episode 2
PPD spluttered and coughed as he felt his saliva trickle down his trachea. He raised his head and looked around, disoriented. It was a dark alley, a thin sliver of light coming in from the archway about 500m down from where he lay. He felt his legs....yes, he was intact. He suddenly remember the Guest. Where was she?? He looked up and saw a body lying about 10 feet away. "Hey D?" he asked in a hoarse voice, coughing. There was pin drop silence. He pulled himself up onto his elbows, and dragged himself to her lifeless form. "D?" he shouted at her, prodding her shoulder with two taps. "Are you ok?"
"Don't you dare say activate the AED," came the Guest's precise voice. "I don't need CPR yet!"
"This has by far, been your worst idea!" whined PPD.
"No shit!" said the Guest, with a twinkle in her eye. She sat up hesitantly, and noticed her joints didn't seem to ache anymore. She looked down at herself. She was dressed pink salwar kameez, and her hands looked soft and youthful! PPD looked at her quizzically. "What happened to your face?" he asked. "What happened to it?" she asked, feeling it hesitantly. "You are like, 40 years younger!"
"You are looking quite youthful yourself!" she observed, looking at his huge mop of brown black hair and baby smooth skin.
PPD held out a hand and the Guest hauled herself onto her feet. They stumbled through the long tunnel towards the light.
The city scape in front of them was unrecognisable to the Guest. It was a quiet road, in front of a school with large iron gates.
A dark shadow passed overhead and they both looked up to see the looming figure of Mrs. khan. "And what are you two doing outside the class room!" bellowed the amazon of a woman. "Umm...." PPD looked around confused. "Get back into the 9B classroom right now Omar S, before I report you to the Principal," she thundered. PPD shook visibly in his boots, (darpoke mode activated) while the Guest stretched herself up and adjusted the pinafore of her uniform. "And you, missy, get back to 9B before I call your parents," boomed the Amazon, looking suspiciously at the pair.
PPD and the Guest walked back to the classroom looking dishevelled and rough for wear. They saw the other kids in the class roll their eyes when they entered. "Late to school again?" asked Mrs. Kaul sarcastically. "He got me late," said the Guest, pointing at PPD, throwing him under the bus. "You see," started PPD, "We were cycling to school when we stumbled upon a fat man lying on the side of the road in yellow spandex shorts with a broken bicycle." "He had cycled a 1000 kilometres, all the way from a far off land," added the Guest. "So we escorted him to the nearest hospital, and then came immediately to school," finished PPD.
Mrs. Kaul looked entirely unimpressed with the narrative. "Get on your chairs, I'm about the distrubute the annual term papers."
"Bottom of the class, as usual," said the sadistic Mrs. Kaul "is Omar C." The entire class roared and cheered as little Omar Chaudhary sheepishly collected his English papers. The daily assassination continued in Mrs. kaul's characteristic ruthlessness, till she reached the last few students. "Third place, with 25/30, is Shailesh Raina." The class cheered as Shailesh trotted to the front of the class, lifting his hands high in the air with his characteristic exuberance. His faint moustache was getting more and more prominent as the days went past.
"Second place.....with 27/30, is Omar. No not you Omar Salim. It's Omar B." Omar Bashir's pimply face cracked into a broad smile as he walked to the front of the class. A few of the girls simpered, because he was the class favourite. "And in first place...." She said theatrically, "TIED for first place is Omar Salim and Dhanwanti Rajwade." The entire class was covered in deathly silence. This was a rivalry that had gone on for 9 years, since 1st standard. It was a standard toggle between 1st and 2nd place, making them into bitter academic rivals. Tying for first place? That was impossible. The Guest gave PPD a withering stare. "C'mon," he said kindly to her, offering her his hand in hand shake. She tossed her head and walked to the front of the classroom, visibly irritated, to collect her paper. "So the question is," Mrs. Kaul continued. "Who do we give the prize to?" The Guest looked stricken. PPD looked calm. "Listen, she wants it very badly. She can have it," he offered, seeing her face turn a weird shade of purple. "Huh? I don't want a charity prize," said the allegedly 'competitive' Guest. "But the prize is just too good to let go of!" chorused all the 5 remaining Omars, cheering on their namesake. A poster stating the prize hung boldly on the bulletin board:
"WORLD PREMIER OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S play. STRATFORD UPON AVON, 17TH APRIL 1634"
"There's only one way to settle it," said the Guest. "Saz loung?" asked PPD, knowing her strengths.
"Yes, either that, or stone paper scissors."
SAZ LOUNG SAZ LOUNG chorused the class as they followed them to the ground. "Just beat it" played loudly over the loudspeaker system.
Three hours later, PPD and the Guest collapsed in fatigue. All the Omars had left out of boredom. The game had tied repeatedly, many times over.
"You can both go to Stratford upon Avon," conceded an exhausted Mrs. kaul. She couldn't handle this level of competitiveness.
"Up for it?" asked the Guest, with a twinkle in her eye.
"You bet," said PPD, who was a die- hard fan of William.
----------to be continued in episode 3