Shivika One Shots

#7 Counting stars

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•  Counting stars •

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Annika ruffled through their bags in the trunk while Shivay set up the tent. She had no idea where Shivay had stashed it but her hands kept searching for it.

“Just use the flashlight on your phone Annika,” he said, pinning the tent's edge to the support stick.

Still searching, she replied, “No! It’s too dim. I packed this one especially for this.”

Shivay speedened knowing she won’t be able to find it. She was still searching by the time he finished and walked to her.

One quick look, two more seconds of searching and there it was.

Shivay smiled, holding the flashlight in his hands, “You’re welcome.”

“You’re not thanked,” she said, stealing the flashlight from him.

Annika picked up a soft blanket from the trunk and headed towards the direction opposite to the tent.

“Where are you going?”

“To the stars,” she turned, grinning, “Come on.”

Her sheer excitement made him run. Nowadays, Shivay was only accustomed to running around in his office. It had been a while since he took a day off to breathe right.

Annika spread the blanket on the short grass and lay down on it the next instant. Shivay slithered next to her, huffing.

“So what are we doing?” he said, looking at her glowing face.

“Shh,” she whispered, like they were playing hide and seek or something.

Annika switched the flashlight on and aimed it to the sky. Shivay stared at her and at the constant dodging light.

Annika's excitement turned into disappointment.

“Why is the light not working?” At first Shivay did not understand. Because the flashlight was working, it’s shadows falling on the grass. But when he saw where Annika had aimed it, he knew.

“Flashlights don’t work that way Annika,” he took the light from her and dropped it on the grass, “see, here they do.”

He pointed it towards the sky, “Out there, they don’t.”

“Why?” she asked. Shivay thought of it as a dumb question. It was about science. But he knew Annika didn’t want to hear that. She wouldn’t care for science anymore than she cared about other people’s opinions.

So he said, “Well, the grass is dark,” he aimed the light on the coarse grass, “But the sky, even at night, it’s filled with light.”

Annika could see the stars, shining. The sky maybe graced with the smallest moon, lost somewhere. She was lost staring at the abundance of the twinkling stars. They were quiet, Annika's gaze fixed on the stars, Shivay’s gaze fixed on her. That was when he noticed a lone tear escaping her eye. He slashed it off with a cool calmness. He didn’t have to ask her why.

Annika noticed Shivay staring, “You won’t ask me why I’m crying?”

He smiled sadly, “I know you’ll tell me if you want me to know, Annika.”

“When I was small. When- they took my sister away. We didn’t have a permanent home after that. We slept where a roof covered our heads. And sometimes not even that. But that did not matter. Because everything I wanted was for her. Chutki,” Shivay just stared at her as she went on, more and more tears collecting in her eyes, “ Before I knew Gauri was Chutki- I prayed for her every night. Not to see her again, just for her to be okay. To not be counting the stars like me. Because that would mean she not having a roof. Sometimes when the stars were shining, I knew she was smiling. But…there were times when the sky had no Taare Shivay. It was all dark, and I had no idea what to do. Where to find her? Or if she was even alive-,” her voice broke.

She did not speak anymore, she just gulped through her silent tears.

A few seconds later Shivay wrapped his arms around her, cuddling her within and she was soaking his shirt with tears. His hand ran over her back, calming her. It was minutes before Annika's sobs quitened and she raised her eyes to his. His face was stricken with tears.

“Shivay, why are you crying?” she rose up, alarmed.

He did too, wiping his face, “Nothing. Just that I don’t know if I would have been fine with just staring at the stars if Om or Rudra would have-,” he sniffed, “You’re the strongest woman I know Annika, the strongest.”

Annika squinted her eyes. She wiped her face with her sleeves, slightly grinning, finally, “Say that in front of your mom. Only then will I believe it.”

“Haw.”

“What haw, you have to say it,” she said.

“No.”

“Aha! I knew you were lying!”

Shivay elbowed her shoulder, “The only reason I’m saying no is, I’m not driving back to say that.”

“Who told you to drive back? When we are done with this camping trip, as you call it, we will go home right? Then.”

Shivay shuddered. Annika maybe the strongest woman, but he did not know which woman was scarier, his mother or his wife.

“Still time Shivay. Accept it you’re lying.”

“No,” he nodded.

“All the best then,” she smiled.

Turns out he did say it. With a lot of grovelling and teasing on Annika's part. But he said it. And instead of getting fried, he was appreciated by his mom. Annika sometimes forgot how smooth things had gotten between them. The problem was with dadi. She teased and teased Shivay before he whispered something in her ears that finally made her smile too.

He did that a lot. Making people smile. Annika loved it. Loved him. And loved that smile he wore, when he made others smile.

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Okay sad times are over!
The next one, The sickness, is my favorite. It begins with Annika getting a fever but she tries to hide it from Shivay, who's away on a business trip. That does not end well. Check in about 2 days later for that chapter. Byee!