Miss You Dearly

It was a hot summer day of April. And Prem was missing his Simran very dearly. She had gone only for a week. But Prem felt that she had gone too long. He was just sitting in the varandah and simply looking at the blue horizon trying to draw her face on the clean sky. When suddenly, a cricket ball landed on his face, but his attention was not diverted. It came from the adjacent street which was used as a cricket ground by the local kids.

Akshay , who was around ten, came searching for the ball and found Prem lost in the thoughts of Simran. The kid let out a big hello and brought Prem back to the real world. The inquisitive kid asked Prem of the reasons for his current state of mind. Prem, who wanted some ears to let out his grief, and not being able to catch anyone else, told the boy of his heart's suffering and how he missed his girlfriend.

The Kid laughed out loud as if to give an impression that this was nothing compared to his own misery. "I am missing my friend Ashwitha and I will not be able to see her till the summer holidays are complete. That is two complete months. We sit on the same bench and exchange our lunch boxes. She helps me with my homework." Paused a bit and continued "Yours is only a week's matter."

Prem ignored it and smiled thinking what kind of comparison is this. But the kid was in no mood to stop "You can at least call her over mobile or chat her over the net and know how she is doing. If she is busy, you can leave a message. But me. I am not allowed to touch the land line and I don't have an e-mail account.". Again Pausing and with a worried look "She hates curd rice. And I don't know how she is coping with her mother's plans of making her adjust to the curd rice."

Prem began to respect the kid's feelings. The kid's feelings cannot be compared with his, he thought, but the kid did miss his friend dearly. Akshay continued his lecture in his own dignified manner " You have a bike and a car. Anytime you want to see her, you can just start the engine and drive towards the destination. And all I have got is a bicycle. Can I go 30 kilometers on that one to see my friend Ashwitha. Strength of bournvita is not sufficient for such a long drive."
Till that time, the cricket team had come searching for him and dragged him back into the game.

Prem realized the truth in the boy's words. He just spruces himself up and takes the car of the garage and stops it in front of Akshay and tells him "Jump In. We are going to see her."
The Kid was baffled and questioned"Your girlfriend ?."
Prem "Correction. We are going to see your friend... Ashwitha."
The kid was filled with joy and gave up his chance to take the bat and play. He ran into his home and came back with a small box. Prem with a quizzing look "What's in the box? "
"Chocolates and almonds. This is for Ashwitha"