Storii-girl!

Chapter 1 : The first night! She fastened the silver earing, smoothed her dupatta (a long scarf) and stepped back to look at herself. She bid goodbye to her parents and stepped out, excited for the night. Her friends came to pick her up in their car. Every year there was a large celebration of garba at there university campus grounds.  As they entered the campus, five of them - Era, Formi, Helly, Saniya, Anaya, the dhol (double headed drum) echoed through the air, syncing with the hum of voices, laughter and the sharp clink of dandiyas striking together. The air was alive with the sounds of dhol and laughter. Nine nights of Navratri meant nine nights of music, colors and endless energy. Era had always loved this time of year - the chaos, the togetherness, the way everyone seemed to leave their worries at home. Soon the group spun to life. Swirling skirts, clapping hands, the rhythm of sticks striking in harmony. She lost herself  in the  steps, twirling, laughing, moving ...

OUR FOREVER! The curtains in her room were drawn tight; but the sun still crept in; painting faint streaks across the wall. She got up and rubbed her eye. Her eyes darting to the corner where a shadow seemed to crouch, watching. She froze. Her breaths caught. She blinked once, twice. And it was just a chair. She exhaled sharply while repeating , "it is just a chair, just a chair". Mornings were always the hardest, it was not easy living with schizophrenia after all. A knock came at the door after she was freshened up and sitting at the window. It was their maid who came with her breakfast. From eating to sleeping .....everything was done in silence within the walls of her big room. To society , she didn't exist. Hidden away since childhood. She was her family's unspoken secret. It wasn't cruelty, it was fear - fear of shame, fear of whispers, fear of not being the perfect family, fear of what would happen if the world knew their daughter had schizophrenia. Her eye...

She heard it in the most causal way, while passing the food around. Someone said -  who said, maybe her mother or her sister, but in that moment nothing mattered, all that mattered was what was said. "He got engaged" Suddenly she was not hungry but she still kept her head down and ate. A strange stillness wrapped around her, as if her heart has stopped, the room has paused but the world outside kept moving. It had been months since the hope had died in slow pieces, but hearing this now, it was like someone had come to bury what little was left. She thought of the several times she has seen him - in social gatherings, in photos, at her Nana's house (mom's dad). She always knew,  even when she was little, that her heart felt different when he was around. Liking someone from afar for so many years, god! its so frustrating, So one day, She gathered all her courage and, she can never forget that day. It was when he came to her Nana's house, she and her mother were also...