The Stranger's Kiss

The Stranger's Kiss

They were travelling by the train and they were not together. He was in his seat and she just settled in her seat. He was looking at her; No, he was watching her intently; No, he was actually staring at her!

She did not notice him as she caught the train in a hurry. She thought she would miss the train. Though it was a short distance she wanted to take the train. She always took the train as the only other option available was bus, and she hated journey by bus. The buses were always crowded and she would never get a seat. Trains were far better, the journey would be comfortable and she would be home early too. On top of that, she could avoid the traffic, which was taking a toll on her already tedious work life these days. She preferred to take a nap always and was happy that she got a seat. She closed her eyes and relaxed her breath by trying to bring back the rhythm that was lost because of the short sprint she made to the train. She was successful in two ways: she caught the train and she had a seat. She was all set for her journey. She closed her eyes not knowing that he was staring at her.

Not sure whether he thought she was beautiful, but he was impressed by her and wanted her attention. He was looking at her and she did not even know that he was here. He was disappointed and probably was angry that the person he wanted to impress does not even think he was worth looking at! In all these thoughts, he unknowingly took out a faint weird sound that woke her up. Not that she was sleeping, but she was at least trying to. She looked around to identify the source of the weird sound and noticed that he was staring at her. At first, she was uncomfortable, but in a matter of seconds she ignored him and closed her eyes again.

She could not sleep. She was thinking whether he was still looking at her. She opened her eyes and he was still staring at her. Only this time he was smiling and he had a little pride in his smile. After all, he had grabbed her attention! He continued the faint weird sound with his mouth wide open. She could not control and smiled back to him. She thought the sound was funny, not weird. Perceptions - those are the things that make this world most happening.

Half the battle won, he continued staring at her with his mouth wide open. Drops of saliva dripped from his mouth and that was not unnoticed by her. She wondered whether he was urging for a kiss!

Angry that there was no response from her, he started to go towards her, but was stopped by the two people travelling with him. His co-travelers were afraid of the consequences if he went to her. This is not the first time they are facing such situation. Similar things have happened before and they were embarrassed before. They knew exactly when to stop him and how to stop him. Most of the times he would listen to them, but sometimes he just wouldn’t.

Few minutes later, the train stopped at a station. It was time for her to get down. She got up from her seat, adjusted her dress and went straight to him – kissed him on his cheek. It was not a peck; it was a good kiss! Without saying another word she immediately got down.

He was overjoyed that he won and shouted at the top of his voice. Everyone around was looking at him and his co-travelers were yet again embarrassed by the behavior of their 9-month old son who was just kissed by a 50-year old co-passenger, a complete stranger, in a train!

~ R-Square

The First Step

The First Step

The “kid” saw daylight for the first time after getting its life. It took its own time to understand the colony – It had seen other babies grow along and was good at communicating with others and playing with others. It was its mother’s pet – and was not let out work whereas others started working long ago. The father was worried that their kid would be incapable and would be mocked in the colony.

Both the parents had long debates on when the kid could start going to work. After all, the father had seen others boast about their kids; how hard they work and how much they could save because of their kid(s) and here he was sitting dumb and unable to respond - all because the kid’s mother would not let it go out. What could she be afraid of, when others of the same age are able to do it!?

Finally, the day arrived - after the uncountable debates with the mother and that summer had come in and would be gone soon. This is the right time to start working – if this is not the time, then the kid would probably be mocked for the rest of its life and there would not be a way to allow the kid to live its life with respect.

A day of pride for the father who could boast about the kid when talking to the friends; a day of worry for the mother with the thought about how it would fare in this mean and miserable world where nobody cared for others’ well-being. The kid himself was happy, shaky, excited, tense and with a mixture of many other feelings that he could barely control. He went to work with all the knowledge he could gain from his parents and by the end of the day he was sure that everyone who came along was happy with the performance. He was bubbly, provided fresh ideas and fared really well and he was already being compared to his parents for what the kid could achieve in its life. All this on the first day – the day the kid took its first step.

While returning back – the kid could see the mother waiting for the team to get back home before dark. They were returning in a line and the kid was last in line. They were very near the hole when it started raining ‘sugar’. Yes! It was raining sugar! There was no line now – everyone was happy and now started breaking the line especially the newbies. The kid was looking at its mother and wanted to avoid the sugar rain and take shelter and thud..! A flat block fell on the kid’s head and it could not get up anymore and lay dead.

Almost immediately the room erupted with applause - the baby had taken its first step! Everybody was so happy in the room and started kissing the baby and appreciating that it had learnt to walk so soon.

Needless to say, no one in the room saw the kid (ant) die under the (human) baby’s foot.

~ R-Square