kept there for 21 years, till today no one had been able to win it and Anaya did it in one go. The shopkeeper gave the box to Anaya, "Today this is going... but it's good to get rid of it, it had been lying here for 21 years."
Aryan turned back and was saying again, "No! I will win that teddy!" But Anaya dragged him away. "Aryan! You spent so much money! In this much, you could have easily bought a big teddy bear." Anaya was thinking in her mind, 'Don't know how this came out? I had aimed for the teddy bear, but how did it hit this?' She was blushing internally out of embarrassment.
After a while, Aryan said, "Shall we unbox it and see what is in it?" They opened the box, then a black ring came out of it, on which golden stripes were made. Its finishing was very rough. Aryan said, "Truly, no item can be good."
Then Anaya gifted that ring to Aryan. "This is a gift from my side for your money. Anyway, I took it out, so this is for you." There was no limit to Aryan's happiness! He got lost in thoughts— 'Anaya is giving me a gift!' He even thought of his marriage with Anaya and names of children right there. Then Anaya hit him on the head and said, "Where did you get lost?"
Aryan said blushingly in a low voice, "Will you... will you make me wear this ring?" Anaya also got shy, "Are you a small child?" Aryan said, "Okay, I will myself..." then Anaya cutting his talk held his hand and said, "Okay, I am making you wear it." Anaya made him wear the ring. Aryan became mesmerized and was looking at that ring and was saying, "Anaya made me wear a ring... ring!"
To remove the awkward silence, Anaya said, "Let's go on the Giant Wheel."
They sat in the cabin whose roof was open. There was a silent embarrassment between the two. They were looking outside but talk was not happening. Then, as soon as the wheel reached the top, it stopped with a jerk! The light of the whole city had gone. As soon as it became dark in the fair, chaos broke out and both started panicking in the cabin about what happened all of a sudden.
Anaya dug up old graves, "By the way, because of you we got caught today."
Aryan was shocked, "By whom? Masi?"
Anaya said annoyedly, "Because of your negligence!"
Aryan replied, "If you had told me, it wouldn't have happened!"
Anaya said, "If you had done as I was saying, we wouldn't have been caught."
"Hey! If you had told me and I had known, I would have supported you myself and hidden!"
Anaya taunted, "Hmm, even if I had told you, because of your stupidity we would have been caught anyway."
Aryan said, "You should have told me! I am not having a dream that Masi is after us and I was running like a madman! Anaya, and what was the need for you to scream at the last?" Aryan was now completely annoyed, "I had become mad by running like this! And one second... Masi had said that you are acting as if you didn't see us at all, it means she already knew that we are here!"
Anaya cut the talk, "No, everything is your fault."
Aryan screamed, "Abe, what talk is this!"
Then Anaya gave him a lecture, "And yes, what happened this morning? Mr. Brother is putting a bet of 1 lakh? You will beat me? Never! The boy who always comes last, how will he beat the one who comes 1st? Even if I take pity and bring less marks, how will you beat the 2nd and 3rd ones? Even if you come equal to the 10th rankers, it will be a very big thing."
Aryan's ego got hurt. He stood up in the cabin and screamed, "I will definitely show by coming first in class! From now on I have only one motive—just to beat you!"
Anaya also stood up and pointing her finger at him said, "And I will not lose! Especially from someone like you who comes last! This is my promise!"
Aryan also pointing his finger at her said, "This is my promise! I will show you by beating you and coming first!"
Right when the echo of that argument between them was in the air, suddenly the light of the whole city came back. At that very moment, the Giant Wheel started moving with a loud jerk. Because of that sudden push, Aryan's balance got disturbed and he fell straight back on the seat. Anaya could not handle herself and she fell straight on top of Aryan.
They both were so close to each other that the distance between them had as if finished. At that very moment, slow raindrops started falling from the sky. In a few moments the rain became heavy, but they both were still like that. Because the roof of the cabin was open, cold rainwater was falling on their whole bodies, but in that feeling it was as if time had stopped.
