Apoorva was alone at her house all-day, bored. She thought she had nothing to do. The last poem she had written made her feel she was an eternal being at last and her life was meaningful. She decided it to be the last poem she writes in her life.
She waited for her friends to come; at least then she can have someone to talk with. Then a thought struck her mind. She could write another poem referring to friends; especially them being late. She hopped to her chair and pulled it closer to the table before it. She held a pen in her palm and turned a page in her book. A minute passed by and nothing has changed, except for a word or two on the page. She had an end of her pen in her mouth, with her eyes staring at the roof.
Then someone knocked on the front door. It was Yugank.
"Oh, hi, Yugank. Come in" she said.
"No thank you, I am here to tell you something"
* * *
Daktar sat beside Shreni, his hair all messed up. He continuously kept nursing his palm which was on Shreni's hand. Daktar's palm had a wide strip of gradient red. He exhaled deeply. His head had confusion and anger over his professor, who had performed a rap on Daktar's hand that day.
Shreni gazed at the red strip, "Ah! That looks like it hurts a lot".
"How can he hit me with my own scale? Doesn't he have mercy over me for giving him the scale?" said Daktar, and with his other hand, set his hair back up.
Shreni shook her head in approval.
Daktar's phone rang. He had the ringtone which, no one else in the world has, but him. "It's Viraj" he said crossly, "He thinks I'm free now"
"Which you are" said Shreni, also crossly.
"Had you a rap on your hand, you would understand" replied Daktar and let the phone ring.
"At least cut the call, please. Your ringtone!" said Shreni, trying to bear it. And Daktar did so as said.
The sounds from the window seemed to change, suddenly. The loud grumbling sound of the auto had stopped now, and the air in their hairs had taken rest. They got off, and hanged their bags on their shoulders. Shreni paid the auto driver and they set to walk. That region of the town was not so crowded- which Shreni thought of as a great benefit. She didn't like to live congested. All she wanted in her life was an open area to live and of course, some money to spend.
They continued their walk into a narrow street, adjacent to the main road. Daktar's house was not very far from there, but Shreni's was. So he used to accompany her to her home and returned back to his. But just as they reached Daktar's house, a call from a familiar face above them made them stop there for a while. It was Yugank and Apoorva. They invited them upstairs, having already been there for ten minutes, to talk to them about something which needed decisions.
Half-an-hour passed and there came an agreement between the four, after a great debate. Daktar and Shreni had accepted for the trip, though Shreni was not totally convinced at the reason. They were told that the plans were to be discussed the next day at Daktar's house.
* * *
It was quarter-past noon, the next day, when they have assembled back at Daktar's house. It was the three of them again. Viraj and Mihira couldn't betray the function they were in. So they were called by phone. It was lifted on the other hand, and technically everyone was present at the venue. Yugank unlocked the silence.
"So, it was Viraj's idea though, that we are, perhaps, going to enjoy this weekend" said he.
"Then you have planned it for this weekend?" asked Shreni.
"Yes, I guess" Yugank replied.
"No, wait" started Viraj from the call, "First let's decide where we ought to visit. Later, the date"
"It was your idea of satisfaction or something. So you give the suggestions" Apoorva spoke to Viraj. Just then, a loud screeching noise of a trumpet sounded on Viraj's side.
"Viraj!" cried Shreni. The noise had high pitch. Then, sounds of running could be heard, as the sound faded. "Am I audible now?" said Viraj gasping.
"Yes. What was that, though?" asked Daktar, feeling peaceful.
"The function has begun. It was the noise of a trumpet" said Viraj,
"You start a discussion with a trumpet? What a grand and funny way to do that!" said Daktar, grinning. No one else laughed.
"Alright, we need to decide the location, right?"
"Yeah" said Shreni. There was a long pause of thinking on both the sides. Then she spoke, "How about a thick forest? The Kawwal Tiger Reserve. How does that sound?"
"Hmm… not exactly. We are not gonna copy him to visit a forest. If we do, everyone's gonna know that we did this, triggered by Farhan. Only then we would be embarrassed. Let's go somewhere else without forests" replied Viraj, "It would be better if the place was historic or geographically important"
There came a longer pause. "How about Trimbakeshwar? The source of Krishna" said Viraj.
"It's the source of river Godavari" corrected Shreni.
"Yes, something. How about that?" said Viraj. Another pause came.
"Won't there be forests there?" asked Daktar.
"Maybe, but it isn't exactly a forest where we are going, is it?" said Viraj, trying to convince them all, since he liked the importance of the place, and that it is unique and will satisfy his reason of going on a trip. The others had nothing to do but accept.
They soon took out their phones and ran an investigation about the trip's going and coming. The plans were soon made and the tickets were soon booked. They also decided what they had to take with them. It went beyond six o'clock in the evening until they were ready to pack the meeting up. Viraj tried to confirm if Mihira could come with them and was successful.
The plan, according to them, was simple. Daktar, Viraj, Apoorva and Shreni would board the train for Trimbakeshwar in the station of Devanagari. Whilst Viraj and Mihira had to attend the function they were having. So they won't be able to reach the station of Devanagari in time. They would board the train in that town of Shivadwar.