TWENTY SEVEN: CAMERA & SCRAP BOOK

THE MAGNIFICENT RAYS of sun seeped through the open window, caressing my sleepy face. I woke up after a few seconds and rubbed my bleary eyes. Walking to the window , I saw that there was a pearly glow in the sky, surging in me fresh hopes. I pulled out my phone from the charger, kept on the nightstand. 

Wow, so I forgot to turn on the switch after plugging my phone again. It had 38% battery left. 

It was 4:59 AM. 

Groggily, I scrambled into the bathroom. A lazy smile was playing on my face because I was so damn excited. I was going to travel! 

Quickly, I bathed and dressed into a black woolen high neck sweater and denim shorts. Throwing over a coffee brown high length coat, I slipped my feet into knee high boots and packed my back pack for the day; which contained sunglasses, wallet, lip gloss, earplugs, keys and my phone. 

Since I was about to roam a foreign land and explore and click pictures, I decided to apply a little bit of makeup. 

New place, new me.

I applied a coat of foundation and then mascara on my eyelashes. Then painted my lips with a maroon matte lipstick and just parted my straight hair from the middle, leaving them free. My face still looked bland. Finally, I decided to put on eyeliner as well. After putting a thick layer and pulling out their wings, I felt confident and strong. Adjusting my coat over my shoulders, I smiled to myself triumphantly. 

I stalked out of the room with a strap of my backpack on my shoulder and closed the room behind me, lightly. 

Theodore was sleeping on the couch, his eyebrows furrowed. His tall figure was not accommodating on the couch and his hand was slinging down. It could've been the perfect moment for me to look at him as much as I wanted to without the fear of getting caught but I felt nothing, no remorse, no pity at his figure. I didn't want to even look at him. But, it definitely dampened my zeal a bit. 

I swallowed the rising bile and even if I have had any emotions they surged back, retracing their path. They locked themselves in that casket which wasn't meant to be opened or sweated about, just to be forgotten like a bad dream. 

Entering the elevator, I started jumping to get my adrenaline rushing but the elevator started jumping with me too. A breathy laugh escaped my lips and I placed a hand on my heart to calm it a bit. My eyes were watery with joyous feeling hearing their way in my veins. 

This was going to be the best day of my life. I was going to enjoy and forget all the worries for fuck's sake and just be free. I felt free. 

I decided to have breakfast in the hotel itself so I ordered two vegan sandwiches, pancakes with chocolate syrup and a glass of orange juice. 

While they took time to get my breakfast, I searched around for places to visit. There was a famous Park just a few streets down the lane of the hotel and a famous market for street shopping as well. I jotted down the shops with the best reviews in my notepad and sighed. I was going to visit seven shops and get footwear, paints and sketchbooks, a traveling guide, accessories and whatever I could find good. 

Finishing my food I jumped out of the hotel, my breath heavy due to excitement coursing in my veins and my legs skipping steps out of joy and awaitment. 

My fingers raked through my hair, combing out the tangles, I looked at either side and exhaled with a smile. In the wash of new morning rays, my face took the appearance of an old photograph, of nostalgia of me visiting the beach with mum and dad when I was eight. It wasn't a grey morning as I had been expecting according to Zurich weather reports. Rather it was a soothing lavender and brilliant amber glow. 

I started walking towards the left with eyes glinting with a spirit so high. I observed only a few people out - some jogging and exercising, some opening their shops, dogs and cats and depressed people looking at a distance with an unwavering vision, gloomily. 

I stepped into the camera shop and after rummaging around for half an hour, I got a small canon camera to capture the wonderful beauty around and paste the pictures in my scrapbook. 

Oh, I need to get a scrap book too! 

Luckily, the shop next to it was an 'Art and Craft' one. It was a very small, compact shop with a wooden floor which creaked beneath my feet.  I pulled out a pack of colorful pens and a big, decorative scrapbook from among the exclusively large variety of items. For a moment I felt like a little school kid wanting to buy a lot of stationery but I suppressed the craving of my heart. Paying the charges, I struggled to put the scrapbook in my bag. 

