Team Name: The Scribe Tribe

Chapter 6 - The Silent Confessions

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Roohi opened her eyes, straining to gather in the dark what lay in front of her. It was pitch dark outside and she could not see a thing. She rubbed her palms but the heat did not last till she could take them  to her eyes. She didn't know how to warm herself. It was the chilling sea-side wind that made her feel vulnerable. She looked around but could not find anything to drape herself with. Closing her eyes, all she could visualize were the loud and garishly colorful toys her parents bought her. The thoughts nauseated her, as she never liked them. She stifled a scream emerging from her throat and willed herself to get up on her feet. She had no idea, what the time was, nor what she was supposed to do next.. She walked towards the shore.

The tiny pair of legs traversed the sandy terrain, the troughs of every frail step covered by the crests of sand, following a fierce breeze, leaving no trail. Roohi's legs started to ache when she sought the calm of the tides. She crossed her legs far from them, yet near enough to hear each one of them. She sat watching the expanse of what lay in front of her and indulged in the vastness of it all. It was a different experience from the four walls, which bound her in loneliness every day when her parents had a spat. She missed neither of them. She knew how it felt to be free and she wanted to savor it. Her blue eyes were focused as if she wanted to look at the other end of the sea from where she was sitting.

The sea breeze was messing with her hair, obscuring her vision but she wanted more of it. As she thought of reaching the enormity, she heard a clank of glass hitting a rock and turned back. It didn’t take her too long to realize it was Jennifer. She had her camera dangling across her neck, but her steps were haphazard, almost careless of where they were taking her. As she came near, Roohi felt that Jennifer might be sleepwalking. Her eyes were closed, but she was singing on top of her voice. Her voice trailed off when she forgot the next line of the song she was singing, and opened her eyes. She saw the kid sitting all alone by herself. She tried to read her eyes, but her vision was blurred by the alcohol-inhibited drowsiness. She took out her camera and clicked, cursing herself, holding her tears back, fighting the tiredness and betrayal of the day. The battery turned dead on her as if it was scarred by Roohi's intensity. Jennifer threw the camera at her feet and shrunk down on to the sand.

Roohi saw her. She recognized the look on Jennifer’s face immediately, though she does not have a name for it. She wanted to comfort her like how her Papa did when he was in a good mood. Something told her it was what Jennifer needed that day. Her thoughts were disturbed by a wild guffaw. Jennifer was laughing uncontrollably. She had tears in her eyes, but she was laughing, wild and hysterical. It confused Roohi. She looked away towards the sea. The laughter grew louder by the second and subsided only after everything was out. Jennifer didn’t have anything in. She laughed it out, mocked it away. It hurt.

There was a deadly calm when both were intent on hearing the other breathe. They knew each other like they knew themselves, even better. Jennifer had alcohol. What had the kid got? She wanted to embrace Roohi, but was frightened of what she may hear. Did she have it in her? Could she give her what she needed? Can someone be afraid of innocence? What was running through the kid’s mind sitting all alone at this time of the night in an alien space? How could she deal with it? Or was she equipped already? Jennifer’s head throbbed with the thoughts. She craved for another drink. A cigarette. A sleeping pill. Anything that could get her away from all this.

They were both staring silently at the sea, each in their own world, so distant, different yet similar in what they needed and what they never had. The waves hit their feet. She thought she saw a smile on Roohi’s face. She wished it were a smile. She was not sure. She was determined not to leave the kid alone that night.

The Scribe TriibeJennifer passed out. Roohi heard someone singing a folk song that she heard somewhere. She didn’t recognize the voice.

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Previous Episodes:
Chapter 1: Whose idea was it anyway?
Chapter 2: Touch- Me-Not
Chapter 3: The Ignominy of Defeat
Chapter 4: The Pleasure of Pain
Chapter 5: The Road Not Taken

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