It was a lazy Sunday morning. Ever,
curled up on the old worn-out couch, was scrolling through her Facebook feed. The
preceding days had been tiring for her. She had shifted to Delhi from her
hometown, Calcutta, all alone. She was going to work as an intern for a month before
starting her post-graduation studies.
Everyone is super excited to
‘finally move away from the clutches of their parents and live alone and be
free’, but Ever had already started finding that ‘this breathe of freedom’ came
with consequences and willingness to work hard. Not only was shifting with all
her belongings to a bare unfurnished studio apartment physically exhausting,
seeing all the work yet to be done made her feel helplessly tired.
Boxes and boxes of Ever’s
belongings were piled up high in the rented ‘house’. An open suitcase, which
had a variety of clothes thrown in, was placed next to a mattress laid on the
floor. Her pyjamas, slippers and night things were dumped in a secluded damp
corner. Except for the old couch and a rusty closet, the room was devoid of any
furniture.
Well ‘Moving in Day Vlogs’ make
moving in to a new house look fun and describe it as a new chapter in one’s
life. While the latter may be true, shifting all by yourself to a new city,
where you feel alone and vulnerable, is anything but fun.
Ever’s Mom had packed a wide
array of healthy ‘snacks’ in Ever’s carry-on bag. This proved vital as the
leftovers, from the day before, became the base of Ever’s breakfast- butter,
bread, an apple and milk (directly from the tetra pack). Ever’s first morning
of living alone was not as glorious as she had hoped it would be.
This Sunday was not really a ‘relaxing
holiday’ for Ever. She had to sort out the components of the apartment and make
it livable. With a heavy sigh, she
started the rather mundane and monotonous work of sorting out the boxes. While
packing up her stuff in Calcutta, she had felt an intense desire to carry
everything she had owned to Delhi as it would allow her to ‘feel at home’ in
the new place. But, while unpacking, Ever came to the realisation that packing
her 4th grade slam book or her first swimming race blue-ribbon was
not a very wise choice.
Ever was trying to replicate a
chic modern kind of living space with a comfy vibe to it. She draped the couch
with some pink throws, threw some cushions on and covered the mattress. She
hung up the pictures and posters, sorted out her electronic devices and
chargers, connected her bulky appliances and stashed away her library.
Ever, then, got dressed into ‘proper’
clothes, locked the main door and ran off to grab her lunch and do a few
errands. She drove to her favourite fast food place- Mexito Tacorica- and went
to the drive thru lane to order her favourite Burger Combo. It was a loooooong
wait. The place was packed and there were at least 6 cars waiting in line ahead
of her. She was hungry and tired after the work she did and was growing more
impatient by the minute. Finally, she reached the counter and got a chance to
order.
As she waited for her order to
get ready and be served, she started scooping about her seat trying to find her
purse. Suddenly she grew pale with embarrassment as it dawned to her that she
had left all her money in her apartment. She, hurriedly, tried to grab the
attention of the dinner lady and get her order cancelled. She got out of the
car and walked back to the cash-counter. She tried to communicate her problem,
but in the rush hour the sales lady couldn’t tend to her problem immediately.
The dinner-lady finished attending to the present customer, heard Ever’s tale
and was about to shout to cancel the order, when a loud harsh cacophony of
blaring horns interrupted her.
Ever’s car, kept in the drive
thru lane, unattended, was blocking up the lane and creating an even bigger
traffic congestion. As her order had been served but was not picked, the dinner
lady had stepped out to find the owner of the car aka Ever. This was holding up
traffic and impatient drivers had started honking at the car. Ever’s face
started glowing bright red due to embarrassment and she simply wanted to sink
in the ground.
It was only a matter of a few
instances before the sales-lady and dinner-lady resolved the miscommunication
and Ever’s order was cancelled (even though the burger was already prepared).
During this whole incident, the horns kept blazing in the background while Ever
remained mainly a spectator, looking zoned out. She profusely apologized,
thanked the customer service, swiftly got into her old faithful car and sped
away from the ‘noisy’ lane.
