1.16 — Wrench In My Plan

By no means am I a religious guy…but if I was one, then I would surely, and definitely, be thanking atleast one of them by now.

One of my major fears was that someone had stolen the bike or that it was broken somehow.

To be honest, I actually wished that it was stolen rather than broken.

Don’t look at me like that, you giant ass on a horse! My thinking was purely practical.

I did not want to take a trip to the repair guy nor did I wish to make my Uncle angry.

Although, sure, the latter part didn’t really matter since I ended up using the repairs as an excuse anyways so…I guess, hey, you were right. I did wish for it to be broken instead.

…Nah, on second thought, I think I definitely still wished that it was stolen.

I’m a lazy guy, bite me! Oh right, you can’t! Hah, perks of…me being me and you being you and whatever this is being this…yeah, I lost track of that thought.

Would’ve been a cool moment otherwise.

But whatever, thankfully neither of the scenarios were true.

The bike was still there at the park in perfect health…or shape, more like. Not sure why I used health as if it were some pet. Do I consider my cycle as a companion?

Oh god, do I—do I actually like cycling?

Excuse me while I just vomit that thought away. Damn, this day’s just full of revelations, huh. Frankly, I-I’m disgusted with myself.

Funnily enough, though, the cycle wasn’t down on the ground like some abandoned vehicle. Someone actually bothered to pick it up and place it safely to the side. I repeat—some stranger took the effort to take a bit of the time from their day and pick some stranger’s cycle from the ground and park it aside safely.

Wow, guess our town has some really nice citizens. Not gonna lie, kinda makes me proud of living in this town. A feeling that won’t last for more than an hour but still!

And they say chivalry is dead.

Anyhoo, I wiped away the overnight dust collected on the seat, sat back on it and rode off towards the school to begin my morning routine again. Well, sort of. It not being stolen and finding it perfectly fine kinda hinders my plan of getting to school just a tad bit fashionably late.

I did make all of my usual stops though. Like Ritu’s den of haunting—where she never actually haunted anyone.

I placed the chocolate bar near the pole for Ritu, hoping to see her and ask how she was after yesterday’s event, maybe even apologize once again or something. But for some reason she didn’t appear before me.

For a moment, I feared that something like yesterday had become true—her in the hands of a giant monster about to be eaten. Except in my head, now she truly was eaten.

Or not.

The sorcerers did come at the last moment to save me. And while I might have fallen unconscious, it’s a safe bet to place that they also succeeded in killing Quadro. I mean, it’s only a fair assumption, right? My memory is shitty in moments where it really counts but I think they even mentioned something about its death before I skedaddled out of there.

In which case, maybe all she needs is just some time to process the things that happened yesterday. Heck, I would be processing too but the way I see it—I don’t need to.

Like think about it.

I’m back home, all safe and sound. I woke up in my own bed—which means there was no break-in attempt to kidnap me again or assassinate me.

For all I know, they probably even forgot about me. Plus, I didn’t see any monsters like yesterday again on my way over to the park right now, nor were there any attacks while I was sleeping.

Maybe it’s just me being optimistic and trying to look at the brighter side of a shitty memory, but it really does feel like everything’s normal.

Well, sort of. With me, there’s no such thing as normal.

There was also another scenario that crept inside my head. A scenario that I may have wished for since I knew I was built different.

Maybe I lost the sight. The third sight, I mean. Or psychic sight? Dead soul sight? I don’t the proper terminology for that, never bothered to find out. All I know is that I have been wishing for it for quite some time, especially more so since my parent’s death.

And if that scenario had, indeed, come true now…strangely, I don’t know how to feel about that.

See? Never a day for a normal thought process in my head.

I wished to the God who might have played a part in the safe-keeping of my cycle, to make sure Ritu was safe too.

After wasting enough time there, I pedalled my way towards my destination once again. In the hopes of not missing out on college but also having to take the long route to find the cycle, I ended up leaving the house early. I figured that with my enthusiasm for walking combined with ‘unfortunate’ scenarios I had mentioned before, I’d reach the class on time or you know, as I said, at least fashionably late.

‘It’s better to be early than late’ has always been my Uncle’s motto and unfortunately had become mine too.

It did bug me to deviate from my daily routine but whatever, it wasn’t enough to discourage me. From tomorrow, everything will be back to normal. Truly normal.

No mages, no monsters, no Aarav-obsessed Ruh. Nothing.

With that attitude, I reached my class without meeting Idris halfway on the road or waiting to see Divya—which is all I do and no, I do not have pictures of her on my wall, you weirdo. I’m not a stalker!