After dropping Anaya, Aryan was moving towards his house alone in a rickshaw. Outside, it was still raining heavily. Aryan rested his head on the iron rod of the rickshaw and started looking at the mountains fading in the mist.
A whirlwind of thoughts was running in his mind. 'Was what was about to happen today my mistake? Or should I have let what was happening happen?' He touched that rough ring stuck on his finger. 'If those words of Masi had not come to mind, then perhaps everything would have changed. Don't know... it's good that it didn't happen, but now I am thinking, what if it had happened? Forget all this Aryan... whatever happened, happened for the best.' The conflict that a boy feels in his mind—shame, fear, and a strange thrill—Aryan was entangled in all of them.
"But, whatever was meant to happen, happened," he muttered to himself.
Just then, the rickshaw stopped with a jerk. Aryan was so lost in his own world that he didn't even realize when the journey ended. The rickshaw puller called out two or three times, "Sahab... oh Sahab! Your house has arrived." When there was no reply, he said loudly, "Sahab! You have reached home!"
Aryan startled out of the world of his thoughts. "Ah... reached?" He quickly got down and gave 250 rupees to the rickshaw puller. The rickshaw puller said with a smile, "We will meet again Sahab!" and disappeared into the darkness.
Aryan turned towards his gate. Following his habit, he checked for the key under the flowerpot, but the key was not there. The light inside was on. 'Seems like Mummy has come early today,' he thought and rang the bell.
Mummy opened the door. Seeing him drenched from head to toe, she screamed, "Aryan! What condition have you made of yourself? And where were you until now? Today school had finished early, right!" Then softening her voice a little, she said, "Anyway, quickly wash your hands and face and come to the drawing room. An old friend of mine has come, she will be like your Masi. She has been wanting to meet you for many days."
Aryan just wanted to run to his room as fast as possible, but just then a voice came from inside. That voice... Aryan felt as if he had heard it somewhere. Fearfully, he went to the drawing room gate. As soon as he peeped inside, he was shocked. Anaya's Masi was there!
Aryan closed the door loudly in panic. His heart started beating fast. 'She has reached my house? Has she come to complain about me? Did she find out about what happened between us? But how!'
"Aryan! What behavior is this? Why did you close the door so loudly? Come inside!" Mummy said in a stern voice.
Aryan went inside. He saw Masi had a bottle in her hand and she was completely drunk. As soon as Masi saw him, she narrowed her eyes, "Hey... you here?"
Mummy asked in surprise, "Do you know them from before?"
Aryan immediately shook his head and denied, "No-no! I... I have never met her!" Masi was about to say something when Aryan screamed and cut her off, "Oh yes! Now I remember! You are the same Aunty whom I helped this morning? On the way... she had fallen, so I just held her hand."
Masi said while swaying in intoxication, "Help? What help?" She had drunk so much that she didn't even have any sense of what she was saying. Mummy made Aryan sit near her, "Aryan, she is a very old friend of mine." Masi interrupted in between, "Yes, I know... this is Aayan, right?"
Mummy laughed, "Oh no, his name is Aryan. He has just gone into 10th class, I had already told you all this."
Suddenly, Masi started crying loudly, "Today again a boyfriend left... my 34th breakup! Don't know when I will find a good boy." Aryan turned his face the other way out of shame. Mummy also felt a bit strange that such talks were happening in front of her child. She stood up and said, "I'll bring something to eat from the kitchen, Aryan you take care of her."
As soon as Mummy left, Aryan whispered, "Why did you come here? And you are my Mummy's friend?"
Masi was crying in her own tune, "Aayan... you know, that boy turned out to be a fan of BST, so I left him!" She started sliding down while crying. Aryan moved forward to handle her, just then Masi became completely unconscious and fell on top of him. Aryan was still trying to lift her when Mummy entered the room with a plate of food and a water bottle in her hand.
Mummy didn't say anything, she threw the bottle that was in her hand straight towards Aryan and also threw everything she had brought to eat and started screaming, "What are you doing!" Anger and suspicion were clear in her eyes. Aryan panicked, "Mummy! It's not like what you are seeing! She... she has become unconscious!" But Mummy was not ready to listen to anything. Just then Masi gave a loud burp and fell asleep while muttering something in her intoxication. Seeing Masi's condition, Mummy became convinced that Aryan was telling the truth.
"Lift her and take her to the bed," Mummy ordered. With great difficulty, Aryan took her to the bed and then ran back to his room.
He turned off the light of the room and lay down on his bed. He started looking at the moon through the window. "Yaar... this is the same moon that I saw in my dream," he said to himself. Then he opened the window, due to which gusts of cold air started hitting his face.
Aryan remembered the whole day today while looking at the moon. "Truly, a lot happened today. Sir insulted me in school, then received that enemy's letter at the hands of the traitor... then that date with Anaya. First the bargaining, then that amazing movie. Then making that other rickshaw puller cry and the Dragon Boat, in which she was scared at first and then started enjoying. Then that Cotton Candy, horror house, mirror maze... and that slap! How can I forget that!"
Then he remembered how he met Masi in the fair. How she first had fun, then wandering together and eating that best chaat. Then that sudden warning given by Masi and her leaving from there after her breakup. Aryan smiled and started looking at the ring on his finger which was shining in the moonlight. "Anaya has gifted this to me... and made me wear it herself. I will never take this off. Even though the finishing is bad, its golden stripes are very beautiful."
Then he remembered that moment of the Giant Wheel when they were so close to each other. Thinking of this, his hair stood on end. He shook his head with a jerk, "Forget it Aryan!"
"But this Masi... she is not leaving me. She even landed here. Today Mummy would have almost killed me. Anyway, I am very tired now."
Aryan closed his eyes while looking at the moon. In the embrace of sleep, he started seeing the same dream again—the same moon, and a small mosquito-like black spot that was slowly growing bigger. Suddenly that same old sword came and stopped near his eye, as if it would tear his eye again!
"No!" Aryan woke up on the bed. He saw the chandelier above and immediately lifted his hands in front of his eyes. His hands...
His hands were small again!
He screamed while trembling, "Yaar! Not again
The end