A Crush

These are those few days in college when I get to stay alone … all by myself … when I can think back into time… think bout those days when all I would have to do is go to school and come back … do my homework at times and then happily indulge in extracurricular activities… then came the days when to the same routine… “ going to tuitions “ had to be added and then we started indulging in more taxing extracurricular…..where less of running around and brainwork was required and more of eye exercise was involved … along with extra rounds of oohhhhs and ahhhhs and 50 more of “ oh!!! He looked at me.”

It was only the second week of going to physics tuitions … it was tiring… coming back from school at 2:30, somehow stuffing myself with “ daal, bhaat and ever so necessary fish curry” , watching ninja robots from 3:30 and then rushing to the tuitions and making it by 4:20 when it would start at 4...

It was on one of those unusual days when I left early for tuition or rather was thrown out of my house so that it appears that I have left early for my tuitions…. Neways… it was pretty cloudy and already had started to drizzle…

It was a perfect weather to njoy outdoors .. For a fast bike ride….just feel the wind blowing past ur hair … ur clothes clinging to ur body as if some gaint vacuum cleaner is following u. I was passing by the k4 type quarters when I heard his voice for the first time… it was so mature, so full of bass, so … mesmerizing that I almost fell off my bicycle… for a split second I was Tran located to some sort of a paradise where the air was full of the sound of the church bells … a lively choir singing their heart out … small children enjoying on a Sunday morning… and all of a sudden it all came crashing down as I crashed into a huge banyan tree and landed inside not so well attended drain… in order to retain the tinge of honor left in me I quietly and quickly got up , brushed myself …. Picked up my then wave like cycle… left for my home as I was too late for … actually too dirty for my tution…

Before leaving …for once i had to analyse the cause of this disaster …. So I looked back into the house from where the voice had called out for me… or atleast I thought had called out for me….but once again … twice in one day I was too late… all I saw was the huge banyan tree laughing out at me…

It was the tution day agin and I would not embarass myself today again by leaving early and colliding into a dumb big tree… so I left late…I was crossing “ the house “ with my complete concentration on the road… I had promised myself that I will not get misguided by any voice of any kind… so I was alert… I had almost crossed the gate… man was I pround or what that soon I heard the voice again… and I stopped (without falling)… turned back for a quick look and what I saw made my heart skip a few beats…I couldn’t breath and could feel Goosebumps coming up … I stood there spell bound with my mouth half open…

I knew what to do if I heard “ the “ voice but what bout when I get to see the one with “ the voice”… and that to when he is someone so cute to look at … his dark brown wavy hair… with a brilliant shine… his brownish grey eyes… gazing at me… I wondered if he liked the look of me… and I don’t know why but I quickly combed my hair with my fingers… he was tall… pretty tall for his kind… kind of well built a little on the heavier side but I didn’t mind… though he had a serious expression something bout his face suggested that he was smiling…he was breathing heavily… probably because he must have been exercising … playing throw ball with his friend…
I soon realized he had come to the gate and was calling out for someone to pass him the ball which had rolled out of the gate and into the drain…but even after this realization dawned on me … I didn’t move a step forward or backward instead kept staring at him with my eyes and mouth wide open…he called out to me again and I got anchored back to the real world…I picked up the ball and gave it to him…and with it flew away a part of my soul … as for him… thanked me with a “ u’r weird “expression turned around and with a big “hhhmmmmfffff” ran back to his friend…

I stood there for a moment … trying to figure out what just happened? And I couldn’t so instead I rushed for my tuition half dazed…

Surprisingly this Sunday I was up and ready very early for my tuition… like a good child I finished my breakfast and zoomed off on my brand new cycle… I had to show it to “Monty”… oh I forgot… after that day of meeting my dream man… I went back to gather more information…
Series of undercover instigations followed… peeping from a hole in the back yard wall when Monty played throw ball…gathering information from sources bout what kind of a being was he? About his relations and all that a gal needs to know bout “the one” . as we noticed that he was very attached to his mom … prerana and myself started meeting his mom more often… more of “namaste aunty ,s” , extra waiting at the gate for quick chats with “aunty”… we even started gathering flowers for her morning pooja….so that she would let us play with her son… after lot of hard work we finally got what we wanted… permission to interact with Monty …. We used to play his favorite throw ball… and then chasing squirrels up the tree…. At times we would also play hide and seek… or just sit back and relax , speak to each other bout how our parents don’t understand our needs… or what’s the need to learn or go to school… or how best friends hurt our feelings and we couldn’t do nething bout it…

