Chapter 20: We Are Family, Part 2

Pari left first. They watched her take flight, as the motor boat pulled away at the tow rope. Her hands clutched the harness. She let out a scream. Excitement, fear or both.

He turned to Tania and grinned.

"The poor guy! He's going to get his eardrums shattered," she said of the instructor who had flown with Pari.

He watched, shading his eyes from the sun, as the red and white parachute soared in the sky.

They had come parasailing after a ride on the banana boat. Despite all her protests, Kavita had been dragged into it. It was a family experience and she had to be a part of it, they had told her.

The red and white parachute was a tiny speck on the horizon now.

"I'm not going. There's nothing about family experience in this one." Kavita joined them as they looked up together.

"We'll see about that." He exchanged a smile with Tania.

Pari couldn't stop gushing when she landed. "It is sooo much fun. You are like flying."

Tania went next. A reluctant Kavita followed her.

He went in the end. When he was up in the air, he experienced a tranquility he hadn't known before. There was complete silence. He was alone the sky above and the sea below. Free. When it was time to return, an unexplained sense of loss overwhelmed him. However, as his feet hit the ground and the girls rushed towards him, he felt better. He had returned to his family.