Eight years ago: College
Aarush was half-asleep.
It was another one of those really long days. College and practice had drained him out. He was lying on the floor with a hat covering his eyes. He was about to fall asleep when...
"Is that you, Iyer?"
Despite the fatigue, without his knowledge, a smile appeared instantly on his face. He took the hat off his face and looked at Maahi Mehra staring back at him with a strange look on her face. Strange probably because she was wondering what he was doing on the floor.
"Hi Mehra..."
"Wow, you sound tired."
He chuckled weakly and said, "I feel more tired than I sound. Anyway, what brings you to the prop room?"
"I came to show you our new article..."
But she quickly got distracted by the room. She looked around and took in the place. He tried to see it from an outsider's perspective but was unable to do so because of the amount of time he spent in here. The prop room also doubled up as the area the drama department hung out before and after practice.
"It's very...colourful." She said. She was now walking about the room slowly, looking at the different costumes from over the years. She reached out and touched some of them, feeling the material.
He raised himself and leaned on his elbows to look at her more clearly.
"Do you like it?"
"I do."
She then reached the swing that served as the prop department's laundry chair. She blinked and tried to figure what it was before finally understanding. She turned around in shock and mumbled, "What on earth..."
"What?"
She pointed at the swing and asked, "Why is the swing covered in clothes?"
He sighed and sat up, crossing his legs.
"It's just...convenient real estate."
She tutted and immediately began making stacks of the clothes. He looked on as she neatly made three piles, then took each one to a nearby cupboard and arranged them one by one on an empty shelf.
"What are you doing?"
She then kept her bag aside and sat down on the swing. Slowly, she set the swing in motion.
Aarush smiled and watched as someone finally put the swing to its actual use. Maahi then tilted her head, gesturing for him to join her.
She said, "I don't understand."
He got up and walked over to her. She stopped the swing for him to sit next to her. She then again pushed the swing with her feet. He felt the slow motion of the swing as he laid his head on the old chain.
"What don't you understand?"
"Why would anyone choose to sit anywhere else when there's a swing in the room?"
He opened his eyes andlooked at her. The gentle sway continued as he felt his fatigue slowly beingeased off his shoulders and kept elsewhere.