Eight
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Raven was passing by the village postman's house with her friends, early in the morning one Saturday, after the village's Youth Club's cleanliness drive. By the time they finished cleaning the village, the Sun had climbed high in the sky, flooding its warm slanted rays over their humble village to give life to the greenery. The stout postman called Raven from the gate, saying a letter from Nicholas had arrived.
While the postman went inside to get the letter, she waited at the gate with her friends, some of them lightly teasing her that her distant boyfriend had sent her love letters.
"Enough, enough. It's for his mom, okay," Raven dismissively answered with a sigh.
"Yeah," Aaron answered whilst wrapping an arm around Raven's shoulders, "It's for his mom. Raven's boyfriend is right here."
Every soul in the village was aware of the fact that Aaron Reo was head over heels for Raven, but nobody really took it seriously since he kept on blabbering about it too openly to everyone, almost like a joke.
"Here, Raven." The postman came back with a letter in white envelope.
Raven took it and flipped it over; something she always did for no particular reason but simply out of curiosity to see for whom the letter was. Nicholas always sent only one letter at a time and it would always be a reply to whoever wrote to him; his mother and her parents. Raven should've taken for granted by now that this letter, too, would be for his mother or either the three of them combined. But as habit had it, she flipped it over and there the scribble on the paper read. . . "Raves". She couldn't help but stare at it for a good one minute, holding her breath and blinking over it, a little lost.
Every one of her friends was quiet too, staring down at the letter together. In an action that was uncalled for, Aaron snatched the paper out of her hands.
"Aaron!" Raven shouted, "Give it back!"
Backing away from her as he examined the letter, he drawled vigilantly as though he had some claim over Raven, as though a certain Nicholas had crossed a dangerous line. "Who dares write letters to my future wife? I think this Nicholas wants to die."
"Yeah. Challenge him to a duel and we'll see who dies," Darrin replied and all the others laughed in response.
Aaron looked up from the letter and frowned at Darrin, "Just because he gets military training doesn't mean I can't beat him, alright. You never know. Do not underestimate me."
Darrin snorted and made a face.
"Give it to me, Aaron!" Raven demanded, trying to snatch the letter back from him, but Aaron held it high up above his head.
Short, little Raven grabbed his arm and jumped for the letter but she couldn't reach it. Aaron was 5'5 ft and Raven was only 5 ft, one of the shortest among her friends. She'd grown up about two inches since Nicholas left but that wasn't even tall enough. For every inch she grew, most of her friends seemed to grow two inches.
"Aaron! Get over it!"
Aaron dropped his hand and suddenly wrapped her up in his arms, hiding the letter around the small of her back.
"Aaron!" Raven snapped again.
He gave her a goofy grin and pressed a fond kiss on her left cheek. Raven embarrassedly wriggled out of his hold and shoved him on his chest, snatching the letter from his hand. Aaron chuckled. Even the postman chuckled. "You're sure to get a beating, Aaron."
There was something about Aaron that made people really care less. He was a funny one, and everyone in the village found him likable. Had it been some other boy, the postman probably would have lectured him for his behavior.
They departed by the community hall and Raven raced back home as fast as she could, hardly able to keep herself together, too eager to see what her good ol' Nick might have written to her. Nicholas, her Nick, had sent her a letter, the first one in years.
She ran through the gate, up the stairs, and locked herself up in her room. She pinched herself three times as she sat down on the edge of her bed with a wildly beating heart in case this was a dream. She stared again at the white envelope for another good one minute; still finding it hard to imagine that Nicholas had written to her. Two damn years later.
With a deep breath, she ran her fingers over the paper, feeling the texture under her fingertips, picturing how Nicholas' own fingers had held this same paper. She tore the envelope open and retrieved a folded white paper from the envelope, swallowing nervously as she opened the paper to read.
Nick's handwriting.
Ink that Nick used.
This had come all the way from Nick. For her.
Hey, Raves
Raven instantly smiled and bit down on her lip. It felt just as though Nicholas was calling her in her mind and she could hear his voice.
How're you doing? It's been a long time, and I haven't heard from you at all. I hope you're doing fine. I bet you've appeared your matriculation exams and are probably waiting for the result. Don't forget to let me know about the good news. I'm sure you aced it.
Forgive me if I took too long to write to you. Don't think I forgot about you, Dumpling. I don't see you as often as I used to but I do wonder about you too sometimes. I think about what you must be like now and all that. I miss you too. You know that, right?
Raven giggled to herself as she fell back on the bed and wiggled her legs high up in the air in thrill. She'd been missing him a lot too and hearing from him made her miss him a thousand times more. She wished for days past when he was always around her house, playing the guitar and cracking jokes with Elliot, making everyone laugh.
Next time I receive another stack of letters, I want one from you too. I keep reading your handwriting, but never a word from you. It's already been two years now since I left and there are so many things I wanna know about you. Let's be friends and let's write to one another. So, I'm guessing you've grown taller, prettier and even smarter. I'm sure you have, although I have some doubts about the height. But that's okay. Now tell me how many boys in school have fainted after seeing you? Or how many of them are fighting over you?
Raven laughed, giving the paper a knock with the knuckles. Nicholas was always teasing her.
I'll wrap up her but I'm waiting for your answers. Eat lots and grow up. Hope to hear from you soon (seriously expecting a letter this time, else I'll be very sad) and send my regards to your family as well. Stay happy and healthy. I love you all.
