RAG DOLL: a toyish love story

7: YOU'RE A RAG PICKER

Magically he used to forget his pain when she collected him in a tight hug and he would think that his life was no less perfect. But gradually the peace snatched away from him. He would go to her in the seek of peace and comfort but they only fought which was decided by her, over small things, which was not even a serious matter or matter of concern. He still tried to accept the curses on him and love her in return with humour and laughter. She would smile and only then he let her go for that day. But those days were hell for him. He had grown fear of being left alone. And suddenly Malini left him. His dimly lighted world was cut off from existence. He became pathetic... hopeless. No one to share the feelings. Not like Malini ever caressed him in such situations but at least he had had her. From that day he retained zero expectations from any kind of relationship.

People broke up every day for several significant and insignificant reasons. But the timing she had chosen to leave him was threatening. She could have at least done it in a better way but chose the uglier path. He had literally begged on his knees to make her stay but she was determined. Not he was accusing her for anything and pointing fingers at her but she had certified him that he was incapable of any relation.

Later he arrived here and met Palak. He was bonded to her with his usual smile and touches of humour like no one was happier than him but surprisingly she knew everything inside him. She herself discovered what was going on inside his mind. Not the exact reason but she could write a novel in five seconds that how sad he was by only scanning his two veiled eyes from a distance. It was foolishness to hide something from her. She didn't ask a single time what was the reason behind his sardonic heart. She would circulate the magic wand of talks around him and he would forget everything except her. She was effortless in her job to make him smile peacefully. At those moments she let him troll her more and say nothing in defence. She let him laugh at her although she recovered everything well later.

And there the reason lay why he didn't want to leave the place. Because of a very selfish reason. He wanted to exempt himself and turn himself into a book so that she could read him page by page and line by line. Between the paragraphs. Highlighting the proper words. Making them in quotes. And utter them to his ears to assure him that he would be never left alone in her presence.

Parth used the break of the cycle just at the venue where she had told him to arrive. It was none other than their playground.

The packets of kids were discreeted all over the field. All their heads were hung down, busy collecting the wrappers and plastics thrown by some VIPs. He roamed his eyes for the one person.

A quick laugh escaped his mouth when he found her little figure half-sitting on the ground and trying to pluck out the tobacco packets under the roots of the doob grasses through a stick. Her face was all serious and concentrated. Hair tied on the top of her head in a bun. Short locks were disturbing her cheeks and she was trying too hard to blow them away by the whiff of wind from the corner of her mouth. Such a bunch of cuteness...

Parking his cycle Parth silently went to her back and lowered behind her. Proceeding his hands he brushed off the dark locks from her face. Before he could secure them behind her ears she flinched back with a loud shriek, almost damaging his ear drums.

He held her arms tight when she dashed on his chest cracking a few bones of it.

"Have you lost it? Who screams like that?" He pushed her shoulders away.

Angrily she turned to him and painfully twisted his ear until she got the desirable frequency of outcry. "You should stop horrifying me! I thought I grew hands from  my shoulders."

He rubbed his red-tinted ears, "Go to hell, man! I was just adjusting your hair. It was disturbing you." He focused on caressing his broken ribs.

"Really?" Her lips mounted up, "I'm sorry", then spreading aside in a length. "You should approach from the front. It was not my fault." She placed a sympathetic hand above his ribs and tried to soothe it.