Scribblings

The day was finally over in the general sense. For me and Raj, it wasn't so. There was a lot of pent up anger filling up inside us....the sun went down and the darkness beckoned....i grabbed the carton of beer and flung it inside the innova....Raj didn't even bother to look whether it cracked. He just lighted a fag and crawled into the passenger seat. No words passed between us....there was no need to either. We both knew what was happening around us...what we had to go through...it was time to steel ourselves....form a cocoon in which we can reside in peace.....i got inside the car and started to drive...somewhere far from here.....

John Denver was singing somewhere from the radio...."country roads...take me home....".Raj switched it off... he wanted the silence to envelope him....I felt the same....wanted to be free from everything....its just that i couldn't face it. Neither could he. We drove to a place where we always hanged out...But today seemed kinda different....we were alone....we could see the whole city from up there....millions of blinking lights....buildings looked like tiny ants, seemed so vulnerable...ready to be squashed.....That's what was happening to us...The silence around us was staggering. Not even the crickets creaked, even the bloody mosquitoes seemed to have abandoned us to our peril....Raj lit another fag...The click of the lighter made me jump. it sounded like coming straight out from a from a Dolby Digital speaker in the backdrop of all the silence...Raj looked at me...i passed him a beer....He brought it up to his lips and gulped it down and kept gulping at one go....i could hear it passing through his esophagus into his belly....Minutes trickled down like seconds....Between the two of us, we finished 7 bottles. I could manage myself after a couple of beers, Raj i wasn't too sure.

Something unnatural vibrated...Raj took his cell out from his pocket, glanced at it once and then passed it to me...It was his mom...He didn't want to talk. i wondered,"did they come to know about it too??". i kept the phone on the grass looking at the light blinking in a rhythm. It blinked once more and then there was nothing....Felt like the last candle flickering off announcing the commencement of doomsday. I closed my eyes and tried to feel the wind. Even it had changed its course. Raj got up unsteadily and walked down the rocky path....Millions of thought poured over me..."is this it???", i wondered. We didn't say a single word till then. But we both knew what was running through our minds. I got up to follow him. Raj stopped and turned and raised a hand towards me...he was saying it clearly without even uttering it..."don't follow me!". My heart shuddered to a halt.

Before i could do anything he was back....Raj came near me, looked into my eyes....i could see his dark black eyes penetrating into mine. The side of his mouthed twisted to form a wolfish lopsided smile. And then he said...." SORRY YAAR!!! ZOR SE LAGI THI!!! lets go...me damn hungry!!!"

And we drove back...singing Country Roads at the top of our voices tearing our lungs....

P.S| Wrote this piece taking into account the TaT prompt Silence...but the week is already over...so am posting it here