Soon we grew very close to each other… I started spending more time at his house… I started bunking classes… and went for walks with Monty… racing to the next lamp post…
we used to walk up to the lake on early Sunday mornings … v had carved out a small niche for ourselves… it was a patch of barren ground surrounded by three big boulders… and all around it grew huge evergreen trees… and our feet would touch the warm water as we enjoyed the filtered sunlight… I would spend hours watching Monts plays with the shadows of the leaves… enjoying the fragrance of the sweet small white wild flowers… careful studying the chirping birds… I was amused to see the strong bond between monts and the beautiful nature… It was a pleasure to play “ catch “ with him… it was fun to be chased round by or just run after monts… he looked so handsome when he would come running to me… his long hair bouncing with every step… his face full of a big smile… ohhhh… how much I wish he could be mine forever….
One day when we were resting after a big throw ball game beside the lake… monts slowly crawled up to me … lay his head gently on my lap and snuggled in… then slowly as if unknowingly put his hand on mine…a shiver ran down my spine and my heart felt as if it would burst into million pieces…and soon I fell asleep…

Only an hour had passed by when I suddenly woke up … and I saw Monty sitting straight up in front of me … and looking into my eyes… I felt as if he had thousands of questions to ask me but somehow couldn’t express himself… after a few seconds of staring at each other I couldn’t stand it nemore and shied away… I could feel my cheeks burning … and am sure they must have turned red… Monty understood just how i felt so he soon got up and signaled for me to follow him… and so did I… as we were walking back it dawned on me … that my exams were coming that meant I would no longer be spending time with Monty…

I had already started missing him…

We reached his house first… I looked into his eyes…trying to tell him all I could in just one look but I failed… as we were standing on the road we had to part for almost 3 weeks with this last stare only…

My head bent and more than semi wet eyes… I started heading for my house… then I suddenly turned back ran to Monty who was about to enter his house… and unabashedly planted a small kiss on his cheek… and ran back home ….

That night as I lay on my bed all I could think of was “MONTY” … his eyes… his hair… his soft yet sturdy body…as ne other girl would have done I at once called up m best friend and spoke to her bout all this… she couldn’t help but laugh at me… I was disappointed and at once cut the line….

Days went by in gloom… and atlas the blessed exams came to an end…

Again it was time to get back to my love… as soon as I came back from school I got ready and left for Monty’s house…

With various plans cropping up inside my head…and my heart full of glee… I almost flew to Monty’s house… but what I saw left me utterly confounded…

A big lock on the main gate… I didn’t know what to do…so I tried trespassing the property and of course got caught…

As the nosy neighbors scolded me for my behavior, all I could think bout was what if Monty was some where inside the house… if only I could get a glimpse of his smiling face but all I could see was darkness…

My voice cracking … I somehow managed to ask what had happened …soon Monty’s friend recognized me and came running to me… it was such a relief to see him for now I was sure that it was only a matter of seconds that I could meet my monts again…

I asked jaggy what happened to Monty and his friend replied “ sahib to chale gaye…. Doosre sheher mien. Saath mine le gaye Monty ko… mem saab to keh rahi thi ki usko bechne ko….par sahab aur baba nahi mane….”

I couldn’t believe my ears…this couldn’t be true….

How could they have left without informing…I didn’t even get to meet Monty for the last time…
Monty’s owner had left for kolkata and had taken him with him… he was the best dog I had ever seen and my best friend ever since the first time we played throw ball together….I turned to leave when I saw something near the gate …. I turned back for a second glance … the bright red ball lay near the gate with a grim expression, feeling unwanted, perhaps missing Monty as much as I was or may be even more…. I picked it up and held it close to my heart…. Closed my eyes and started weeping loudly regardless of the fact that I was standing almost on the main road…

That day I was forced to think if its really true that
TRUE LOVE CAN ONLY EXIST BETWEEN A MAN AND HIS DOG…..
And today when I sit on my bed finishing this story… I m forced to think again and am missing Monty even more…. Wish he could be mine …. MINE FOREVER.

-- pooja