By Priyasha Gupta
OUCH, was Ruhi’s first thought as her mom’s beat- up Honda jostled
up and down the winding seaside road. Calangute was a beautiful
town, there was no doubt about it, but they really needed to do
something about these potholes before Ruhi’s brain turned into
oatmeal.
“Are we there yet?” Aarav called from the backseat.
“You’ve asked that like twelve times already, ” Ehan replied.
“So?”
“So would you just shut up already?”
“Both of you shut up,” Ruhi’s mom interjected from the driver’s seat.
“We’ll be there in 5.”
Ruhi kicked her feet up onto the dashboard and leaned back into the
passenger seat, trying her best to hold in a smirk at her dysfunctional
family. Truthfully, it had been quite a long time since the Sarafs had
been together. Ruhi being a three-hour flight away from home during
college made it difficult, especially on a student’s budget. Not to
mention the fact that her mom had enough on her plate providing
for Aarav and Ehan without any help.
That was a whole other can of worms.
Ruhi gazed out at the sea, hoping to find a bit of comfort in the ebb
and flow of the waves. Instead, she watched a surfer flip over his
board and disappear into the water. Guilt instantly flooded through
her as her thoughts wandered to the backpacking trip she was
supposed to be taking with her best friend Aadhya. Her previous
plans meant nothing now, not when this was her last summer with
her Grandpa.
Speaking of previous plans, Ruhi’s phone buzzing in her lap drew her
attention. On the screen was a text from Aadhya.
R u there yet?
U sound like Aarav, Ruhi typed back. Just watched a surfer dude down
himself.
Lmao. U need to set me up with one. Payback for leaving me:(
Ruhi held back a bubble of laughter. I’ll do my best.
How’s your grandpa?
Ruhi’s hesitant fingers hovered over the keyboard. It was difficult to
think about her Grandpa, especially since his cancer had become
terminal. She knew Aadhya was trying to be thoughtful, but it was
probably the 450th time she’d been asked that question in the past
couple weeks, and Ruhi was getting awfully tired of answering it.
Same old same old. She pressed send, feeling the car shift beneath
her as her mom put it in park. Cal lifted her head to where her
grandparents’ cottage sat facing the beach. It was a cute little
building that she had fond memories of, but now there was
something about it that felt...empty. Dark.
The sound of Ehan slamming the car door shut was more than
enough to nudge Ruhi out of her thoughts and into motion, meeting
her Grandma at the door like she’d done for the past 21 years. It was
cheesy, but just the feeling of her grandmother’s embrace reassured
her that she was where she was supposed to be.
“Hi, dear,” her Grandma greeted. “Did you have a good drive?”
“It was just fine, Grandma,” said Ruhi, tactfully leaving out the fact
that her buttocks had fallen asleep close to a dozen times, not to
mention the number of times she’d been tempted to smother Aarav
with her neck pillow every time he asked if they were there yet.
“Gramps!” Aarav yelled, dropping his backpack and suitcase onto the
floor. Where the entryway opened up into the living room, Ruhi could
see her Gramps in his favourite rocking chair, rocking back and forth
like he didn’t have a care in the world. Like he wasn’t dying.
If he felt any pain, he did his best not to show it as Aarav barrelled
into him. Ruhi wasn’t as good of an actor and couldn’t help a wince.
Her Gramps looked so...frail. His hair had dwindled down to a couple
grey strands, his eyes watery and a faded shade of grey. She could
hardly tell how her Grams was managing the pain of losing him day
by day. How she could bear to wake up every day knowing that she
was one day closer to being alone.
When Gramps saw her above Aarav’s shoulder, he smiled, “Hello,
Ruhi beta.”
“Hi, Gramps.” Ruhi greeted, stepping over Aarav’s pile of luggage.
“Where’s the other gremlin?” He asked, referring to Ehan.
“I’m right here,” said Ehan, appearing somewhat out of the blue from
a side hallway. He was quite the sight, with headphone hair that
defied gravity and a ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ t-shirt. “Am I not allowed to
pee after spending the majority of the day in a car?”
Grams clapped. “Oh yes, you’ve just reminded me to check on the
pasta bake. Are y’all hungry?”
“I’m so hungry, I could eat an elephant!” Aarav chimed; his monkey
arms still wrapped around Gramps’ neck.
“No, buddy, you can’t. Not with your tiny stomach.” Ehan taunted.
“Boys, can you not?” Ruhi’s mom asked with a sigh.
Gramps met Ruhi’s eye and winked, as if to say ‘aren’t you glad to be
back with your family?’
Ruhi felt a burning sensation behind her eyes, a feeling she’d been
trying desperately to avoid once she heard how much time her
Gramps had left.
“I think I need to take a walk, actually,” said Ruhi. It was a statement
mad for everyone, though her voice only caught Gramp’s attention.
Nevertheless, he nodded.
Ruhi nodded gratefully and slipped out the back door. It was still
humid, but the sun was beginning to lower on the horizon.
Walking up to the beach, she studied her reflection in the waves,
especially the way the wind had blown her hair into several knots.
She revelled in the feeling of waves rushing over her feet and the hat
of the sun... and was that music?
Sure enough, there was the twang of a guitar off in the distance.
Accompanying it was a girl sitting on the beach, dressed in a pair of
khaki shorts and a loose navy t-shirt. Something about what she was
playing was melancholy yet hopeful.
Ruhi was drawn to her and her feet carried her over to the girl.
“Hey,” she said. “I heard your music. You play really well.”
The girl’s mouth lifted in a half- smile as she glanced up at her from
the ground. “Oh yeah? You must be new to town if you haven’t
before.”
Ruhi lowered herself to the ground beside her. “My name is Aruhi.
But, you can call me Ruhi.”
“Hi, Ruhi,” said the girl. “I’m Nazira. I actually play in a small band
with some friends. We’ve probably had gigs for nearly everyone who
lives here by now.”
“Impressive,” mused Ruhi.
“What do you do?” Nazira asked.
“I’m a medical student. I’ve come here to visit my family.”
Nazira let out a whistle. “Nice. How long are you in town?”
“The entire summer,” said Ruhi.
“Well allow you to personally welcome you to the city of Calangute.
We’re happy to have you.” Nazira turned her head to fully meet
Ruhi’s eyes, and she was startled to find that they matched the color
of the sand in the evening sun. Striking, bold, warm and full of
something Ruhi had lost all sense of since hearing about her
grandfather: hope.
The End
By Priyasha Gupta
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