As per schedule, Punya and her friends left to Kodaikanal that day morning. The vehicle was filled with fun, games and songs. Though Punya tried to mingle among her friends, she couldn't. Jyoti was sitting next to her....
"Punya, can I ask you something??"
"If it's about your senior, don't speak" said Punya.
"How many days are you planning to avoid him??"
"I'm not sure"
"See what has that done to you... You're not the person we know... Don't you think that he must be forgiven??"
"Don't you understand Jyoti? All this is because of her... she's playing mind games with you people. She tried to hurt me and then she apologizes to me. What's that meant to be?" frowned Punya.
"Games to what??"
"To separate me from Prakruth"
"If she's playing mind games to separate you both, you fighting with Prakruth is giving her victory. Don't you think??"
Punya was speechless for few seconds .... "Yes, you're right" she whispered.
Thrishul walked up to them and asked Jyoti... "Jyoti, can I sit next to her for sometime please?"
"Yeah of course, I'll go back and sleep for sometime" said Jyoti and walked away.
"Hey" said Thrishul sitting next to Punya.
"Hi... Bored of filmy songs huh??" asked Punya.
"Nope... I felt like you were left out"
"Ugh.. Looking out for me? Thanks..."
"When did we become formal baby??"
"Oh... I shouldn't have said that"
"Yeah... Remember this??" he handed over a bubble game device...
"Oh you remember this still?? We used to play when we were kids..."
"I remember everything Punya.. You seem to have forgotten about us... Our good times and memories" sighed Thrishul.
Punya became blank... "Well!! where did you get this??"
"From reserves of our childhood.... There are plenty more..." he said excitedly.
"You wanted to be a doctor at that age itself, I remember you making me drink three colored juices as syrups..." said Punya laughing.
Thrishul chuckled.... "Do you know what was your goal??"
"I kept changing... I don't know...exactly"
"You wanted to be a successful CEO and my..." Thrishul paused.
"My.... Continue..." said Punya.
"You wanted to be my wife, when you come home tired, you wanted me to give you a foot massage and an ice cream" said Thrishul.
"Doctor's job is more strenuous... Silly me" said Punya.
"I'm ready to do even if it's strenuous Punya..." said Thrishul.
"Wow that's a tempting offer... Those days were so good.. You shouldn't have gone to boarding school" said Punya.
"Yeah... Shouldn't have" he said... "There would be no chance to him in your life" he thought.
"Hey do you remember that you're the one who scared me about the beach?"
"I do...that was a challenge from your dad..." said Prakruth.
"What...?!!" she chuckled.
"You were daredevil in whatever you did... So he had given me a challenge to scare you..." he shrugged.
"So you told that sea is deep, waves bring harmful animals which bite only kids... and Starfish was poisonous... Ridiculous" she laughed.
"Literally I was also stupid..." scoffed Thrishul.
"You're... Even today" said Punya.
"Yeah I'm..." he said "Trying hard for a girl who said 'NO' on my face" he thought.
Old memories brought them together.... When she felt sleepy, she comfortably slept on his lap.... Thrishul was overwhelmed by this closeness, she took in him... He held her by shoulder so that she wouldn't fall off the seat. His heart was racing... His face had a unfadinggetto beautiful smile.
It was dinner time when they reached Kodaikanal.... They walked into the home stay which was pre-booked, unpacked their bags, freshened up and joined for dinner... Fun filled the table with delicious dinner served. Night ended peacefully.
"Wish I could stay in your arms like this forever" said Punya...getting cozy and closer to Prakruth.
"Pleasure will be mine" said Prakruth wrapping his arms tighter around her.
"Do you see that river over there?? How far is it from here??" she asked.
"Must be more than 30Kms...."
"I don't think so, it looks so close"
"We're moving Punya... Our distances can be illusionary"
"Yeah...hey look look, we're entering a bridge over the River.... Train is super fast now"
"Would you take your legs in, the depth from bridge might scare you" said Prakruth.
"No, No I'm okay... I'm in your arms... No danger will come closer to me" she winked.
"Sure. I'll protect you from whatever it is" he said and kissed her cheeks. She chuckled.... Train which was traveling on the bridge suddenly lost balance and went straight to the river... Punya panicked and within no time, they were seeing the front part of the train drowning in the water.
"Prakruth!!!!!!" screamed Punya.... She was sweating profusely and shivering in shock.
"Punya what happened? Open your eyes... Punya... " said Jyoti.
Punya was trembling in fear.... "Water, water" she said.
Jyoti thought she's thirsty and picked up the water bottle from the side table. "Punya, open your eyes. Take.... drink some water" she said.
Punya suddenly opened her eyes, held Jyoti by her shoulders and asked "Where's Prakruth? What happened to him? Tell me he's OK... Please Jyoti..." she cried shaking Jyoti.
"Punya, hold on... Come to conscious, drink water" she said as calmly as possible. Punya drank water and realized that she was dreaming. Now she was in Kodaikanal with her friends, Jyoti was trying to console her. Siri and Disha were sleeping in adjacent beds.
"Did you have a bad dream??" asked Jyoti.
"Yeah.... Yeah.. a very bad one... Call Prakruth and ask how's he... Please" she said.
"I'm not pigeon.... Goodnight" said Jyoti. She slept and pulled the blanket over her.
"Come on.. Don't be a bad girl... Please" pleaded Punya.
Jyoti made false snores.... "I hate you" grumbled Punya.
She went to the balcony, Kodaikanal temperature was chilling cold.... She dialled Prakruth's number on her phone, exhaled sharply and waited for him to receive...
"Hello" she said when he received the call.
He didn't speak... She could hear his breath...
"Prakruth is that you??" she asked.
"It has been like centuries baby since I heard my name in your voice... Don't you know that I can't live without you?" he asked in wet voice.
The feelings which were captured all these days started overflowing in the form of tears, she started sobbing... Silence spoke million words for both of them... They spoke about everything that happened in four weeks.
"Baby... You've traveled from morning, sleep... Tomorrow you'll have lots of sightseeing" said Prakruth.
"How do you know where I'm?" asked Punya.
"Won't I know where my sweetheart is?"
"Jyoti... I know she's your informer"
Prakruth chuckled.
"What would you do if I drowned in the river??" he asked.
"I would follow you" said Punya.
"No Punya... Never do that. I want you to live longer, enjoy your life, achieve your goals, marry, have children and grow old. Then think about death" he said.
"Oh is it?? What would you do if I drowned first??" asked Punya.
"I wouldn't let you drown till I'm alive...." he said.
"I don't have a choice in living and dying.. both" she sighed.
"Yes when you have a Great lover like me... You don't get choice of early death" he laughed.
"Great lover keeps secrets...."
"I said I'm sorry.... I never thought of keeping it a secret... I didn't want to spoil your summer vacation..."
"Seriously??" asked Punya sarcastically.
"Punya don't start again... We solved it. Leave it there"
"I'm leaving it there because we've short life. No time to love then why waste that in fighting.... As soon as l come, I'm spending a whole day at farms with you. Keep yourself free" she said authoritatively.
"As you wish ma'am" he sounded polite.
Both of them laughed...