Nick
PS : And one picture please. Haven't seen you for so long.
Skimming her eyes over the paper with a huge, fat grin on her face, Raven carefully folded it back into the envelope after reading it over and over again. She felt as if a huge load had been lifted off from her shoulders. She'd always wanted to write to Nicholas for so long. She just hadn't found the courage to.
'Would it even matter if I write to him?' She'd thought. 'Would he even care? He has our parents writing to him regularly, and probably even Claudia too. Maybe he has even forgotten about me. He wouldn't care. It's just gonna be so awkward and stupid if I write to him when he doesn't even care, anyway'.
But now that Nicholas had written to her, saying he missed her, and that he wanted her letter too, she could barely contain her excitement. She strode over to her study table with a goofy smile on her face, got out her favorite diary, and began running her pen over the paper. Soon, the little trash bin beside her table overflowed with crumpled papers as she chewed the end of her pen and struggled to find the best words.
"Raven! Breakfast!" Her mother called from the kitchen.
"One minute! You get on with it!"
Raven tried again to write but there was so much she wanted to say and so less, at the same time, that she couldn't quite figure out where to begin with. So, she decided to give herself some time to arrange her thoughts and write it after breakfast before she leaves to volunteer at the orphanage.
When she came down to the kitchen, she found her parents seated at the table, Jonathan reading the daily paper as usual. She washed her hands at the sink and sat on the chair at her father's left.
"Nicholas sent his regards," she told them as she held her tea cup. "He wished you all to stay happy and healthy."
"When?" Tracy asked
Jonathan put down his paper.
"In a letter."
"Well then, go call your Darcha and read it to us."
"Uh uh." Raven shook her head with a giddy smile. "This one's for me."
"Really?"
"Really." She flicked her eyebrows at them proudly.
"Well, he wanted to talk to you the last time he called but, you weren't there. What did he say?" Tracy asked.
"He told me to write to him sometimes." Raven answered, sipping her tea and helping herself to some bread and butter.
"You should," her father replied, "He's just like your brother."
Oh well, Raven thought.
It had been two years now since she'd decided to brotherzone Nicholas since he'd first sisterzoned her but sometimes, it saddened her once in a while to think that they'd never be more than that.
"I told you to write to him. Why did you never write?"
Raven shrugged, "I don't know. Just didn't feel like."
"Stupid. You're just like a little sister to him. He's probably missing you a lot too. You should write to him often."
"I know. I know." Raven rolled her eyes whilst drinking from her cup; already fed up with the brotherzoning and sisterzoning.
"I wonder how he's doing now. He's probably already there in Jammu and Kashmir and having a hard time. Sometimes, I really wish they'd never grown up. When Elliot and Nick were young, they were so naughty, always getting in trouble, but they were happy. But now, they're separated and even Elliot seems to be barely surviving." Tracy wept.
Even Raven suddenly sensed an emotional ting pierce in her heart, remembering the days when she had both Elliot and Nicholas close to her, but she bit down on her emotions and chucked them back. It seemed as though everyone kept on going and going. Those days were never coming back again, never. All of them were tossing along with the flow of life. Nothing would ever be the same again, for better or for worse. And there was no point wishing for the past anyway.
"They'll be coming back one day or the other," Jonathan said.
Of course, one day or the other, they'd surely return home but who knew how long they'd have to wait before they come back? Who knew what they'd be like when they come back? Who even knew if they'd return with their own wives?!
Raven had never been more afraid of change.
Raven had never been more afraid of change. For some reason, in that instant, she felt as if she'd lost everything and an urge to cry out loud came over her. Nick would get a wife too. Elliot would get a wife too. What if Elliot's wife is a mean bitch?
After breakfast, she stalked inside her parent's room, took an envelope from the stack in her father's drawer, and up her room she flew and this time; certain that not even the diary would be enough to fill in all the words she wanted to say.
Hi Nick,
I heard that you're now posted in Kashmir. That makes me a little worried but, I'm not terrified because I know that you're a great soldier. You'll do great. We all miss you here. I miss you too, a lot. I terribly miss those days when you and Elliot used to be home.
And in answer to all the questions you'd asked, it's saddening for me to answer that no boys have yet fainted after seeing me. I'm still the same old Little Dumpling. However, I've increased two inches in height (not much but it counts A LOT). And I'm not pretty enough to be fought over either, but that's okay as long as there's food on my plate, and a roof above my head.
Raven imagined Nicholas scoffing and laughing at her dramatics.
I've finished my matriculation exams and I'm still waiting for the result, basically doing nothing but volunteering at the orphanage. Dad's saying that I should try to get into Herbert for 10+. I don't really want to. The name of the school itself is enough to scare the daylight out of me. Anyway, I don't even think I'll be able to get in there, but dad will probably make me try. I don't know enough yet to actually make decisions, so maybe it'll be better for me if I go with their choices for now.
So that's about me. From now on, I'll try to write to you whenever I can. I hope you're doing well. Elliot keeps asking about you whenever he called. We all miss you a lot and we all love you too. Stay healthy and come home safe.
Raven
A number boys in school had asked for her pictures. She'd given away none so far but Nicholas wasn't just any boy to her so, she picked out a recent picture from her photo album-a picture which she considered good enough-and slid it into the envelope along with the letter.
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