Broad, bustling roads with cars rushing home as the nightfall approached closer,  what stood out in crowd was the black, polished and shinning BMW, when all cars came to an halt due to the red light, and all others were agitated to go home, the driver of the BMW stood out more, the sheer aimlessness and lack of will of his way. 

dushyant could have been driving this car all day long, but his eyes didn't seem fatigued from this, but rather morose. there was complete silence in the car, the sheer noise of the chaos in his head was more drowning than any noise that could come from the radio. 

he looked around, everything he could see outside the window, an unexplainable state of trance he felt within himself, as he looked more and more. 

A dark cinema hall, with the only source of light being the transporting projection of the movie that played on the main wall. A young dushyant, not a day above 16, sitting next to his father, as he tried to wipe another tear of his, forcing them to stop, but they couldn't help but flow, as when his hand went inside his basket for more popcorn, he found it to be empty, that only bought more water works. He felt a touch on his hand, still in the basket, it was his father's, who was crying his heart out as well. 

"aap toh keh rahe the, mere top karne pe celebrate karne aaye hain...yahan toh..." chocked dushyant, getting only more overwhelmed, as his father cried more. 

"saala woh rajesh maar khayega kal mujhse...yeh film dekhne ko bhej diya...mujhe aur bete ko rulane ko...." retorted his father back, as dushyant started to wipe them off a bit, getting better. 

"nahi, picture toh achi hai..." said dushyant softly, as a smile crept up on his father's face too, and dushyant wiped his tears. 

"roya mat kijiye....jhuriyan zyada dekhti hai aapki maathe waali!" exclaimed dushyant, as his father only chuckled more, as dushyant let out a little of his too.

"beta, i'm really proud of you...tum joh bhi karo...yeh baat kabhi mat bhulna..." stated his father, as a smile crept onto dushyant's face. 

"main hamesha wahi karunga jisse aapko mujh pe proud feel ho..." assured dushyant, as his father brushed his hair lovingly, an adoring glance exchanged between them, said more than any words could suffice. 

A blaring horn blasted right into dushyant's ear, as he returned back to earth, to find the traffic light turned to green, and he started his engine, to drive away. 

                                                                         ***

the car was raced through on the speed of 120, coming onto a halt only when it was bashed into a tree on the way, but something seemed so intentional to it, it made the scene more alarming and a sad sight to look at. 

a 16 year old purvi, comes out of the car, slamming the door shut. one look around should have been enough for her to know, that it was a deserted and abandoned forest area, a narrow and broken road in the middle, she just drove through. 

but it seemed to have not mattered, even if someone probably screamed right into her ears, the screams inside her head were getting too loud for her, she let them all out in one breath, shouting at the top of her lungs. her glance fell on a big rock, in front of the tree the car dashed into, she grabbed hold of it, and started to hit the car door with it, creating more dents, when flashes started to hit in front of her eyes. 

'a hot and steamy shower was running, mist all around the bathroom, he had a tight grasp on her, a passionate kiss between them, intense...unknowingly, purvi had entered the scene, horrified, she ran away from there. her father noticed it, perplexed and shocked, not knowing whether to go after her or not, but she had left long before to ever know....but it didn't even matter now, the damage was done.' 

she stopped denting the car, as she remembered herself as a wide-eyed and joyful 6 year old, her head snucked outside the window, her father handed her a cone of her favourite chocolate ice cream and she felt on the top of the world. she remembered him patting her shoulder lovingly, wasn't it supposed to be forever? 

she broke down in front of the car, a full-fledged meltdown, as she just screamed as loudly as she could. 

purvi opened the door to her room, bani, equm and kavin, all had occupied three different corners of the room, their noses on their phones, as purvi had a joyful smile on her face. 

"i baked a cake!" announced purvi excitedly, placing it at the center of the bed. there was a lot of effort put into it, well decorated, just like something that might have been from a bakery. a smiley face made on top though, did brought out the emphasis on how hard she was trying hear. 

kavin, not only shocked, but looked at purvi as if saying, 'what the fuck', equm, just raised his brow at her in complete astonishment, and bani, didn't even notice. 

"kya hua? chocolate cake nahi pasand tumhe? dusra banaon?" questioned purvi immediately, clearly not reading the room well here. 

"purvi, yeh, matlab....i mean, iss waqt..." attempted kavin to form a proper sentence to put his feelings to, as equm was profoundly perplexed, meanwhile, bani exchanged one glance with him, this was something borderline unbelievable for them. 

"are you high?" asked equm genuinely, as kavin was apalled with his statement. 

"equm! mind your language!" rebuked kavin, as bani let out a scoff, just the thought equm talking about being high was something kavin felt like scolding him for, the irony was just too much to ignore. 

"and purvi, what the fuck is wrong with you! jasmine literally missing hai! police thi yahan kuch hi ghante pehle...and you are making a chocolate cake out of all things!" scolded kavin, as equm just face palmed himself. 

'lagta aane waale dinon mein LSD lena shuru karna padega...naya hi circus shuru ho gaya yahan...' muttered equm to himself, his hands already reaching his pockets, for his cannabis. 

"aapne bhi toh dopeher ko biryani banayi thi..." stated bani with annoyance, as equm just shook his head in disbelief, secretly snorting the canabis from his hands, just done with everyone here. 

"arre toh tumhara mood thik karne ke liye tha, tum kuch khaa bhi nahi rahi thi dhang se.." argued kavin, as purvi glared at him. 

"oh please, tumhe bas iss baat se problem hai ki bachon ko do minute ke liye bhi kaise lag sakta hai ki unki maa ek chudail ya daayan nahi hai!" yelled purvi, as kavin covered his face again. 

"purvi, please bachon ke saamne.." attempted kavin to plead, as bani scoffed. 

"oh no please, don't mind us...bachpan se lekar ab tak yeh dusri baar hoga jab humne aapko baat toh karte dekha hai...please, continue..." blurted out bani, as kavin glared at her. 

"bani, behave yourself! aise baat karte hain apne parents se!" yelled kavin, as purvi laughed mockingly. 

"bade shauk se kehte the, purvi tum jao kaam pe, main, ghar bache sab sambhalunga...main hoona na..." stated purvi scornfully, as equm was just lying back peacefully with his eyes closed, the cannabis clearly working well.

"atleast main apne bachon ki shakal toh dekhta hoon din mein ek baar!" yelled kavin, as purvi looked at him with disbelief. 

"acha, father of the year, aur kya kiya tumne?" questioned purvi, even more dismissive of him, as kavin was furious right now, bani meanwhile just watched them amused by the whole scenario. 

it didn't seem like the madness would be ending soon. 

                                                                    ***