THE JUSTICE ANOMALY

Chapter 1: Reunion

As the sun crawled down from under the clouds that were starting to mask the swirling flames of dusk, the world seemed to adjust with the changes happening as of late, as it did with the daily transitions of day into night.

I sat on the swing looking down at my feet dragging grass. A soft wind jingled the bells from somewhere afar. The constant squeaks of the swings broke the surrounding silence. 

And there on the swing to my right sat the person, times had taken away from me.

Julie.

Alongwith my parents, I had went to the airport upon hearing she was coming back. I didn't know what I felt. It had been so long. We barely spoke in the car and it had been nothing short of awkward. On the contrary, our parents seemed to be getting along just fine. Like they had come back from a trip and were casually sharing their thoughts. I don't get how they are so good at socialising.

Those moments kept on spinning in my head...

"So, you're back, huh?" I tried my best smiling.

Both were in the uncomfortable territory, still it was polite to make the other relax by speaking normally, like nothing had ever happened.

Bullshit.

"Um... yeah. And I don't know what to say. It's something I had always wanted. To be back at the place I grew up in. Since the day we parted ways, because of my father's transfer, I kept thinking about my life before- how it could've been. But gradually I adjusted with the new environment. Now I'm back at my birthplace. It does feel a bit awkward." She broke into embarrassed chuckles.

"Trust me, it'd get better." I placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's not like you'd be leaving again, right?"

"Nope! It's permanent I think. Dad retired, and Mom has found a job back here. It's not like she did anything important back there anyway so it wasn't a big deal. And they all did it because of me." Her smile was so pure. Contagious.

"Let's meet somewhere."

"What?" she was clearly taken aback.

And that's how we came to be here, in the park. The car dropped us off here, like five minutes ago with the parting voice of my mother, "You kids enjoy!" as the car disappeared at the end of the curb.

I looked at her. The same posture and same look as mine was visible in her outlook. She looked into my eyes, two dazzling stars brightening my orbs of dark night, probably upon noticing my gaze on her.

"Remember the times when we played video games at your place? You always tickled me to win." A cute grin fell across her face.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I was of the naughty type. Still am if you ask my friends." I gave a cheeky grin in return. It was fun to look back on memories. They were the only things left with us after years had taken away our life of the old. It felt like it was another life altogether.

She looked away... far into the distance. "Wow..." she almost mumbled, "how the times have changed, heh, I still remember it so clearly. Us falling asleep after loads of bickering, our parents often leaving us together to look out for each other..." she lost herself into the beautiful past we had sometime left behind.

"It's nice though..." I said, almost to myself.

"Huh, what?" she looked at me quizzically.

"Now that you're here," I looked at her with gentle eyes boring the care and affection of an old friend, finishing the sentence. "We did spend quite some time away from each other, walked on different paths, made different moments we could've made together. But life has given us another chance," I smiled. "To be back, together."