Chapter 2-What Love Means

                Not many days had passed since the ‘big-row’ as everyone in the vicinity seemed to term the telling off between Agron and Alaina. It did the least to bother both the people in question though. Agron as it were was the most unsocial, sorry, sorry, that should be antisocial person you could come across and Alaina gave little to what people thought about her. Studying journalism had been one of the most rebellious decisions the usually accommodating young lady had taken, no wonder her family had near abandoned her when she had decided to join as a columnist trainee under Agron. The sarcastic bastard was not known to take many trainees and hence Alaina was no fool to let go of such an opportunity. No one had more knowledge than that Vesuvius if you could overlook its irruptions at times and also if you could control your defections due to his oh so entrancing voice in her case.                Present work included documenting his entire collection and formulating an acceptable summary. Neither party was satisfied with the agenda though. Agron found it infuriating that her course would allow her only limited amount of work which made challenging the saucy prick a challenge in itself, Alaina hated the incapability to garner more knowledge while a whole marine perched right in obverse of her. It was hence no surprise when the familiar parlour became even more so; habited regularly for debate and ancillary instructive sessions. The sharpening of the knives had to be done, the thrashing, churning, exerting procedure had to be carried out so someday a shadow of the towering structure could be successfully crafted. Alaina loved, no adored, no treasured these sessions. None knew when the ever clinical man had started to hum in that liquefied moon, nor did either of the two notice when the meals started to be vehemently instructed and heavily scrutinized by the brown investigators. Silence had started to speak and melodies had started to become directives.

               The so called ‘big-row’ did nothing to change this custom. Evening as usual found a spectacled black head buried nose deep in Finnegan’s wake and an artistic hand drumming unforeseen untold decrees onto the polished timber. “Get along, get along! How much longer is that bloody bullshit going to take you? For heavens sake don’t tell me I choose to dictate the wrong person!” Agron was never known to be a very accommodating person when it came to time management. The most insufferable man if there was any; when he gave a limit, he meant the limit, be it humanely feasible or not. Alaina rolled the glowing globes at her mentor. “I am done, hold one second you jerk, don’t interrupt me!” “You better be done, when did you start getting so clumsy? You remind me of-““Enough really, I am least interested in which lass has infuriated you how much given it takes only this much to ignite you. God knows how such a big round of ammunition walks about unguarded!” both parties could not resist the bellowing laugh that irrupted. Numerous heads in the usually serene cafeteria turned to glare at the disrupting pair which squashed the mirth instantaneously; neither preferred the limelight.

                “Here, take your cosmos and spare me the glare” Agron picked the proffered sheets off the tiny hands. Waves instantly crashed from the pacific, washing the shore in search for broken scales; the tornado on the other hand seemed to prefer a calculative scrutiny. “Will do””Huh? You said something?” Alaina had failed to notice the closure of her enclosure and Agron was definitely not going to let go of an opportunity to scale her. “Dreaming of dreams will never fulfill your dreams.” Wow, now he decides to use that melodious tune insisting on driving away all rationale. The man knew what his voice was capable of and also knew very well how to exploit it. Scrambling to collect her evasive drowsy thoughts Alaina cursed the ever gratifying voice. Damn damn damn, she had to think and think quick! Agron knew every action and gesture and the man very well understood when she fumbled with thoughts in her mind; if she wasn’t wrong he enjoyed putting the usually confident and self sufficient challenge to a challenge. “Please cease your fumbling because entertaining as it is, the hour is not going to entertain our housing anymore unless you have at last decided to claim your hierarchy and buy this shop which I am sure you did not.” Ah! The man had noticed and made sure she knew he had noticed. One-love nice; lets see what the scores stand at the end of the night.

