2 THE ARRIVAL

17 Jan, 2017; 8.30 A.M.

Dhruv hardly gets three hours of sleep as Sharma ji's dog didn't let him sleep any longer than that. For the first time in a while he was having a peaceful sleep and as if it had to be disturbed. He, as any other person, is annoyed. He looks out of the window. It is Sharma's 12-year-old playing with their pet dog, Ronnie. He yells from his window,

Dhruv (yelling): HEY!...RUPESH!..RUP-PESH!

Hearing Dhruv's voice Rupesh looks here and there to see from where exactly was Dhruv shouting,

Dhruv (yelling): HERE! I AM UP HERE!

Rupesh : Oh, you are there! Yeah Bhaiya, what happened?

Dhruv : Rupesh can you stop Ronnie's barking and keep it low? I am trying to sleep here.

Rupesh : Bhaiya it's already past eight, you still sleeping?

Dhruv : Didn't I say that already RUPESH!

Rupesh : Bhaiya don't be lazy now, get up.

Dhruv (murmurs): Seems like the entire family is filled with assholes. There's no point in talking to him.

Rupesh : You saying something? I really can't hear you from here.

Dhruv : Was saying that you are right! I should quit being lazy and start with my day now.

After saying that, Dhruv waves goodbye to Rupesh. It is quite clear that he can't sleep anymore, so he decides to take a bath and start with his day. He takes his towel and as he is heading towards the bathroom his eyes lay on his phone. He picks it up only to find that it had run out of battery. Before heading to the bathroom, he plugs it in and takes off to take his bath.;

For quite a few days these baths were no ordinary baths for him. These showers felt like relief, to be exact like redemption. Pain flowed through every drop that went down his body. He cried every time he was in shower but not today, instead he was smiling; something was different today. As he steps out of the bathroom, he switches ON his phone. He dresses as if a party awaited him; black jeans and a simple white shirt with a black jacket on top.

Right after he gets ready, he goes down. He is going to the kitchen to make his breakfast. His phone starts ringing. He runs back up to his room. It is his mom,

Dhruv : Oh my! What now?

*picks up the call

Dhruv : Hello!

Ashwini : Have you woken up?

Dhruv : What do you think? How did I reply?

Ashwini : Don't act smart! Just answer the stupid question.

Dhruv : Yeah, I have woken up.

Ashwini : Good! I just called so that I could remind you that Manisha (housemaid) won't be coming today, she had to go to her niece's wedding.

Dhruv : You have told me that a hundred times now. I know she is on leave!

Ashwini : Fine, just make yourself something to eat.

Dhruv : Yeah I know that, I am not a child! You don't have to call me for everything!

Ashwini : What's wrong with you, why can't you answer anything properly?!

Dhruv : As if you care!

Ashwini : I do care! I do! Do you hear me?

Dhruv : Yeah whatever! Are you done? I am hungry and I HAVE TO MAKE MYSELF SOMETHING TO EAT!!

Ashwini : What's your problem? I call you because I am your mother, and it's my responsibility to look after you and make sure that you are fine.

Dhruv : Is that what I am? A responsibility? A FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY?!!

Ashwini : Language!

Dhruv : Just put the phone down Ma, I am in a better mood than usual and I don't want to spoil it by talking it to you, bye Ma!

Ashwini : Hey Dhruv, listen to me, I wanted you to know…

*Dhruv cuts the call abruptly*

Dhruv : Man! Sometimes she really gets on my nerves.

With the end of his phone-call, he heads back to the kitchen. On his way, his eyes are caught by a picture of him and Ashwini. While looking at the frame, the only thing he wishes for is that everything had been the same as it used to be earlier.

His relationship with his Mother wasn't this bad before, in fact it was never this bad before. Everything about their relationship that went wrong had to do with Aman's death. A happy family of three went down to two within a single day. And this number game of lives scarred a mother-son relationship forever.

Dhruv's parents met each other at their workplace, both had the same qualification and even worked at the same post. After marriage Ashwini decided not to continue her job, while Aman didn't want her to quit. But according to her, she always wanted to be a housewife. In less than two years. Dhruv was born and the debate was settled forever. 19 years of a wonderful family life was destroyed with Aman's death. The news came home with two cops at the door.

26th July 2016; 7.36 P.M.

Dhruv opens the door. It isn't his dad; instead he sees two cops. One stood in front of the door on the porch and the other sat in his jeep that was parked outside the gate. Hearing nothing from Dhruv, Ashwini from kitchen,

Ashwini (Shouting): IS THAT YOUR DAD?

Dhruv : NO! But two cops are here!

Ashwini : WHAT?! POLICE IS HERE!!

Ashwini comes running from the kitchen, and she is stunned by the arrival of police and also anxious about what's the matter.

Ashwini : Yes officer?

Police Officer : I am Sub-inspector Vijay Patil, are you Mrs. Shastri ?

Ashwini : Yeah that's me.

Patil : In that case, I came to meet you.

Ashwini : So.. Mr. Patil, How can I help you?

Patil : It's about your husband.

Ashwini : What about him? Has he done something?

Patil : No..he hasn't done anythi.. I mean… ahh.. we found him..not him exactly.. I mean we found his car, it was..

Ashwini : Can you just say it, you are scaring me!

Patil : We found a car about 5km away from here, the car had crashed into a streetlight and.. the pole..had fallen on it.. well right into the centre, squeezing it completely and we found your husband inside.

Ashwini : NOOOOO! THIS CAN'T BE TRUE! Tell me, is he alright, I mean how hurt is he?

Patil : This is hard..but sorry, till we found him he was already dead.

The news comes like lightning on a tree, burning nearly everything in no time. Ashwini couldn't handle the shock; she fell down. Dhruv has his face covered in tears, he doesn't know what to do- should he cry or should he try to hold his mother or just do nothing. He holds on to his mother, hugging her tightly, rubbing her back with his hands trying to comfort her. But is it even possible? Maybe not but he still tried, what else could he have even done. Ashwini stands mum during all of this; she was still in shock, but all that the police cared about was the postmortem. Even at such time a voice comes from the police jeep that stood outside the house, it is a police officer sitting inside the jeep,

Police Officer : Ok Patil, enough of emotions! Just get to the point, tell them about the postmortem.

Patil : Yeah Sir! I will do it right away.

It wasn't a very easy task to do, Patil hesitates to even bring the topic but he had to; it was a necessity. He knows that he wouldn't get any response from Ashwini so he approaches Dhruv,

Patil : Kid, I need you to take care of your mother, this can be the hardest night of your life, but for your mother it's the worst, she is facing her worst nightmare. I know this is a bad time but I have a duty to complete; we need your mother as we are conducting a postmortem of your dad's body, we want to make sure the cause of death. You get your mom and yourself ready, we are heading to the hospital.

17 Jan,2017; 10.09 A.M.

He gets lost in his thoughts after seeing that picture but on realizing he clears his mind at once. He goes to the kitchen, opens the fridge, finds some eggs and he knew it was going to be French-toast for breakfast. He always had a soft corner for cooking; his mom used to teach him a new dish every weekend and he was a quick learner, grasping everything at once. He gets busy with his cooking and makes his French-toast with some coffee. He is about to sit down,

*knock at the door*