Differences

As the first rays of dawn painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, Priyanka stirred from her slumber, her mind still heavy with the events of the previous night. Despite the comforting warmth of her bed, a sense of unease lingered within her, dampening the rays of sunshine morning brought her.

With a sigh, she pushed aside the covers and rose from the bed, her movements slow and deliberate. As she made her way to the kitchen, the memories of the restaurant incident replayed in her mind like a broken record, each moment etched with a tinge of embarrassment and regret.

The familiar sound of knife chopping vegetables echoed out of the kitchen. Surprised, she peeked into the kitchen, a playful glint in her eyes, intending to prank her mother, she tried to think of a harmless prank but saw his brother with his hair tied in a bun skillfully cutting the vegetables.

Her drowsiness flew upon seeing her brother the permanent Kumbhkaran ( a demon mentioned in Ramayan) of their house awake so early in the house.

"Hey, Why is a night owl like you awake so early? And why are you cutting so many vege... " Her words froze in her throat upon seeing the moth bean ( a type of legume) in the wok.

"Hey, when did you learn to cook this? " Priyanka forgot about the prank she had set out for and started blasting her brother with questions. Her curiosity and shock overwhelmed her as there was no way that her mom would cook so early in the morning when everyone was asleep.

Tired and annoyed by his lack of sleep, he frowned as he stared at her older sister jumping around in excitement and slumped against the counter.

"What do you want? " His abnormal sharp response doused a water of cold water on her excitement and she remembered that her brother might still be upset from the previous night's incident.

"Um, about yesterday, father was in... " Her explanation about their parent's actions was cut short as her brother tossed a piece of cucumber in her mouth abruptly.

"I know all that already. " He yawned widely, his lack of sleep apparent in his bloodshot eyes,

"I am going to the coaching today. " Her eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing his declaration.

" I heard that you were nauseous yesterday and even vomited on your boyfriend, I have a friend in xx hospitals, if you want you can get a checkup there, today. And ..... finish this salad, I am already full. " Slinging his back over his shoulder, he started leaving after tossing another cucumber in her mouth.

"Just do your best. You know that I know we got your back, right." She hurriedly chomped down the cucumber, to reassure him before he left.

"Yeah, Yeah. " He waved his hand without looking back, the epitome definition of carefree as he left for his coaching.

After he had left, it took her a few seconds to realize that he had forced food into her mouth before she had brushed her teeth. Stomping in anger, she bit down on the salad consoling herself that she had to let him go cause she was magnanimous and vowed to take revenge.

********************

Everybody in Priyanka's household awoke greeting each other harmoniously and smilingly, unlike the tense situation playing out in a certain park between Abhi and his best friend Neeraj.

They were arguing fiercely but kept their voices low to avoid disturbing people near them. The one-way argument where only his best friend was speaking stopped soon after Abhi gently placed his hand on Neeraj's shoulder to calm him down.

"Look, I know that your intention was good but return it to me right now and tell me when and how you stole it. " Abhi extended his hand calmly demanding his prized possession from him.

Neeraj dumbfoundedly looked at his friend who was behaving so differently from what he had expected and prepared for.

"No, Why did I steal it then." He refused firmly and shut his eyes expecting him to burst into an angered tirade but that expectation was not achieved no matter how long he waited for it.

Hearing Abhi sigh audibly, his eyes which had barely opened a crack closed down again, and this time more tightly.

"Fine, keep it then. " Abhi gently exhaled as he smiled at his best friend, who was staring at him, with blank wide eyes in disbelief. The speech he had prepared and memorized last night for this occasion bounced around haphazardly in his brain as it struggled to express itself.

His friend rubbed his eyes disbelievingly before pinching himself so hard that tears appeared in his eyes. However, this pain refused to wake him up and he started suspecting that he might have pinched himself in his dreams. After all, he was sure that he and Abhi would have a gigantic fight on the knife, and their friendship might even end, from his side, of course.

But all the drama never happened as Abhi had thrown a bombshell at him while being surprisingly calm about it.

" What, you don't need it? Are you sure? " Disbelief edged on his face, an excited Neeraj took out the knife and started brandishing it left and right in front of Abhi's face.

Before he could say anything, his hand was clamped in a vice-like grip and his face reddened when he couldn't break out of it, no matter how hard he pushed.

Sighing, Abhi loosened his grip and glanced around before mumbling hesitantly and awkwardly, " Why are you swinging a sharp knife in broad daylight."

Neeraj's complaint got stuck in his throat and he continued sulking as he rubbed his reddened sore wrist.

" Stop sulking and hide that knife. They are already glaring at us suspiciously. " Neeraj hurriedly hid the knife and smiled awkwardly in their direction.

Left with no option, Abhi slapped his forehead as he proceeded to calm the restless crowd.

****************

Left to her own devices in the morning, her brother's words about the hospital visit kept repeating in her mind and she became restless the more she thought about it.

Priyanka had a strange feeling that something was wrong but she couldn't flash that out, this inability was making her skin crawl.

" Are you alright sweetie? " Her mother's words broke her out of her trance and her grip on the glass loosened.

" It's nothing mom, I was just getting prepared for my hospital visit. " She stood up and smiled not noticing that her palm was red from the exertion.

"Hospital visit? Did something happen? " Her mother grabbed her hands tightly as she checked her forehead for temperature.

Her mother frowned as her daughter's forehead was cool and she could see that she was not standing awkwardly, minus the probability of her legs hurting.

Unable to find the problem herself as she wasn't a divine doctor, she asked her again.

"It's nothing just I vomited yesterday and I was feeling nauseous in the morning too, so I decided to go to the hospital on Abhi's suggestion. " She casually explained to her mother while stuffing her face with cooked moth beans.

Her mother a doctor herself, tried to suppress her laughter upon seeing her explaining with bulging cheeks.

"OK, I will fix you an appointment at one of my friend's hospitals. " Her mother said, while she was leaving the kitchen.

Seeing her mom leaving the room nonchalantly, Priyanka swallowed hurriedly and nearly choked herself, "Don't worry about it, Mom. Abhi already informed one of his friends and had booked an appointment."

Feeling satisfied that she had informed her mom and helped her avoid this annoyance, she started eating her third bowl of cooked pulses.

Hearing her words, Savitri paused mid-thought and turned her head slightly, glancing back at her daughter who was blissfully devouring the breakfast, she mumbled as she got out of her room, " Should I tell her to cancel that appointment? With how he is, who knows what kind of friends he has? Maybe they are a con artist and he is helping them into tricking her into some kind of scam?..... "

She continued mumbling and brainstorming as she left the room, trying to find a valid reason or loophole to stop her daughter from going to the hospital recommended by her daughter while making sure to not anger her or hurt her feelings. As for her son's feelings, she didn't care about that.

Meanwhile, Priyanka who had started this violent brainstorming in her mother's mind was unaware of it and was in bliss busy eating one of her favorite dishes to her heart's desires.