Krishna lay slumped down on his sofa. He had just returned from a visit to Sinha uncle. He thought of reading something but felt too tired. He would probably have watched TV if the remote wasn't across the table. Getting up to fetch it was out of the question. He listened to the ticking of wall clock for a while but it made him dizzy. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep his mind off her. Everything was fine till last night. He had not even given her a second thought before going to bed. It was only after he got up in the morning, he felt the aftermath.
He was visiting home for Diwali. Last morning, the family had finally planned a long-due temple visit. He wasn't much of a temple-goer, but family outings were always relaxing. Though he had gotten up early, he had dozed off as soon as he sat in the car. And before he knew it, they were at the temple. The temple was, as one is during festive seasons, crowded. They joined the queue, which was moving very slowly. Krishna remembered visiting this temple as a kid. It had changed a lot in these years. The shops were not just selling pooja thaals. They now also had keychains, toys, pendants and even balloons! There were hundreds of such shops along the way. All of them glittering and most of them modernised dramatically with computerised counters. It looked more like a street market. And the way people had gathered made it seem even more so.
Before he could dwell further into the surroundings, he heard that voice, right next to his ear. Instinctively, he turned, but the voice was gone. He looked around and found that he had lagged behind his family. All he could hear was the crowd's murmur. Maybe it was his imagination? But it definitely didn't feel so. He was still wondering when he heard it again. He turned immediately and there she was, right beside him, staring into his eyes. He didn't move. All he could do was to stare back, blankly. Then someone pushed, and the queue's order was disrupted. Some growled some biffed, some cursed and some simply gave grumpy looks. And in all this commotion, Krishna lost her again. He wondered where she kept vanishing. Although he didn't realise why he waited for her to reappear. He didn't know whether it was anxiety or curiosity, but the sight of her made him uneasy. In a few moments, the commotion subdued, and he saw her again. She had come around and was now to his other side, staring right at him, again. He didn't take his eyes off her, but also wondered if anyone saw him. He didn't know what to do. She had caught him off-guard. In fact, he was a bit surprised at the way she was looking at him. He could tell that she was definitely up to something as if she was going to make a move. This made him nervous. He considered ignoring her and jumping the queue, but there was not enough space. He felt trapped. And then, without a warning, she came at him and before he could protest, she planted a desperate kiss on his cheek. He instinctively swayed his arm and hit the man in front of him. Now it was his turn to be cursed and pushed. But before he could get a hold of himself, that man had mistakenly hit someone else and just like that, another commotion started. Well, at least that was good luck. It took only a few moments for the things to simmer down, but by now, she was gone. Krishna looked about frantically, but she was nowhere to be found.
Was that for real? Did that really happen? He had felt it on his cheek though. And it had given him a weird feeling. He had definitely not seen that coming. He had been a little worried at first but then decided to let it go. Maybe he was over-reacting. But the way it all happened had left him stumped. With a deep sigh, he had pulled himself together and tried not to think about it.
His phone rang and brought his mind back to the present. The display read "Dr. Sinha calling".
"Hello?". He answered quickly, eager to listen to what Dr. Sinha had to say.
"Hello Krishna. Well, I have got your blood test report here, and I am afraid that you were right. The mosquito that bit you was a 'her' and your malaria test has come back positive."