The noise of the fair below had now become faint and above there was only the thundering of clouds and the sound of rain. In that silence, Aryan's heartbeat was clearly audible— dhak... dhak... dhak... That sound was echoing in that small cabin like a fast-ticking clock. Water drops falling from Anaya's soaked locks were staying on Aryan's cheeks. Their eyes were entangled in each other in such a way that they had no sense of the world around them. It felt as if in that moment all the crowd of the world has been lost somewhere and only they two are the witnesses of this frozen time.
Without any thought, without any intention, they both were being pulled towards each other automatically because of an unknown pull. Their warm breaths were being felt on each other's faces amidst the cold drops of rain. Their lips were just about to touch each other, the depth of that moment had increased so much that it was as if a soulful heaviness had come in the air.
But then, suddenly Masi's face and her warning echoed in Aryan's mind like a flash of lightning— "If you try to touch my niece with wrong intentions, I will not leave you!"
As soon as those words fell in his ears, Aryan woke up with a jerk as if from some deep trance. He immediately composed himself and moving Anaya away from him said a bit nervously and in a faltering voice, "This... this is not the right time yet."
His words broke that heavy silence like glass in a moment. The atmosphere inside the cabin suddenly became very strange. Anaya immediately looked away and quietly started looking at the hazy rain falling outside. The rain had now become very heavy, and in that heavy silence in the cabin, only the 'tap-tap' of falling drops and the noise of the fair somewhere far away was audible. That rain which a few moments ago was sounding like a melody, had now turned into a piercing noise.
The wheel was slowly moving downwards, but that distance between the two had now started feeling miles long.
As soon as they got down from the wheel, a heavy emptiness surrounded them amidst the earthy smell of the ground. The rain had now become even heavier. That glitz of the fair was now meaningless for them.
Near the gate, the same morning rickshaw puller was sitting huddled inside his rickshaw. He saw these two coming towards him from afar. Seeing them, he remembered the morning argument. He thought in his mind, 'Hey, these are the same ones from the morning! They were talking a lot in the morning and gave 300 rupees. Now they are getting drenched so they will come to their senses. Today I will take out the full grudge of the morning. No other rickshaw will be found in this rain, so today I will recover 800 rupees from them. They are getting drenched now, so they will also agree quickly.'
Aryan and Anaya reached near the rickshaw walking in silence. The rickshaw puller stayed sitting in his place and without looking at them, said a bit arrogantly, "Where to go?"
Aryan also didn't look at him, just told his location in a lost flat voice. The rickshaw puller even now keeping his neck tilted said, "Are you seeing how heavy the rain is? No other is going to be found. It will take ₹800 from here to there, not a single paisa will be less!"
He thought that Aryan would bargain like in the morning, but there was only a strange silence. When the rickshaw puller didn't get any answer, he turned his gaze and first looked at Anaya and then as soon as his gaze fell on Aryan's eyes, he froze. There was no complaint or anger in Aryan's eyes, just a soulful silence that went deep inside the rickshaw puller.
He suddenly started feeling hesitation at his own talk of greed. He immediately softened his voice and himself said, "Leave it, sir... you people are getting drenched, give whatever you gave in the morning." But then he felt that he had taken more in the morning, so he said a bit cautiously, "Never mind, give ₹250... not a single rupee less than this." And he thought in his mind, 'Anyway... this is the real fare.'
They quietly sat inside the rickshaw. Heavy raindrops were making 'tap-tap' loud sound on the tarpaulin of the rickshaw. That black ring in Aryan's finger was feeling even colder being wet from rain water. He was stroking it with his other finger again and again, as if that ring was a witness to every single moment of that cabin. Anaya was quietly looking at the hazy rain falling outside in the other corner of the rickshaw. That silence between them was deeper and heavier than the noise of that rain.
Aryan dropped Anaya at a turn a bit far from her house. Anaya without turning back, moved towards her lane walking silently in the rain. Aryan stayed sitting in the same rickshaw and left for his house.
When he reached home, there was a strange peace all around. As soon as he opened the door, Mom was standing right there. Seeing him drenched, she just said, "Aryan, you came? Just go in the drawing room and meet Aunty, she has been waiting for you for a long time."
Water was dripping from Aryan's wet shoes on the floor. He just wanted to run towards his room, but just then a voice came from inside.
That voice... that familiar ring...