Rarely does it happen
that one is happy to realize the contradiction between reality and dream. Nina’s
first holiday morning was one of those.
It took but a moment for her racing heartbeat to reach back
to herself; the picturesque view in front of her was to thank. The swishing sound of the river
against the still and silent surroundings was overwhelming. Nina forgot all
about the uncanny visuals from her dream. She was witnessing heaven in between the
hustle of her hectic life and she didn’t want to give it up to participate in
the group’s chaotic discussion of an adventurous plan. However, she knew that
whether she pitched in or not, what’s inevitable will happen.
“Who said that camping would be fun?” one of her friends (Sharon)
exclaimed while marching towards their camp.
“I did. In fact we all did. You got a problem with that?”
another one (Aneesha) defended.
“Well, try to poop in that gross toilet, and let me know if
you could even manage to make number one”, she shouted back.
Nina’s urge to pee just got worse. She, like all other
girls, could not stand unhygienic sanitation. What the heck was she going to do for the rest of the trip? She
took her chances and began her exploration. To her relief, it wasn’t all that
bad. Talk of number one, she even made number two in one go. Hurray! This was a
going to be good holiday.
Soon they all wrapped up to jeopardize their lives for seeking
pleasure from a bit of adrenalin rush. They were not alone. It looked like the
whole town was there to relish the adventure of water sports. With their life
jackets on and matching helmets buckled tight, the girls looked cute and the
guys an admirable sight. Feeling estrogen-drained, Nina sped up her way to the raft.
She hadn’t made love to Abhay in a while and she didn’t feel a thing being around
that hunk of a pack. Was something wrong
with her? She thought the same. But there was no answer, at least not right
there.
They all lined up on the shore, sincerely listening to the
rafting dos and don’ts. Nina got shit scared and almost backed out but her
friends didn’t let her and instead promised her a safer seat on the raft. And
it began. All in that group were losers in the name of sport; the raft didn’t
even move a few meters when the guide had to pull for a stop. He pumped some
motivation, or at least he tried, and they were slowly moving towards the right
side. Excitement heightened when the first wave hit them in the face, except
for Nina who tucked herself further in the raft proving to be a joke for all of
them. Maybe for all except one, a guy leading the group seemed quite interested
in her from the instant the two groups were merged for the rafting trip. Somehow
Nina didn’t like the extra attention, and manned up to face the silly tides on
her own. She managed to love them one by one and eased her grip on the ropes
that held her in.
The flow was treating them good and it looked like the group
had picked up on the skill. Nina’s eyes met Aneesha’s and they smiled. Aneesha
was admiring that she could make it here with her friends and that she could
witness them all having so much fun.
But to make it last, their eyes had to be on the road (or river).
There came a big tide and that smile turned all white. It took Nina along with
it drowning her in the river upside down.