"Laughter is timeless, Imagination has no age and dreams are forever."
- Walt Disney
(So don't let anything except death stop you from dreaming and trying to bring that amazing imagination of yours to reality!)
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Gauhar's POV
"Aren't those meant for us?" an accusing, childlike voice asked, startling me. Was my conscience so potent that it could conjure real-life voices inside my head?
"Hey, why are you still eating that? This is theft!" the little voice continued, and only then did I realise that it could actually not be a figment of my imagination. Though I did pride myself on my vivid imagination (the dreams that I had of getting revenge on those that hurt me were extremely realistic and satisfying…almost made me sad that they weren't real) but I knew that my imagination wasn't potent enough to conjure the tugging of my sleeve as I tried to shove the croissant into my mouth.
I reluctantly opened my eyes, I really hated confrontations, and being confronted by a child was the worst thing that could happen in my day….especially when I knew that I was doing something wrong. (Apart from a dog randomly biting my behind…or my clothes getting dirty and bringing down mothers wrath on me)
I found a pair of the darkest blue eyes glaring at me. The hostility in them nearly made me choke, and instantly caused another bucket load of guilt to wash over me. Never before had the eyes of a person managed to make me feel as much guilt as I felt when I had broken mum's prized antique vase, which was admittedly very ugly and I wasn't sad that my eyes didn't have to encounter those shades of dull turquoise and dirty green. But seeing brother punished for it kinda weighed on my conscience and made me realise that I was indeed a good person.
But then I realized that I was also a strong, Independent and grown woman, who had a voice and hence I couldn't let a little boy intimidate me. No matter how right he was, and no matter how vehemently my inner angel was nodding her head in support of the little guy standing in front of me.
Or at least I willed myself to believe that. (Trust me it was hard)
Bringing myself up to my fullest height, I looked down at the little mop of sandy hair that resided on his head "Weren't you supposed to be in class Jacob? And don't you know that it is rude to interrupt someone when they are eating?"
My impressive attempt at looking more intimidating seemed to have been extremely futile as the little imp merely shrugged at my question and nonchalantly said "I was sent out of class, and it was boring to stand in the corridor."
His words made me smile in spite of myself, we all loved a little rebel. But I quickly realized that I was not a twelve year old…and hence it went against proper decorum to smile at his naughtiness and give him a gentle pat on the back so I tried to control it. It didn't matter how much I wanted to ask him why he was thrown out of class, and then giggle with him as we together acknowledged how dull adults were. I was supposed to be a twenty-two year old boring adult as well and so I couldn't have the kid to know that I approved of his bad behavior, no matter how rational it was.
This entire reasoning was quickly chucked out of the window into the pit that was made to dump the compost in, when Jacob grinned at me and flashed his cerulean eyes in my direction and confessed "I threw the teachers clock out of the window."
His words threw me off guard, the child inside me furiously tried to formulate a reason that would manage to justify his actions but the wise old voice of reason shook its head gravely and told me that this kid needed a severe dressing down for the sin that he hath committeth. I eventually ignored both the voices and blurted out the question that was irking me the most "But Jacob…why the hell would you do that? No wonder the teacher threw you out of her class."
The dark blue orbs that were glinting excitedly until now, quickly closed up and assumed the gravity that comes when in the presence of an extremely irritating and boring adult. The look pierced through my young twelve year old heart but reason gently patted my wounded feelings reassuring me that I was indeed doing the right thing.
"Well, there was a logical reason that went behind my actions. But just like Miss. Humphrey I know you will refuse to understand why I did that." Behind the stoic façade I could see the wounded feelings of the little boy.
The little me clenched at reason melting my resolve with her beseeching gaze. I crouched down to his level and shook my head, a smile adorning my lips "I'm sure there is a reason behind your actions. Do tell me why you did that."
He sighed and leaned against the wall "That dam- cursed clock always used to ring late and although the bell that showed that indicates the end of the class rang, she never used to let us off the class until her slow ass clock showed her the right time. On top of being slow the piece of trash had the most annoying alarm sound that made us want to push our pencils into our ears."
The hatred that he felt for that poor piece of metal made me widen my eyes, it must have indeed wronged him quite a lot to get that reaction out of him. The kid within me was nodding gravely at his reasoning while reason herself was dabbing her eyes in understanding "No worries little guy, the adults are sometimes too stuck up to let go of the things that don't matter. Good thing that you helped her get rid of it."
The smile that lit up on his face made my inner child purr in satisfaction. I straightened up and dusted off my jeans. I leaned against the wall with him and took a bite of my croissant.
He narrowed his eyes at me as I chewed on the buttery pastry. I quickly swallowed it and gave him my best smile, the smile that always managed to convince people that what I said was right "Don't worry about this croissant, it's alright if I eat them. It's fees for bringing this here for all of you."
The dark blue irises continued to stare at me unimpressed, making me feel as if they were staring right through my airy façade "You're lying." he said, effectively managing to nullify the cool tone that I was trying to emulate.
I choked on the last remains of my croissant, feeling the water leak out of my eyes, I narrowed them at the cool little bugger "How dare you, you little- ugh, you really need to be taught some manners."
A look of fear transcended upon his innocent, almost angelic features making me smirk in triumph. I knew that I could be scary if I wanted to, disciplining a child wasn't hard at all. But this feeling of self assurance quickly faded away as I realised that he wasn't looking at me but at something or rather someone at the door.
"Jacob!" the familiar voice snapped, causing the little boy to jump slightly, all the colour draining off his face. Mrs. Singh looked formidable as she marched into the room. I stood in front of the boy, trying to shield him from the incoming wrath of the little old woman.
"Gauhar move away, this the second time he has been rude to someone who came here." She tried to gently move me away but I stayed put. Though internally I did wonder what had caused him to be rude the first time, I was sure there would be some weird but logical reason behind it, just like the clock that Mrs. Humphrey lost.
I took her wrinkled little hand in mine and looked into her eyes "He wasn't being rude Mrs. Singh, he was just being honest." I noticed that my words seemed to have managed to extinguish the anger in her eyes so I continued "It was actually me who was being childish. I..um actually I was a bit hungry so I kinda ate some of the food that I brought for the kids. " I smiled at her sheepishly, I heard a little chuckle behind me causing Mrs. Singh to start laughing as well.
I could hear the tinkle of the old bell ring in the distance, which was immediately followed by the buzz of a hundred little voices sounding like the buzzing of angry bees.
The patter of little feet became louder as the kids approached nearer to the office, accompanied by excited tones and sounds of laughter floating in the air. The way the silent evening had turned lively brought a smile to my face, taking me back to a much happier time when my laughter was pure and untainted by darkness.
"Nana Singh can we play now? We finished our homework." a little girl with hair as dark as the night asked, pulling at Mrs. Singh's sleeve.
She squeals and runs off outside, her entourage of little friends running off behind her.
"Um, Mrs. Singh don't you think it'll be better if they stay inside? I think it's going to rain soon."
"No Gauhar dear, I don't mind if they get a little wet. It has been quite warm these few days, so I think it is a very good idea if they play in the rain and cool off." She smiled at me, but I could see a far-away look come into her eyes "I think that these kids are burdened as it is, and letting them play in the rain and enjoy their childhood no matter how flawed it is very important."
She walked outside into the balmy evening, the quickly reddening sky throwing her silhouette into stark contrast. I felt a strange emptiness inside me as I turned her words over in my head.
Did I ever get to enjoy childhood like that?