Reluctantly removing the now totally encroached nose from the enticing tome, Alaina pushed herself off the longue. A quick view round though confirmed Agrons statement. The secluded cafeteria was almost like an island at the moment; completely deserted, completely evacuated. “Ah, ouch, I failed to notice the time.””It is an inbuilt system glitch of yours, don’t bother yourself” The squabbling duo made their way to the coveted shelves, depositing the custodian, stepped into the waiting temptress. The streets were quite a contrary to the desolated seclusion they had recently vacated. The sudden alteration in the clamor seemed to be having an adverse effect on the twain thinkers. “Alaina, please, this din will murder me, mind if we take the alley?””Which one?””The one right opposite the painters.” The reason for the absence of verse for once was not the deep vibrato of the baritone. Images flashed through the usually bright planetoids; screens lifted for that infinitesimal part of a second as the terrors she had tried to reign in eternally resurfaced. Clamping down the shutters in a furry, the black head bobbed in approval. Agron stared at the miniature figurine alongside his person, some instinct seemed to have been awakened that he could not place and Agron hated not knowing. Days had turned into months in a quick hurricane in their acquaintance; silence had been an intrinsic member of the association hence formed and till date had always served as comfort. Today though, the silence seemed silent. As the pattering of the pair of feet echoed down the deserted alley, Agron suddenly started speaking, “Silence

There sat the blank parchment and here in my hand nestled sat unused my pen;

The silence of the silence was engulfing me at the moment…

This was not the silence where you can see your mind race; this is not the silence that speaks;

This is the silence, that keeps silent; sending chills down to your deepest core;

I couldn’t hear my beloved speak in the graveyard today; I could hear their aloofness,

I couldn’t hear the wind whispering sweet nothings to my ears like a delicate lover,

I couldn’t hear at all…

The lack of sound has always been so encouraging, so fulfilling, invigorating;

Always filling my ever hungry mind with jubilant imagery, vivacious ornamentation;

But today the ink refused to flow, the parchment sat stubbornly empty…

True you could always read between the lines, true you could always read the blankness;

But what if even the blankness is blank? What do you read then?

My distraught psyche seemed to coil back within itself, drawing upon its own restricted spring

Desperate for some textile, some imagination, some thoughts…

And suddenly the flood gates opened, long warded barriers went down with a crash;

Like the water billowing down the harsh unforgiving mountains, they raced down my eyes

The ever present desert, dumbfounded by this sudden flood;

The ever dry beaches terrified by this sudden intrusion from the usually remote marine

The silence was speaking at last, removing the silence in my clogged up brain;

Breaking all blockades the silent speaker of the silence had found its way

To give the silence its meaning; to make the parchment reek;

And the silence? It is speaking again, dreaming again, singing again…

Songs forgotten, dreams discarded, faces unseen, words unheard, letters unwritten,

Silence, unlived…”

All the while as the simple words turned into the most beautiful song, Alaina found the brown orbs filled to the brim first time in years; maybe since her childhood, maybe since…that day. “Come bunny, walk with me.” She didn’t need to look up to know the source of this soft untouched caress. A step and another and yet another, taken all in one faith. “I have faith in you.” The declaration seemed to be an obvious statement even to her own ears, but so necessary, so right. “Do the fish have faith in the water bunny?” The soft query neither had malice nor the usual acid, yet the challenge was evident in it. A small smile curved the luscious throes upwards; Alaina for all her misgivings didn’t lose her bite just any given moment. “Huh? Fish? water? Going nuts old man?” Agron spared a smile as he recognized his ever twitting menace before explaining himself, the throes of the endeavor evident in his timber. “A fish darling, knows the water, doesn’t have faith in it. Similarly, know me, don’t have faith in me.” Brown orbs jumped to the deep bottomless chasms. Feet stopped moving, breaths synchronized to the rhythm; time seemed to have ditched its usual cycle. “I…””Hush” a single digit clamped down the flood gates; “Some things are better off untold.” Those ever fascinating lips started to dip, as the wide eyes behind the specs grew wider the object of their scrutiny continued on its trail before coming to a stop just abreast her own. Alaina could definitely smell the clove, dew and freshly chopped grass breath coming from every hitched breath Agron was letting out. Her own breaths seemed to have lost their pace too. “I know you know me bunny, I know you…can understand…understand…that…I understand…too” every word seemed to catch in the coagulated intensely dense liquid moon. Alaina managed to nod her head as the majestic structure claimed its height again. All her senses seemed to scream at the loss of the warm breath that had been invading her lungs moments back. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, Alaina started to speak…she knew it was her turn to.