After accomplishing my task, I start moving forward. I arrived at my destination after twenty minutes of walking. 

Entering the park, a slight morning breeze rustled making the dead leaves fall on by one. The air was warm and my skin was basking at the sun's rays. 

The was a massive garden centered by a marble fountain, whose water looked like crystals under the sun's rays. It was a perfect leisure for people who have retired and wanted to live a satisfactory life. There were benches, ornamental trees, the gravel path lined with deciduous trees, round and rectangular flower beds and scattering of reddish orange leaves the ground never seized. 

I pulled out the camera from it's protective cover and clicked pictures of the Crystal water fountain, dead and fallen leaves on the floor, a poor mother, with forlorn emotions in her eyes breastfeeding a little child with red beanie, dogs catching freebies and everything I could in a span of three hours. 

Later, I settled on the metal bench to listen to the soothing melody of whispering leaves, cries of babies and barks of dogs. After I feasted on a granola bar, I pulled myself up to roam the streets of Zurich. 

A wide variety of shops lined the nearby streets; antique and art stalls, jewelry and accessories stores, luxury boutiques, souvenir kiosks and stores selling leather goods. It was a witness of the array of finest merchandise. Tourists flocked to them like fireflies to a lamp, enthusiasm accentuating their features. The chimes of bells that tickled incessantly as people marched in and out of the shops, with hands filled with bags and polythene. 

I was awestruck and amazed, my eyes wide and twinkling out of delight and zest. Pulling out my list, I reminded myself about the important things I had to buy before plunging into the busy streets. 

It was eight by the time I had satisfied my eagerness to explore and get lost and live like there was no tomorrow. My Google maps showed that I was six miles far from my hotel which I had passed on foot. Hailing a cab from the stand I settled insided. I sighed, closing my eyes for a second. 

My phone was dead because of its continuous usage for location. I rolled down the glass, placing my elbow and then resting my chin on top. The wind was claiming my hair, like always and I sighed. This was truly the best day of my life. In spite of being tired till my soul, I have never felt so complete before. As if there was a zeal which had throned my body and I was under its mercy. 

As soon as I stepped in the room, I felt heavy and so tiresome that throwing myself on the bed felt like the only thing in front of me, disillusioning the nomad of my soul, yearning for water into a mirage franchise. 

"Where were you? Why have you been ignoring my calls?" Theodore appeared from behind me, the kitchen area. 

I kept quiet, kicking off my shoes. 

"Will you answer me or not?" The tone of his words became harsher with each syllable, demanding. 

I cannot recognize the feeling that came over me, it wasn't speechlessness. I wanted to make him angry deliberately to see how far he could push me so I broke. I wanted to usher the monster out of him and know how dangerous it could be. Honestly, I was shitless scared but at the same time it attracted me towards his darkness. To solve him wasn't something I was keen about though. Rather I'd have preferred getting lost in the maze of his enigma.

I turned around and smiled. A wave of confusion passed over his strong masculine features. "As you said that it was a vacation for me, so I was traveling and enjoying my vacation." My voice was so sweet that one could have diabetes hearing it. 

"It was your responsibility to at least inform me about your endeavors."

"I'd have not minded a bit to do so…but someone said one to not cross their path." I said strongly, no fakeness. That was how far I could go with being pretentious. 

"And just because of your sneaky game, the hotel staff looked at you going out alone. Don't you know that there could be people shooting you and the very next day it'd be published that on the very next day of the wedding the wife was roaming around without her husband! You know how it'd tarnish my image?"

I stepped into my room and said, "It's none of my concern."And with that the door was slammed right on his face. He was huffing and cursing on the other side of the door and a small feeling of accomplishment swept my heart. 

I got out from my clothes, throwing them into a side in a pile and dashed into the bathroom. After a long relaxing shower, I started pasting the pictures I took today along with writing a small quote/note below it. 

After the little argument, I knew sleep wasn't going to come easily that night. So, I went to the pool in the backside and mused about today's day and then strategized about tomorrow… 

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♡Even if you are miles away

If you love someone more than anything

You can feel them when you close your eyes

As if your souls are together as one. ♡

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