"Back to the nest", V thought to himself ,as he got out of the family car and looked at his house , a two stairs individual home aka his father's dream.The harsh summer sun seemed to bored down on him as he began to haul 20 kg suitcase to the front door. "This is it, the end for his days of freedom!"He put this off as long as he could but today was the last day to vacate his room at college .The familiar feeling of how last four years have gone so quickly seemed to creep up on him which made him wince , for he is someone who hates cliches.
The day has already been a disaster so far.He didn't pack anything before today as he didn't want to leave yet . This lead to a series of unfortunates events starting from his dad's disbelief and anger this morningwho drove four hours to pick him up, then 3 hrs of co ordinated packing and well deserved fatherly rants followed by a silent 4 hr drive to home. This is not new to him, conversations with his father have always been silent .However today confused feelings coupled with sense of doom due to uncertain future seemed to drain him.
His mother's welcoming smile eased him a little and he flopped him on the sofa. That one suitcase happened to use up his one day's worth of engery expenditure. He's home anyway ,he get the rest tomorrow.His mother now happened to nice that both the men are quiet and appeared to be in bad mood. She asked to freshen up and come for dinner . Dinner was quiet,just what he needed and as he got up to clear his plate , his mother said to him, "We can catch up tomorrow ". She has been always the pacifier in the family."And i forgot to tell u I had to move some boxes into your room when a pipe broke in the Store room. You can put them aside".
"Mom that's not few boxes,My room is a store room now .
and it's only been 3 months since I last came home."There's no place to walk in my room".
Unfased my mom said "Stop complaining it's only been 2hrs since u came . It's too early to start to arguing. anyways you just need to sleep now or you can sleep with ur dad and me today ."
"No thanks, I can sleep on my bed . But We need to clear it tomorrow MOM".
"Sure Good night"
Yeah Night MOM.
V spent the whole night awake streaming Netflix jumping between tv shows and movies . His current favourite money heist seemed to con him into enjoying old blues tracks which are usually not to his liking.But he is not worried that he stayed up all night,he spent many nights streaming till his eyes hurt and dosed off however last night he couldn't sleep. He was exhausted yet his brain doesn't seem to shut off. So ended up on Netflix from 12 after trying to sleep for two hours. He thought maybe it's because he is missing his friend but he didn't realised how would end up spending his nights for coming weeks
Two weeks later
It's been two weeks since V came back and he fell into a pattern of waking up late in the afternoon and falling asleep when his parents wake up . Last weekend had been tiring though , he spent both days with mother going through the boxes in his room and realised they are a lot of things that need to be thrown out or given away.His room still has a box full of books that needs to be taken out.
after a week of excuses, V decided to sell those books to the local paper man that day . But decisions like these have consequences, he had to wake up earlier than usual, bathe and find decent clothes to go outside. After 2hrs,he finally managed to walk out of home with the box in hand. As he was about to start his bike, an elderly man greeted him saying" when did u come back V ? Do you remember me?" .V still struggling to find him in his memory awkwardly smiled and said,'it's been two week,Tata".
"Where are you going? What's that is that box"
" These are old books Tata, I'm headed to the paper man to sell now"
"Listen , there are bunch of boxes i been meaning to give away ,there are in a shelf beside the shoe case in the veranda go. Go get them".
V replied," Ok ,Tata" andmoved to place the box on the ground .He started to walk out of the gate and began to think hard to remember who this man and his house.
And just as he about ask where to go ,the elderly man hollered, " if u can't find them ,ask Savitri aunty she's in the kitchen".
"Ok Tata" V said as he smiled as he remembered Savitri aunty , she lives on the next lane and he used play with her son,--- when in school and this must bezRamu Tata,-----'s grandpather .That was a close save today he thought
Ramu Tata was still standing by his bike when V came back .He began to explain V how good these books are and he should read them toget smart. He ordered him not to go the paper man but take these books to a 2nd hand book store so someone else can use them.
V reluctantly agreed as this shop was 10 kms away and it's already 6 in the evening and drove out of the colony.
This had been 40 mins since he left and still doesn't seem to find the Shop.On the way here, the sky has gone dark blue and weather turned windy and humid. There are not many clouds but it still felt like air around him is heavy and wet.He ended up searching in the crowded lanes of Begum Bazar in the older part of the city but everyone seemed too busy for him to ask for directions.
After getting lost twice and taking a break for burger , he found himself in a front 6*6*8 feet room with no front wall or a door. A rusted shutter is present at top. Room has small reading table where an old man salt with thick bifocal glasses and khaki clothes hunched over an worn out book. There were books stacked up in multiple columns to the ceiling with a maze like path between them so that bookscan be noticed .The bookkeeper didn't notice V until V placed the box on the table with still more half of the box in the air. V sighed and said, " Ramu Tata sent some books for you . There are other books as well".
The man seemed to know Ramu Tata as he quietly placed the worn out book aside and began to go through the box. Left nothing to do , V began to walk around .same small and found different kinds of book, books in foreign languages, non fiction and fiction but all seemed to be printed 10yrs or before. He found a small doorway in the back with lead to a the hall . He realised a part of this man's home is converted into a shop.
"Go inside and look around if you want , there are more books inside"
Ok " said V startled. Hall looked to have a door on each wall. One was closed and other two were open.He could see book in the room Opp to the shop . He passed by the kitchen on the left side and when straight into what looked like a small library.Books here seemed be older than the ones outside. He picked up a book and flipped through .he was surprised to find dairy entries dated 1890's in Victorian cursive and closed it . He walked deeper into the room and amazed by how each book was unique, unrelated and all appeared to be atleast 50 years older. He continued to look through the books when he came across an orange coloured hard bound which had soft coloured portraits of people from eras. These portrait were well drawn ,every person had an intense gaze and he couldn't seem to stop looking at them.
"Found anything you want" .
V closed the book startled and found the book keeper in the library staring at him.
