Then it happened...

I could hear my heartbeat, ‘lup dup lup dup’ and my footsteps echoing as I walked out of my workplace. The narrow passage with the overview of the city on one side and the other was a glass wall overlooking the lab I used to work. Now it was just a room, a computer and a lot of respect. I kept walking out as the lights installed on top switched on and off along with every step I took. A piece of technology installed and devised by myself, to save power or maybe it was my way to compensate for the long drives I took by myself for no reason-“Maintaining the energy balance”. The shadows forming for an instant and vanishing in a blink of an eye and the city never looked better with all the lights. It had rained earlier and the refraction of the city lights through the drops on the glass, something I ignored. I didn’t know what time it was and it didn’t bother me. I wasn’t wearing a watch anymore because time had lost its importance in my life. It never ran slow, it did when I gave it too much importance and it never flew off, it did when I took it for granted. I was almost out as I reached my keys in the pocket and realize its back in the office.

***

There was a congregation of water droplets thrown from the heavens down on earth. They had all gathered for a short moment on the palm of a leaf of the big banyan tree. They were moving from one to another having short stays and enjoying their unified motion. Now they were on a leaf closest to mother earth from where they all had begun their journey with sun as their travel partner. Taking them up and up into the heavens, converting into a mass of floating water vapor and sending back home. With lot of respect at our home, our importance ranging from survival to flowing unnecessarily at drains so kids can let their paper boats on a Sinbad journey. We loved it back at home and were excited to drop back there.

***

I ran back into my office as the lights acted like the ones at LL. I was back at the door, with keys in my hand and making a run towards my car and right at that moment… My eyes caught something on the other side of the road that made time take a break from its usual ‘tik tok’. There she was in a white dress on a dark cloudy evening. Holding a white umbrella and about to cross the road. I took a break from my run and wait for her to cross the road which never seem to happen because of the increase in traffic. She kept looking at the zooming cars, skeptical about every move she was making towards crossing the road. The wind blew her hair making it difficult for her to make a move in her mission. Her dress was flying with the wind as she was having her personal Marilyn Monroe moment and time for me was still on his break. And then there was a moment where the lights on the street were at an all time low with respect to the contrast with the no cars. It was the perfect romantic moment, the wind added to the ambience of the occasion and she made a run towards the other side and time was having a longer break than usual (because it hadn’t taken any with respect to me). She ran, bent a bit holding her dress down protecting it from the wind. Then she turned to look at me, embarrassed with a way she crossed the road. A smile was all set to spread across her face, her muscles at the sides of her mouth flexed with a pinch of embarrassment and attraction.

                                                                                                     ***                     

“Let drop back home”, they all said to themselves as they were going to skydive from the banyan tree back home.

***

I was about to return the favor by flexing my muscles and then tap tap tap tap tap… one by one, water droplets from the leaves above landed on my head. My hair moistened and my focus got shifted. The smile on her face turned into laughter at that moment and the embarrassment shifted from her smile into mine. There was an instant connection and right then,

“CUT’, shouted the director.

***

“Oh shit, where are we??” said one of the droplets.

“Oh what’s that? That white thing, it’s going to sweep us out… NOOO”

“That’s a hand and it’s going to destroy us”

“Shit”

***

On accepting the award the director said, "I think the scene became quite a sensation but it wasn't on the script. Now the movie is recognized by the scene, so thanks to those droplets. If you haven't seen closely, I've even given credits to them at the end of movie. Thank you"