Twist in Time

Chapter Two: Rains and puddles

One week rolled by really fast in the new town, it had been the longest one week of my entirely life and the cramps in my legs and hands were evidence to show just how much work I had to do in the past week. Our house was a lot of work, but when you had a father who wished to do all the work at home without external help, it becomes ten times more stressful. Nonetheless, it had been one of the most productive for me and I was happy to finally be settled in the new town and home.

It was Tuesday of the next week, Adhira and I were getting ready for our little tour of the town, It was decided earlier today that we couldn’t stay cramped up in the house for the next week until school resumes, We had to go out, but knowing our parents, we were only allowed a tour of the neighbourhood, They were scared that we weren’t too familiar with the new country and state, The hate crimes in the United States had surged over the last year, we had to be careful, anyone could attack us, whilst shouting ‘You aren’t welcomed here!!”, and little to nothing will be done in retribution.

“You still aren’t done Aahana!!”, I heard Adhira yell out from outside the room, I could hear her footsteps, She was coming to the room.

“Almost!”, I lied plainly, still in my briefs as I scanned through my wardrobe looking for a gown that was suitable for the weather, which by the way was slightly chilly.

I heard the door open behind me, just when I pulled out a Red dress that had rose prints.

“You can’t lie to save yourself Aahana!”, She was annoyed I could tell, I turned to face her with the gown in hand as she settled down on our double bed. She was frowning, but her eyes traced down to my hands and her frown deepened.

“My dress!, No way Aahana”, she said defensively and I smirked, I looked at her outfit and I rolled my eyes, She wore a yellow Churidar and a matching scarf, which might I add, were both mine. I closed the wardrobe keeping the dress with me, I was going to wear it.

“Not with you wearing my dress”. I pulled down the zip of the dress and slipped it over my shoulders, I heard her sigh and mumble something along the lines of, “You have worn this so many times though”.

I adjusted the dress to my body and walked to where she was, “Stop mumbling things Adhira, you’ve worn this dress a couple of times as well, Just help me zip this up”. I said , She grumbled but helped me regardless.

“Are you done now?”, She asked still grumbling, I nodded not using words, I checked myself in the mirror , hoping the dress fit perfectly.

“Yes, We should go now”. Adhira picked up her small purse, before walking out of the room with me trailing behind.

The house was oddly empty than it had been thirty minutes ago, We were drawing closer to the front door and I looked at the kitchen, I frowned, I looked over to the sitting room but nothing. We were at the front door and Adhira was slipping her feet into one of her flat shoes, Age didn’t seem worried, so I decided to ask her.

“Where is mum?, She was here some minutes Ago?”.

Adhira picked the keys from the cupboard by the door and gave me, “She hurried out, said she’ll be back in the evening”. Adhira opened the door while I slipped into my flats as well.

“Oh”, I said relived, I quickly wire my shoes and headed out, “I thought she hasn’t fully opened her store yet, she said something about next week”.

Adhira nodded, I closed the door and Inserted the keys as age said, “Well I don’t think it’s work, probably the school, it sounded urgent, there’s still a lot to finalize you know”.

I pulled the key out and nodded, She was right though. “Maybe”. I placed the keys in her purse, “Lets go”.

Our neighbourhood was like any suburban neighbourhood, a lot of similar houses on both the left and right side, But our neighbourhood had a clear spectrum, one that had two sides. The far side of the spectrum was the clear richer side, Huge one story houses, White Pickett fences and flashy cars that got you to double look no matter what. Our house was on the other end of the spectrum, A simple House, with one car which belonged to my father, but we were satisfied regardless.

“The neighbourhood is bigger than I had expected”, I said after the long walk we had been on, We had been walking for fifteen minutes and had covered a lot of distance, our house wasn’t even visible anymore, I looked over to Adhira, She was tired, But was still going regardless.

“It is , and we’ve been walking,” I could hear the frustration which made me laugh, she got tired too easily.

“ Well we can just walk some more and turn back”, I said hoping to pacify her, we still haven’t seen the whole neighbourhood yet, it was that big. She sighed and dropped her shoulders, she was giving in.

As we walked, we greeted some people who passed us by, they thankfully reciprocated our greetings as well, We were still calm and enjoying the Weather, I didn’t realise immediately how fast that was going to go downhill, the weather and Happiness we were feeling now.

A woman ahead, passed us and greeted us just like they all had been doing, I was smiling but that stopped when I saw her umbrella, I cringed, I knew I had forgotten something and that was it, The smile in my face dropped and so did the light In Adhira’s eyes disappear. Like the weather was playing a trick on us, we heard the dreaded thunder and we immediately stilled.

The rain was about to ruin our day and we were stuck a few kilometres away from home with no umbrella.

“Well we’ve seen enough, I’m going home”. Adhira said turning immediately . I followed suit not waiting.

We weren’t walking as calmly as we were earlier, we were fast walking, Hoping to get home faster before it began drizzling. I became mindful of the puddles on the road, it was signifying that there had been a rainfall earlier , one which I wasn’t aware of, I was probably sleeping. I thought.

It was the end of summer though and by forecast, there shouldn’t be rain or deep rains at least, but ever since 2019, the forecast had generally been incorrect, so it was nothing impossible. That means we could get drenched. A lot.

I heard the clapping sounds of thunder and I cringed, I shouldn’t have suggested the tour, I know Adhira is cursing me internally right now . I deserve it, She hates the rain.

“I love you Aahana but Today I have a deep hatred for you!!”, She shouted in between the thunder and I smiled, I knew her so well.

“I know!, I deserve it!”. I said.

We weren’t successful in our plan, Even with all our running and fast walk, we were still far away from the house and were unable to evade the room as it was now crashing down on us in heavy showers.

“Oh I’m so drenched!”, I and Adhira said at the same time. We laughed, it was short but a comic relief nonetheless.

I could now taste my conditioner on my lips and the dress stuck to my skin. I was soaked, despite that I looked up and saw our house not too far away. We just had to keep our pace.

“Aahana you are walking too close to the edge of the pavement, there are puddles and cars passing, you know what that means?”, Adhira said smugly.

I rolled my eyes, Nothing was going to happen, “The cars aren’t going fast, It was a residential area you know they can’t-“, I didn’t get to complete the statement, A car from behind us came at a speed that was enough to brush someone over, It definitely targeted the puddles close to us as the water on the ground came flying at us, drenching us in dirty water. I gasped.

I should have listened.

“Sir, You just!!!, Sir!!”, I was screaming but the car was far gone. I hated The rain even more now. I looked at Adhira and She had a smug look, ‘I told you so’, was probably ringing through her head.

“I told you”, She said proceeding further with a smile on her face.

I should have listened.

“Well at least it’s your dress”. I wasn’t going to let her win. She paused, I have her a smirk and walked passed her .

I stank now, And I was angry. We walked more until we reached the house. As Adhira took control of opening the door, I turned to the side where I felt a gaze on me and I instantly met a pair of big blue eyes. I looked away, Who was that?.