It was a ghostly silence; the only sound was the faint, rhythmic creak of the ceiling fan. Its gentle breeze stirred the charts pinned by the window, causing them to flutter with a soft rustle.
On a comfy bed near the window, a young man lay motionless, slacking into the soft mattress, his eyes fixed, unblinking at the ceiling fan above.
His breath was shallow, and his body barely had any movement, like a zombie at night.
Nearly an hour had passed before the ticking of the clock finally drew his attention, but the blank staring resumed.
He took a deep breath, got out of the blanket. Slipping his toes into his flip-flops, Arjun left the room.
Arjun took a quick shower and prepared some fried rice with a glass of fruit juice for breakfast. The house felt like a mausoleum, with only soft rays of light creeping through the windows, casting soft glows on the walls and floor.
The only sound in this mausoleum was the soft slap of his wet flip-flops against the floor as he walked.
In the hallway, curtains covered the balcony entrance, allowing just thin streams of light to seep through. Arjun settled on a couch nearby, slowly eating his breakfast.
Arjun paused, placing his half-finished meal on the kitchen slab. He silenced the alarm and walked toward the balcony. Pulling the curtains aside, he stepped out.
The once-silent atmosphere around him had now faded with the calls of crows and chirping birds, the distant hum of honking vehicles mixing with the chatter of people in the bustling suburb below, annoying his ears.
"Tch, hadn't it been for this damn routine, I would have never sat here," Arjun groaned, picking up the newspaper off the table and reading the headline.
"Top student Arjun, fading in the shadows of genius at the the top UNI."
"Can't they let me relax a bit?" he grumbled, throwing the paper on the table.
"Top student this, top student that...fuck it."
"Fuck it all, let me fucking relax!" He yelled out loud, gripping the railing of the balcony.
Silence fell again as he relaxed and picked up the cellphone from the table to make a call.
"Hello, Mr. Raman," Arjun replied without waiting.
"Ah, young master Arjun! How do you do?"
"I'm fine. By the way, could you get me the next volume of that novel I asked for?"
"Um...young master, your mom told me not to—"
"Please, Mr. Raman, last time, the breaks will end soon, till then, please."
"
Hearing these words made a smile appear on Arjun's face, chimed as he replied.
"Of course, don't worry about that, thanks a lot, Mr. Raman."
"It's my duty, young master, and please try to go out for a walk. Your mom told me to tell you that, she was angry and worried—"
"Please, Mr. Raman, don't, I will go out, tell her that." Arjun snarled.
"Yes," Mr. Raman replied humbly.
"Haa...She was worried about me?" This talk had really worsened his mood right in the morning.
"What's so fun down there?" Arjun felt even more annoyed as he looked down at the honking cars and the children playing in the middle of the streets.
"Tring—tring." The cellphone rang.
But as soon as he saw the address of the call, Arjun's face went pale. The call was from his mom.
Arjun took a deep breath, before finally answering the call "MOM—"
"Mom, my foot" She shouted, her voice almost ruptured his ear drums.
Startled, Arjun immediately pulled the phone away from his ear. "I knew I was in for an earful, but yelling the second I pick up? Isn't that a bit much?"
"Are you listening to me?" She yelled at him again.
"Yes-yes, mother."
"So answer me," she yelled again, jolting Arjun. "Haven't I told you to stop reading those damn novels and focus on your studies?"
"Haven't I?"
"Yes-yes, mother, you told me."
"Did you do as I said?" She asked softly.
"Yes, mother, I've studied daily. I haven't touched a single book during exams, I even—"
"So why, why am I seeing 100 only in a single subject? If you had, then why am I seeing only 95s and 97s in others?"
Arjun couldn't utter a single word.
"Answer me, will you?"
"SO-SORRY, mother."
"Sorry?" After a minute of silence, she spoke again.
"You better brace yourself for next week."
"First and foremost, I am going to burn all those damn novels of yours."
"Mother, please—" Those words hit Arjun more than all the yelling of his mother. He tried to please, but—
"Shut up," She yelled, silencing him. "And drag your feet out of that damn apartment in the evening. You better not give me any excuse that you are ill next time or you'll see."
Arjun was baffled. His whole body was shaking—anger, frustration, everything was building up in him.
"Ahhhh...why, why don't you leave me alone...for God's sake, please leave me alone?" He pulled out his hair in frustration, throwing everything on the table around, kicking the chair.
"Coming," Arjun rushed over to the door.
"The book must have arrived," he thought about the next part he asked Mr. Raman to order for him.
"Hello, is that for me?" Arjun opened the door and asked the person standing at the front right away.
The person nodded, forwarding a rectangular parcel wrapped in brown paper.
Arjun immediately grabbed the parcel and shut the door, but then the thought struck his mind that he had to sign on the receiving sheet.
"OH...sorry, I forgot—" he opened the door again to sign on the sheet, but the delivery boy was not there.
"Huh? Well, whatever..." Arjun ignored it and shut the door, eager to read his novel.
Confined within the chains of his inflexible daily routine, which his parents made for him during his summer breaks, reading novels was his only escape from reality.
And the only way he could feel the emotion he couldn't in the real world.
Arjun quickly tore off the wrapper, eager to hop back into his unfinished story.
"WHAT IS THIS?" Arjun had already been very much annoyed and frustrated due to all the events he had to go through in the morning, and now this had really made the volcano erupt.
It was not the book he asked Mr. Raman to order for him. Rather, one couldn't really call it a book—it was what most people called garbage.
A half-burnt book, covered in ashes and dirt, like someone had just picked it up from a garbage can.
"What is this garbage? And they just dump it on me?" Arjun was even more frustrated than before. "Ugh..."
-------> Around midnight, Arjun's sleep broke when he woke up to drink some water.
He went to the kitchen to get some water to drink.
And soon, his sight fell onto the book lying on the floor in the middle of the hallway, shining, glistening with the moonlight.
He put the glass of water onto the slab of the kitchen and started to walk towards the book. He picked it up and sat on the couch, slowly opening it, revealing the burnt pages of the book.
But slowly, strands of sparkling, colorful magical power flew from Arjun into the book, and a few pages of it started to repair.
Soon after, the magical power stopped flowing, and Arjun's eyes looked into the book. His eyes glowed, and a huge bright smile appeared on his face, so wide that it would reveal all his teeth, stretching his lips to their extent.
DIM
Suddenly, all the light in his eyes disappeared, leaving the smiling Arjun alone in the hallway with the book.