Spells

Chapter 5: Exploring

Abhimanyu

It was exactly seven am when Abhimanyu woke up from the sound of his brother continuously banging on his door.

"Abhi... Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!" Arul was yelling from the other side.

Abhimanyu slowly walked up to and opened his bedroom door, glaring at Arul's bright face.

"What?" he asked sleepily.

"You said we would go explore the town today." Arul replied chirpily.

"I meant in the afternoon, Arul."

"Nooo, dad will make us help him unpack in the afternoon. And it will be hot outside then, too. Let's go now."

Abhimanyu lets out a sigh and nodded. It was pointless to argue, whether he came or not, Arul was going to go right now... And he didn't want him wandering in a new place all alone. "I will meet you downstairs in five minutes." he said calmly, closing the door.

...

It had been thirty minutes since they'd been out, and the most interesting thing they had seen yet were a few differently shaped houses! Rest looked the same, just varying in sizes. They had stopped along the roadside a while back and started looking at the mountains around. Unlike Kuldhara, they were beautiful and untouched, the green blanket only broken by white smudges of dense fog. The dense gray clouds in the sky made them a picture-perfect spot.

Should have bought the camera... Oh well, the view isn't going anywhere, I will get many more chances.

"Let's go that way." Arul pointed to a small opening through the woods.

"Sure," replied Abhimanyu, taking his eyes off from the scenic view. He could see a couple of houses ahead. They started trodding again... Gazing everywhere. It would have been hard for a passer-by to determine they were brothers. Abhimanyu, though only a year older, was much taller and muscular, with high cheekbones and a longer face cloaked by his wavy hair. His nose had a slight curve, and his eyes were a deep shade of blue. Arul, on the other hand, was short and almost bony, with a round face, and straight hair covering much of his forehead. Large oval glasses surrounded his wide brown eyes.

"You wanna go back now?" Arul yawned. "I'm bored."

"Get ready for a few years of this." Abhimanyu shrugged. "Let's try a different route."

They continued on one of the more damaged roads. No birds chirping or the buzzing of cicadas filled the air, only the occasional click-clack of their footsteps broke the silence. The signature houses of the town, with fading yellowish wall paint, dingy dry wood porches and tiny gardens full of weeds, were becoming scarcer. All of them looked abandoned, or at least on the verge of it. If he had to describe this town in one word, Abhimanyu would have chosen 'dying'.

Arul

"Finally, at least some people come out of their houses here!" Abhimanyu suddenly exclaimed on the way back.

It took Arul a few moments to realise his brother was looking at a few children playing basketball. Until now, they had only seen a chai vendor and a group of three people taking a stroll, so he could understand Abhimanyu's excitement. "Let's go say hi." He suggested.

Abhimanyu was already on the way. There were four children, two of them looked about their age, two of them a lot older, playing on a cemented plot with a loose hoop hanging at about twelve feet height.

"Should we ask them to let us play?" Arul whispered, catching up to his brother, ignoring the fact that he didn't really know how to play basketball.

" Sure," replied Abhimanyu with a smile. "Can we play too?" he asked the largest of the four playing.