Songs of Silence and A Playful Afternoon - A Nazar TS (Completed)

Home Alone

Chapter - 01

“Piya! Where are you?” “I am right here! Catch me if you can!” Piya was giggling as Ansh was desperately trying and failing to catch her. Who could have ever thought the mighty Davaansh would have been defeated so easily while playing hide and seek! “I got you!” Ansh hugged her from behind and drew her closer.

Suddenly Piya woke up hearing the sound of the alarm. “Damn! I wish I could sleep just for a little bit and complete the dream!” Realizing her own wish, she laughed at herself and got down from the bed. She was missing Ansh! He had gone on a business trip and evidently his absence was proving the saying “ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER” right.

The house was empty. All the elder Rathods went to Tirthyatra. On top of that, Adi and Pari went to Nishant’s house because they wanted to spend time with Dafli. One might get bored at this sudden emptiness but if you ask the same question to a mother of two - it’s pretty blissful. With an entire home to yourself when you don’t have to worry about anyone else’s need. What more can someone ask for!

Yes! She loved her kids and family members but some alone time was long overdue.

Piya went to take a bath and after that offered her Puja! Normally she would have headed to prepare breakfast but today she decided to make herself a cup of coffee and a french toast and enjoy the serenity of early morning.

She never got tired of this! Looking at the sun rising and the sky! Sometimes she felt that God was one marvelous painter and if you want to look at His creation, look at the sky early morning. The first ray of sun and the clouds and the redness! One could enjoy this beauty but not really describe it.

She sat down for a while and later went to water the plants.Seeing the moderately grown up Harak plant, a smile crept into her lips.It was Anah’s first gift to her after their wedding. He brought so many plants for her so that she didn’t miss Divya. Suddenly Piya felt sad. Plants were always a reminder of her mother. She could feel peace in their vicinity. But what surprised her later was that she began feeling Ansh’s presence around her through flowers and plants.

She knew when she had left the house, Ansh moved all of her belongings. He didn’t want Adi to suffer more in absence of her. Fair enough! But when their misunderstanding got cleared and she moved back with him, she realized Ansh had still kept the Harak plant. He moved it to one corner of the balcony so that no one could see it but he did keep it anyway.

He had his special memory with that plant. During their college trip when she got wounded, Ansh was desperate to save her and used the fruits of that plant to stop her bleeding. That night they both got to know each other. Ansh got to learn about her pain and vulnerability that she had been hiding from the rest of the world. Unknowingly he fell in love with her and took it upon himself to help her. Whereas she got to understand there was a softhearted person hiding behind the mask of Intense Kumar. Piya laughed a little. Intense Kumar!!! Yeah that was appropriate for him considering the attitude he carried those days.

When she found the plant in their balcony after years, she realized it wasn’t just the others but Ansh tried to hide his feelings from himself too. But he could never stop loving her. He still took care of every little reminder of her but secretly. Unknown to Ansh, she too felt him through different elements. Pari was the biggest reminder of him. But the first sip of morning coffee or whenever she used to make some paste using herbs, she would always remember him. Surprisingly the element which was dear to her for her mother, it created a separate place for itself because it connected her with Ansh too.

However, Ansh’s thrill couldn’t last long after she had revealed it to him. She brought so many plants along with her that Ansh was worried thinking where would they plant all the plants. To add to that, when she was possessed by Visharika, she started growing plants on her own and literally turned their balcony into a forest.

Piya burst out laughing. Ansh’s reaction during that time! She was sad for everything she had put the family through but she had her memory intact. She remembered how panicked Ansh got seeing her changed behavior. Somewhere deep down, the wife in Piya was deeply satisfied. Why should husbands have all the fun? Even wives should get a few opportunities to scare the crap out of them. There’s no harm to be a little playful at times. Although yes! She admitted that it was way over being playful and she literally terrorized the entire family.

Piya was lost in her thoughts when her phone beeped. “I am coming back today itself! Can’t wait to meet my beautiful wife!!!” She smiled at the text. Even after all these years, a single text from him makes her heart beat faster! She was going back inside to get ready when an idea struck her. “So dear husband is craving for some quality time! How about surprising him in the Visharika way?” Piya looked around her and smirked. “Get ready for my surprise Mr. Rathod!!! You don’t know what’s coming in your way!”

