Malayali in London ~ Part-30

Chapter -7:

...Snowfall and Spring Dance...

I get home and knock on the door; William opens the door. “What happened to you?” he asks, eying me. I roll my eyes, “what do you think happened? It began to rain coal,” Will shrugs and lets me in. I brush the snow out of my hair and take off my coat. As I am in the hallway, Will grabs hold of me, “You were out on a date, weren’t you?” I stiffen, “Dad told you, didn’t he?” Will gives me a crafty smile, “Yes. So? Who was it? Who managed to impress you?” I grin and say, “Someone smarter than you,” Will huffs and says, “No, seriously, who was it?” I let out a breath, “It was Sawyer, the blonde guy you met on my birthday.” He makes an expression explaining that he just realized something and nods his head. “How did it go?” he asks, I make a crafty smile and answer, “I’ll tell you if you tell me about your date with Sarah,” he stiffens and coughs, “Fair enough.”

We have dinner and Dad tells us that we’re lucky we got to see snow during our very first winter here, he says that it is rare for it to snow in Southwark, London as it is in the southern UK. I go to my room, change and get into bed after dinner, a smile on my face. Tonight, was epic, brilliant and every other synonym you can find of the word ‘amazing’.

.       .       .

I go downstairs after I’ve had a shower. “Merry Christmas,” my father says as I walk into the living room, “you have presents.” I raise an eyebrow, there are a bunch of presents below the Christmas tree, wrapped with different colours of wrapping paper. William comes down just as Father says to come and open them. “The one wrapped in red is for William and the ones wrapped in green are for Indrakshi,” Dad instructs us as we sit down on the floor under the tree. There are about sir presents in total. William has one gift and I have two, I guess being the younger child really is an advantage. I opened the first present that looked like a book; it was a journal to be exact. It has a nice brown faux leather cover and golden letters spelling ‘journal’. The second gift is a mug. I can see why I got a mug; I drink a lot of coffee. Will opens his gift, and it’s a watch, good for him, at least he will stop being late at everything.

The morning went by pretty quick. We visited the church with my dad and later went ice skating. I’d learnt it this winter to the extent that I can skate on my own without falling. It was fun. Just like that the whole day went by. It was fast. It was around seven when we got home. I went upstairs to my room and sat down at my desk. I begin writing my novel ‘Return’ right from where I left it off.

This man is impossible to find! I look at my sister to see what she does next. She’s reckless. She walks up to the door to knock but it crumples to the floor the second her hand touches it. “Well, looks like the place is open to visitors then, I guess,” she says as she turns on the flash of her phone and walks inside the rotten building.

Well, that was it. The end of the chapter. I decide that I’ll write the next one later. After having dinner, I sit down at my desk again and open my new journal. Since I have one, I might as well write down something every day. I could write a nice small piece of poetry, a quote, some good advice or just my opinion about my day, I bet I’ll fill the thing in a year or two if I write about fifty words every day. I grab a pen and start to think of something to write.

A smooth sea never made a good sailor.

~ 25th December

This is my favourite quote because it tells you the hardships in life will make you stronger. It is the quote I had begun referring to a lot because my life was turned upside down when we had to move. Nothing is the same here. I used to spend my time on the beach every day whenever I was free, but now I have to sit at home and find a way to keep myself busy.

I put my pen aside and close the journal. I place it in my drawer. I change and lie down in my bed. I grab my phone from the nightstand to find a missed text from Twyla.

Twyla: Merry Christmas!

I text her back and set my phone on the nightstand. I lie awake for a few minutes, replaying what happened yesterday in my head. It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt.