Flowers On A Rainy Day

Summer Is Here

"Do you want to leave town after graduation Zaan?" Daiki said throwing the pebble that went bouncing over the brook water.

"Obviously man! Besides, we'll have to get into a college no." I tried throwing a pebble too which didn't go half as much as his did.

"I think I'll stay back Zaan. I won't be going to college I guess."

"That'd be foolish Daiki, what are you gonna do here anyway?"

"I don't know, maybe look after dad's store."

"But will your father be okay with that, you not going to college?"

"He'll understand, he knows how bad my grades are and I know for sure that even if I manage to get myself into a college I won't make it out." He gave out a laugh.

"But you're smart Daiki, you just need to focus a bit more you know."

Daiki was indeed very smart. He was one of the few genuinely brilliant kids of our school. He could have easily topped the class if only he would have studied a bit more. Being his closest friend from kindergarten days, I've seen him solve tough sums of maths in the early years of school and then sleep all through the class after we got into middle school. His father owned a fruit Shop in the shopping center where, as kids, we both used to sit every evening watching all the commotion. Everyone was always smiling back then unlike the people I meet these days in the city. The people of our tiny hillside town, were always in good moods as far as I could ever remember.

"Let's get going, it's getting dark," Daiki said, standing up. I followed him as we started walking along the brook until we reached the bridge where we took the road.

"A new girl joined our class today," I said.

"So late? Two months have already passed no."

"Her family shifted last week. She said something about her mother wanting to come back to her hometown."

"I see, is she cute?" Daiki said with a smirk.

I had to recall her face to answer his question. "Um, you can say so, but she's tiny."

"Ha ha, what's her name?"

"Anvi."

"I see, I guess I'll have to stop skipping classes from tomorrow."

I couldn't understand his phrase but didn't bother asking him about it. He had been skipping classes frequently and I was getting worried about him.

"See you at school tomorrow Zaan" Daiki waved at me as he took the street to his home.

Walking back home on my own I couldn't help but think of the short-haired girl with glasses. She seemed weird. Although she had a small frame and was rather tiny, she had a scary vibe to her. Though she looked cute with her bangs there was something evil about her, eerie.

"Zaan" I heard a soft voice calling out my name. As I searched for the person and speak of the devil, behold, Anvi was there with the other girl we saw the previous day.

"Anvi, Hi" I was smiling at her nervously fearing if she would sense that I was thinking about her a moment ago.

Anvi said something to the other girl and then walked up to me. "Going somewhere?"

"Home."

"Oh, okay."

"Daiki and I were hanging out by the brook. We lost track of time, so, it got late."

"Oh, I see."

"What about you?"

"Pema and I were just strolling," Pointing towards the other short-haired girl without the glasses, "She's my sister."

"Oh, the other short-haired girl?" These words slipped out of my mouth like an i***t.

"What?" The scary Anvi was back. To avoid looking into those fierce eyes I waved at Pema who waved back in confusion.

"Never mind, I should be going now," I started walking away from her hoping she'll let it slide but stopped my steps when she said, "Wait."

"Um, yes Anvi?"

"We were looking for a place to eat. Can you tell us where can we find some good food around here?"

"There are three restaurants down this street. Food is the same in all of them."

"And which one is better?"

"Well, they are all bad."

"Heh?"

"Ha ha, yes. All the restaurants are owned by the same person so they have the exact food, which is bad."

"Is that so? How bad is it anyway?" She seemed worried.

"I mean, it's average. It's edible, doesn't worry."

"Okay then, we'll check the place ourselves. Thanks for the help." Both the sisters started walking down the street. I watched them enter the first restaurant and then started walking home. I was pretty sure they'd hate the food there.

The fireflies surrounded me as I passed by the railway crossing. Even when I closed my eyes to feel the breeze, I could feel the green hazy lightning bugs around me. They made the dusk look prettier without the moon glowing in the night sky. While they synced to glow together flying in the early summer air, my heart felt warm and my lips curled into a smile. I almost felt like jumping with my arms open. Summer is here.

Summer days in our hometown are mostly accompanied by heavy rainfalls. The water in the brook rises and the hills around turn greener. Amidst the long showers, now and then you can spot a rainbow right next to a hill or if it's your lucky day, you can easily spot two rainbows forming one over the other as a heavy shower fades into a drizzle.

But with rain comes blackouts. The electricity board simply doesn't bother fixing the posts in a place so far off. Sometimes we had to go on without electricity for almost one-two weeks. That's when you feel the summer heat the most and sleeping on the porch or the rooftop on a clear night and sleeping on the verandah on a rainy day are the only options you have in hand. Life was indeed different back then.