“How Hard

As I entered the college gate, I saw them staring,

Them would mean him and a few of his friends; that was a routine,

Every day as I would come, they would stare,

At first it was pretty irritating, now I have got used to it;

Used to their staring, and well I should too,

It’s been three years, three years of the same routine…..

Today though, their stare was a bit different, a bit scary…

They were all drunk…

Almost all boys of the college were drunk today;

Given today was the last day of college and it was nothing unusual…

The looks though continued to blog me

But well, I ignored them; I knew these boys; my fathers students,

Well, they were his students, some years back at least……

As far as I remember my fathers’ story,

They were the ones, whom my father had beaten up once,

Quite badly actually, they were a troublesome cue after-all;

So all I did was ignore them; ignore for all three years…

Three years of college…

But they did not look this…scary usually…

Not this scary…

May be I was imagining things; that must be it…..

As I was leaving the college, I noticed they were not there,

This was odd…it was their custom to stand there,

Stand and stare as I came to or left college every day…..

Ignoring it again, I left; walking home; it was quite late…

Towards the dusk…

I crossed the main road to take a shortcut home,

I was prohibited to use it, still it was already dark, and I felt creepy…..

As I entered the cross road, I saw a lone white ambassador,

Only one vehicle in the street, it was usual, but I was suddenly panicky,

Still, I kept walking; I guess the events of the day had gone through my brain…

I approached the van trying to seem nonchalant,

And before I could even register what was happening, I was pulled in,

I remember all of them there…all those whom I had ignored,

Ignored for years in college…they were all there…

One by one, one by one the torture continued till they were done…..

The ambassador started moving…came to another street,

The door opened, the one I had banged for so long opened at last…

But I had no more strength nor need…..

I stayed still, unable to move, unable to think, unable to see, unable to feel…..

They lifted me and threw me to the street,

Covered in blood and tatters, torn dress, ripped heart, no feelings at all…..

I don’t remember who found me, who brought me home,

I heard my fathers muted cries; laughter of people outside…

The laughter echoes into my room as I lay there…..

They say that was a revenge for my fathers over righteousness,

My father had beaten them up…yes, but how hard?

How hard…?”

As she stopped speaking, the constant beat of the feet next to her, reassuring her of the obvious warming presence that had kept her going stopped. Before Alaina could turn to enquire, two strong arms were suddenly engulfing her as the smell of musk and wet soil assaulted her senses. Slowly the fountain of nectar unbarred the last missing piece. Tucking the tiny black head securely under the chin, the sonorous voice rose to the tune as the majestic structure rocked the now cradled tiny one. Every vibrato giving her life a new meaning,

Always said I would know where to find love,

Always thought I'd be ready and strong enough,

But sometimes I just felt I could give up.

But you came and you changed my whole world now,

I'm somewhere I've never been before.

Now I see, what love means.

It's so unbelievable,

And I don't want to let it go,

Something so beautiful,

Flowing down like a waterfall.

I feel like you've always been,

Forever a part of me.

And it's so unbelievable to finally be in love,

Somewhere I'd never thought I'd be.

In my heart, in my head, it's so clear now,

Hold my hand you've got nothing to fear now,

I was lost and you've rescued me somehow-.

I'm alive, I'm in love you complete me,

And I've never been here before.

Now I see, what love means.

When I think of what I have, and this chance I nearly lost,

I cant help but break down, and cry.

Oh yeah, break down and cry.

Now I see, what love means…