About an hour passed by when a few people appeared at the gate. The group consisted of a tall middle aged man and a middle aged lady who looked like husband and wife, an elderly lady in traditional white 'chattayum mundum' with a full head of white fluffy hair, and a teenage boy. The teen opened the gate and walked in, followed by the rest. The elderly lady walked straight to the outhouse found the key and went inside. The man followed her with his eyes, sighed in exasperation and walked to the main house after his wife . So did the boy.
The living room of the outhouse was flooded with the smell of freshly made dosa. Thuds and thumps of utensils could be heared from the kitchen. The lady frowned and followed the sounds , holding her breath, forcing a false bravado on.
There stood a girl in an oversized t-shirt , knee-length shorts and slippers , her hair tied into a high bun, swirling something on the stove, humming a tune.
Catching a side view of her face the lady slightly stiffened and then roared,
" NIDHI , what the h*** are you doing here ?? "
The girl startled from the shout dropped the spoon she held, turned around and with an exaggerated expression whined,
"thresya- kutty, you almost killed me now...whoof "
she then went ahead to latch on to the elderly lady in a tight hug , with the most sweet-est and innocent-est smile she could muster.
" Surprise, surprise. Aren't you happy to see me ? Thresyakutty, I even made breakfast for you.."
Thresya pushed her away slightly and cought her ears in a pinch.
" who are you calling kutty ? Ha ? Am 95 this year. I Am elder than your great grandmother. Do you hear me ?"
If you could see Nidhi's expression at the moment, it could be something along, what columbus must have had on ,as he first found America.
" What ? You are 95? Like NINTY FIVE ? You don't look any more than 18, Thresya-KUTTY. Trust me on this. Anyway it doesnt matter since we are bestest best friends"
And she was prepared to go into more teasing but Thresya stopped her,
" You still haven't answered my question. Why are you here ? And this early in the morning ? When did you leave your home, at midnight ??"
With a reluctant face Nidhi asked her, "can we talk after breakfast ?", but seeing the darkness that was fast setting on Thresya's elderly face she decided to come clean. That's the best friends' way anyway.
" Thresyakutty, I might have, actually, eloped from my home ...."
" What ? With whom ?" Shock now fitting on her face along with more darkness.
" well.....,just with my bag. I mean I couldn't find anybody willing to elope with me in the haste.."
"!!!!!"