Chapter 4 Arjun's First Letter To Meera
642 Words
The next week felt like a slow, boring, grey movie for Arjun.
He still went to school.
He still sat in the same bench.
He still fought with his friend Rishi about who got the larger piece of samosa.
But everything felt… lighter.
Not in a good way.
More like something important was missing.
Every evening, he climbed the terrace.
Every evening, he pressed the red button on the pink keychain.
“You will always be in my heart.”
And every evening, he whispered,
“Meera… come back soon.”
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Grandma’s Advice (that nobody asked for)
One such evening, his grandmother climbed the terrace stairs with the speed of a tortoise who had paid EMI for every knee in her body.
She squinted at him.
“Ay, what are you doing sitting like a broken Wi-Fi router?”
Arjun sighed.
“Nothing, ammamma…”
“Hmm. Nothing means something.”
She sat beside him. “Tell grandma.”
Arjun looked embarrassed.
“Meera left.”
“Ah.” She nodded wisely. “So the girl with bells in her laughter… she’s gone.”
Arjun’s eyes widened.
“How did you know?!”
“I wasn’t born yesterday,” she sniffed.
“When you smile, you look like dosa turned golden.
When you miss her, you look like burnt dosa.”
Arjun groaned.
“Ammammaaa…”
She ruffled his hair.
“If you miss her so much… write to her.”
Arjun blinked.
“Write?”
“Yes! A letter! Real feelings! Not like your school essays where cow gives milk and mathematics is fun.”
Arjun rolled his eyes but his chest warmed.
A letter.
To Meera.
Maybe she’d never read it.
Maybe it would never reach her.
But at least he would feel like she was close again.
He nodded.
“I’ll do it.”
---
Operation: First Love Letter (Age 8 Edition)
Arjun ran to his room, grabbed a notebook, tore out a page (and two more accidentally), then sat cross-legged like a serious author.
He wrote in big, uneven handwriting:
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Dear Meera,
Are you okay in Singa-pour?
Do they have mango juice?
I miss drawing clouds with you.
Come back fast.
Your friend,
Arjun
---
He looked at it proudly.
Then frowned.
Something was missing.
He added a small crooked heart at the bottom.
Then added another one… then erased it… then added it again.
Finally satisfied, he folded the paper and placed it carefully in his school bag.
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Mail Disaster #1
The next morning, Arjun marched to the post office like a small soldier on a mission.
He pushed open the heavy red door and approached the counter.
A bored postmaster looked down at him.
“Yes?”
“I want to send a letter to Singapore,” Arjun declared proudly.
“To… where?”
“Singa-pour,” he repeated confidently.
The postmaster stared.
“Do you know the address?”
Arjun froze.
Address?
Like… house number?
Street?
Country code?
He only knew “Singapore” and that Meera liked clouds shaped like elephants.
“No…” he whispered.
The postmaster sighed so hard even the stamp ink shivered.
“Then how will your letter reach?”
Arjun’s shoulders dropped.
He walked out slowly, clutching the letter like a piece of his heart.
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Night Thoughts
That night, lying on his bed, he unfolded the letter again.
The words looked simple.
Childish.
But they were true.
“Come back fast.”
He closed his eyes.
Somewhere far away, in another country, Meera was probably sleeping too… maybe thinking about him… maybe not.
He pressed the keychain again.
“You will always be in my heart.”
Arjun whispered back,
“I know.”
And under the quiet night sky, a promise remained alive—
A promise that crossed borders, oceans, and childhood dreams.
....
- Writer