Chapter - 02

“Get ready for my surprise Mr. Rathod!!! You don’t know what’s coming in your way!” Piya smirked... She knew exactly what she had to do to give a nice surprise to her husband. She went inside to prepare for Ansh's welcome...

A few hours later, a cab stopped in front of their building and Ansh got out of it. He entered the lift and pushed the button for his floor. On reaching his house, he put his bag down and called out to Piya. When she didn't respond, he went around searching for her.

After a few minutes, he heard the tinkling sound of Piya's earrings from the terrace... "So, that's where she is!!" Thought Ansh. He went to the terrace to meet Piya. But a surprise awaited him there...

The terrace was full of plants of different species. The walls were covered with creepers... It looked more or less like a small botanical garden. "The last time I saw so many plants was when Piya was possessed by Visharika..." Ansh could feel a cold chill running down his spine at the mere thought of Pia being possessed by Visharika...again. He started looking for Piya and finally found her sitting in the centre on a small seat, talking to a small plant and making it grow bigger by her powers.

"Piya..." He called out to her. But she did not respond. He called her again and finally she got up and turned around. "Ansh... You are back!!" She exclaimed joyfully. "Yeah... But what is all this?" He said, pointing at all those plants and creepers all around. "These?" Pointing towards the creepers, she said "These are snakes, pythons and anacondas. And these..." She pointed towards the potted plants. "These are some small wild animals which I brought from the jungle." "Come on Piya!!! I am serious..." "So am I Ansh... So am I!!" Piya said in a calm voice. "When you can clearly see that these are plants then why are you asking such silly questions?" "Okay... Okay fine!! But what are all these plants doing here?" "They are practicing salsa here!!" "Piya..." Ansh began to say something. "Oh come on Ansh!! What would the plants be doing here? I have brought them here..." "But why?" "You know how much I love plants, don't you?" "So?" "So, I brought them here." Piya said, nonchalantly.

"But..." Ansh stopped mid-sentence because he saw a read streak on Piya's hair. He was reminded of Visharika again. Strangely, everything around him today was reminding him of Visharika...

Striving to keep his voice normal and hiding the underlying tension, he asked her, "Piya... Did you get your hair coloured? You are looking really pretty. I like how you dyed them..." Piya replied with complete innocence, "No... I didn't. Probably it happened on its own." She shrugged her shoulders and continued, "Anyways, since you really like it so much, it must be looking pretty." Ansh turned around, his back facing Piya. He was trying to join all the dots together. "All these plants here in the terrace... Piya's hair slowly turning red... Does this mean that Piya is again possessed by Visharika? No..no...no... This can't happen. Papa had said that Visharika is gone forever. How can she be back?"

If he would have turned around at that moment, he would have got the answer about Visharika being back because all this while, Piya was silently laughing behind his back. "Ansh..." She called out softly, in an innocent voice. Ansh turned around. "Piya...Are you okay?" "Of course I am okay Ansh... Why? Was something supposed to be wrong with me?" "No... Nothing like that." "Then what Ansh?"

Ansh did not know from where to begin. He was about to say something when Piya put her arms around his neck and he saw a blue scratch mark on her neck. He was shocked to the core... All the pieces of the puzzle fell in place. That blue scratch was the same as before. Piya had again brought all those plants to the terrace. Her hair were again turning red. She was possessed by Visharika... Again!!!

This realization hit him like a lightning bolt... He was stunned. Seeing his shocked face, Piya could not control herself. She burst out laughing... Seeing her laugh, Ansh was even more confused. "What? Why are you laughing?" "I never thought that you would be so easy to fool..." "Means?" In response, Piya did not say anything but pulled out the false red coloured hair extensions from her hair. She then removed the fake scratch mark from her neck.

"So, how was the surprise Mr. Rathod?" "Surprise? You call it a surprise?" Said Ansh. "It is not called a surprise... It is called a heart attack." Piya burst out laughing yet again... Seeing her laughing, Ansh started tickling her as a revenge. "Stop... Ansh..." Saying this, she ran away from there. Ansh followed her and soon, the house was echoing with the sound of their laughter...