Take Me Away

Chapter 21

The next morning, Heer felt like a hammer was slowly being used to bang her head in. She groaned and stumbled out of bed with great difficulty. She looked into the bathroom mirror and nearly balked at the reflection. She did not look good. She felt marginally dizzy and had to hold on to the sink so as to not fall over. She sighed and sat down for a bit until the feeling subsided. She then got up and headed for a shower.

As she was getting ready, she saw the black hoodie she had so fortunately borrowed. She knew she should ideally give it back but her cold had a completely different point of view. She shivered, grabbed it and snuggled into it hastily. She then wore her jacket over it.

She thought about Ishaan and how she had left him and walked away last night. She sighed at the mere thought of it. She felt like there were so many emotions that were bottling inside of her. Every time she saw Ishaan, she felt like just letting everything go and be in the moment. She shook her head and walked out of the room.

She checked her phone and texted her mother. She had been doing that for the last 2 days as she didn't want her mother to hear her rather nasal voice and worry herself unnecessarily.

She was walking in the corridor when she spotted Ishaan getting out of his room. He shut the door, locked it and looked up at her. He held her gaze and her pace slowed.

She then remembered last night and her resolve to stay away from him. She then broke eye contact and quickened her pace, away from him.

They spent the morning exploring the iconic Kye monastery and then drove to Kunzum pass. Despite it being chilly and extremely windy, Heer hadn't seen a more beautiful sight. They also visited the Kunzum Mata temple to pray.

They then got back into the car and drove towards the penultimate part of their itinerary, Chandratal Lake. While Heer hadn't really been too scared of the road so far, this climb was definitely causing butterflies to have a dance party in her stomach and not in a good way. But dada was a highly experienced driver and he steadily made his way up to the point.

After that, it was a fifteen minute walk to the lake. A rich blue surrounded by mountains was peeking back at them as they made their way. Heer and Ishaan pulled out their cameras at the same time to click pictures. Rina laughed at the coincidence and kept walking ahead. Ishaan kept his gaze focused at his camera screen. When he was happy with the output, he walked ahead too without glancing at Heer.

Once they reached the lake, Heer did what she had done at all places that had taken her breath away so far. She just sat down and didn't move, observing and just being. Despite other tourists being around, it was the quietest place she had been to. It was here that she could hear her thoughts clearly. It was here that she realized how exhausted she actually was before and how this trip was eating away at that fatigue. She was beginning to see things a little more clearly, after a long time.

But they weren't allowed to stay at the lake for too long. The lake was out of bounds after dark so they had to go back while there was still daylight.

After dinner, they waited for another highly anticipated part of the evening: star gazing. But luck was not on their side. The sky was shrouded with clouds and stars hid behind them. With great disappointment, they retired to their tents.

After tossing and turning with a blocked nose for two hours, Heer gave up. She sighed and got up from her bed. She zipped up her jacket and stepped out again. It was unbelievably cold. She rushed back in to grab a beanie and jam it on her head and again stepped out. She made her way to the end of the tents. Then, she decided to look up. The sky had finally cleared. And the stars were out. They were out in such abundance that Heer nearly fell down at the magnitude of the moment. She had never seen such so many stars in her adult life.