a sweet reprise........(I)

Chapter 1

The sun was a huge red and orange ball, surrounded by clouds reflecting its hue, slowly disappearing behind them, signaling that twilight was near.

In the bright late sunset low light, there was a handsome, tall young man in his very early 30s, who was strolling in a beautiful park along with his wife. He would easily pass for a person who is positive, successful, and who took life in his stride and was not bothered by anything negative in his life.

Two small boys and a girl were running ahead in the park chasing each other, followed by their parents who looked happily involved in a small talk. On closer look, they looked a happy family in for a stroll in the park.

The picture perfect image of the last scene where the happy family were strolling in the park began to blur slowly thereby making the image fade slowly into a big blank darkness......

Chapter 2

Steve got up early and went over his usual morning routine of exercising in the treadmill set up in his balcony, with a natural backdrop facing him. He usually had the windows in the balcony open to feel the fresh air when he was exercising, it felt really great to be blended with nature that too in this fast paced life!!!

Steve was a college-going well-to-do guy, it was not necessary that he score high grades or even struggle to come up in life, everything was easy for him, rich parents, and to add to that he was a smart, handsome guy who could grasp anything easily, and he was a positive guy, he had solution for any problem in his life, he believed in tackling the problems and going forward rather than being stranded with any problem.

Chapter 3

Today's class was as usual, nothing to grab his attention much, he was very good at Math, otherwise other subjects were okay. Just casually, when he looked around, he noticed that there was a girl sitting in the same row as his who was listening to the class intently with great interest just as a kid listens to a bedtime story. She was not his type of girl anyways. All she could think about was books and grades, she had no time for anything else, to be short a full-fledged bookworm, not at all his type!

Seline's parents died when she was very young, and since then she had been raised by a distant cousin to her mother. Her aunt and uncle were not doing that well. Her uncle was working as a clerk in an office, and they had to support their two daughters already! Seline thought them as her own real parents though what she got in return was not that great for there is always a great difference between real parents and foster parents and foster siblings who were kind of jealous of her for she was good in studies as well as looks a double plus for they were zero in both, so she showed all her love for studies, for she wanted to become independent and be able to support her foster family, in an effort to gain their support and respect.

Chapter 4

After college, Steve reached the place where he had parked his silver and black classic motor bike, he had never really understood why he had a liking for the classic variety of motorbikes! He started his motorbike, his favorite, he liked to feel the wind blowing on his face when he rode through the town road, that was not possible in the multi-model/colored cars that they had! May be in future that may change, but for now, clearly a bike was his choice!

He had his birthday coming in a week, and there were many things to do, though he had people to do all for him; still birthdays were a special occasion for him, the only day when he can hang out with friends of all status, otherwise, he would be given a class of whom to speak and whom not to, he was fed up of the class barriers in friendship, according to him, there should be no barriers when it came to affection of the heart and friendships, but such things were novel to his parents who were governed by the laws of society and hierarchy.

Chapter 5

Seline took tuitions after college to aid in paying her college fees and books and all, and the rest she gave to her aunt to cover some household expenses. She loved to teach just the same as she loved to listen to a class, in short a good teacher and student all at the same time.

Children loved to be in her class, it was not like she picked good students and took a class for namesake, she concentrated in children who were very weak and made them bright by a lot of effort on her part as well as the child's, and her efforts always paid back in the form of good results for these children, and their parents usually applauded her and also gave her some gifts now and then, as a result of the happiness in seeing their struggling son/daughter do well in exams after going to tuition with her, it really made her proud to see them happy rather than receiving their gifts, and she would refuse them, but her aunt monopolized on them, saying, "why do you refuse them, when you are getting them just like that?", so she had no way other than to accept them from the parents, which in turn made her aunt tolerable and happy otherwise, which in turn gave her some peace of mind.

The only time, she was able to study was when she took classes; otherwise, she had to do all the chores helping her aunt in the spare time when her foster siblings were being forced to study against their will, so she had to do a combo - teach as well as learn, so she thought herself as one of the students and learnt with them, which also made learning an interesting thing, just as they say, when you are talented, you make anything unfeasible feasible!

Chapter 6

Today, the class was as usual boring, after which they were distributed cakes in the break, thanks to the birthday boy, Steve.

Steve, now seated amongst his usual happy gang of friends, somehow felt like watching his happy class, and his eyes caught Seline, he felt like he had found an oasis after a long walk in a harsh desert! Why did he feel like that all of a sudden? How can it be possible? May be time will tell.

Seline, unaware of all this, was kind of doing a little reading for exams were near and the intense coaching of her students left not much time for her to study, and she made use of these little breaks to her advantage.

After the break, they were distributed the preexam test papers, and as usual Seline topped in all of them, and one of Steve's friends was smirking with hatred. He always came second due to her, and he just wondered what made that poor girl come first with not much educated guardians to help or support her. Even though it was his friend's birthday, he could not be happy on account of this, and to cheer him up, Steve changed the topic to his birthday party celebration, and invited all of them to come without fail.