BEADING OF THOUGHTS IN SILENCE

(A SHORT STORY)

- Ankur R. Gupta

The rustle of soft breeze played gently at the corner of a room where Aarav was lost in deep thoughts while tying a knot of his tie. As he stares in the mirror, his chiseled manly face slowly begins to haze out into the soft face of a young boy, drifting him away into a memory lane when he was eight years old.

Eeeek...... shrieked young Aarav, who ran for his life, the moment, he saw a frog in his sister's hand. The slimy creature staring hard at him with bulging eyes was ready to jump on him anytime.

Look Ma, what a chicken face! your son is, laughed Aarti as she ran behind her brother with a frog in her hand.

Hey! Aarti, stop troubling your Bhaiya, chided the mother softly, trying hard to conceal her laughter on seeing her son's flushed-out face. Hmmm... when will he learn, she murmured.

I didn't learn Ma, despite your persistent efforts, chuckled Aarav loudly as he returned to his present time. I'm still a scary cat when it comes to those slimy things, he said, in a sheepish voice, as he adjusted his knot.

Walking away from the mirror, he gazed outside a window at the swelling blue sea. The oscillating movement of the crashing waves on the rocks started rolling him back again into a time when he was 12 years old.

Aarav Bhaiya, don't you get bored of playing with the same type of toys, grumbled Aarti, seeing the trail of toy cars stacked neatly on his study table. Last year, the whole room was piled with Star Trek movie character models, and now these cars, she complained.

Aarav, busy assembling one of the car models, looked at her sister and smiled. Go, play with my other toys, he shoved her away gently. Ya, the one you hardly like, she grumbled cheekily.