She, obviously, had to drive back
to her residence to collect her money before she could possibly do anything to soothe
her starving stomach. Starving, she rushed to her apartment, unlocked it, sprinted
to the suitcase, grabbed her purse and set off towards a nearby food-joint to
quench her hunger pangs. She was out of breath as she walked down the path,
following directions on Google Maps to the closest place which offered food at
a reasonable price- a 2 minute walk. She reached the café 4/903, ordered the
day’s specials, without consulting the menu, and flopped on a sofa-seat.
5 minutes passed, 10 minutes
passed, 20 minutes passed, half an hour passed, but Ever’s Cheese Lasagna and toast
was yet not prepared. Constant enquiries on Ever’s part delayed the process
even further. This wait may not seem very long to some people, but to the
starving Ever this time period seemed like an eternity.
Ever, finally, witnessed a
waitress make her way towards her with a tray of Lasagna in her hand. She
jumped with joy. Ever let her table manners take a back seat for once and ate
like there was no tomorrow. She, literally, gobbled down the Lasagna and toast
as soon as the lady kept them down, and her pangs finally quietened. She paid
the check and headed off to Ikea to buy some rugs and household stuff she
needed.
She called an Uber, and reached
the shopping hub of the city. She bought some nails, a bunch of towels and
rugs, and a long extension cord for the house. She tried on a couple of clothes
and bought a lip balm or two. She was going shopping alone, without the company
of her friends or family for the first time.
She was flabbergasted to notice
the extravagant costs of ‘basic necessities’ like drapes and rugs, and could
find herself prioritizing towards buying a cheaper item instead of the most
appealing or cutest one. She couldn’t bargain in the mall, but was
uncomfortable parting with such a huge amount of money. She was incapable and
slow in taking the decisions and called up her older sister. Her older sister
laughed on noticing how naïve Ever was, and told her to fix a reasonable amount
to spend and to buy the cutest rug available in that range. Her sister was
astonished at the amount of time indecisive unsure Ever could spent thinking
about just trivial unimportant choices.
As Ever, finally, made up her
mind and purchased the things she needed, the clocks struck 4. Ever was running
late now. She still had to go and do prep for her internship the next day and
she also was planning on sorting out her crockery that night. She called
another Uber, and anxiously waited for it.
As she waited for her Uber, her
eyes fell on a family of four having a merry time in the restaurant. Suddenly
she felt herself being overwhelmed with homesickness and had an intense desire
to just be with her Mom and Dad. She started missing small memories she had
with her family, like sleeping on her mother’s lap or walking beside her dad.
She started hoping she could relive those memories and wondered out aloud “I wish I could turn back the clock and bring the
wheels of time to a stop.”
For the third time, in the single day, she felt captured by her emotions
and started sobbing. She was not enjoying the ‘glorified freedom’ at all. It
just felt like never ending burden and responsibility to Ever, at that moment.
She had just managed to recollect
her thoughts, when her Uber arrived. On her way back to her apartment, Ever,
called up her mother and talked to her for a long time. Her mother seemed like
she was vividly trying to supress her excitement. The long pep talk proved to be an anecdote for
Ever. She felt a lot mere merry after the call and her mind diverted to her
internship preparation.
She reached her apartment in a
cheerful mood and hummed as she approached her apartment. To her utmost horror
or shock, she found her front door wide open. She was paralysed with fear and
couldn’t react. She tried to shriek and scream for help, but her body wouldn’t
let her. She felt stiff and helpless (again).
She was about to rush downstairs,
when she heard voices from her apartment. These voices were very familiar to Ever
for they were of her family. Her mother and father had travelled to Delhi to
surprise their daughter and help her settle in. Ever was very excited to shift
‘alone’ but as her parents had concluded that their pampered bundle of joy
wouldn’t love this freedom once she experienced it, for real.
Ever ran and hugged her parents. During
this happy meeting, Ever noticed that she had left her apartment keys near her
suitcase, IN her apartment. If her parents had not surprised her and unlocked
the door with their spare keys, Ever would be locked outside of her house, on
the very first day.
Hey Peeps!
Writing this story was so much fun. This was why I made this blog- to enjoy writing and posting short, whack-y stories in my very own section of WWW.
Don't forget to leave your suggestions in the comment section below.
Don't forget to leave your suggestions in the comment section below.
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