They opened their eyes and found themselves in a place which was certainly not their house. With a confused look Janhavi and Jaivik looked at Jeevan who for some reason didn't look shocked at all.
"So do you know where we are Jeev?" Asked the two
Jeevan nodded in response.
"Okay, so where are we?"
"We are in the basement of our cousins' house."
"What exactly are we doing here?"
"Oh so the permanent door of our world happen to be here."
"How do you know this?"
Jeevan explained how he had gotten there and also that his diary said that the temporary door was currently in their house bringing negativity but there
was nothing to worry about as it would find another place soon and will take all its negativity with it, after all it was temporary. He also proposed the theory that they were here probably because unlike usual Jeevan wasn't in their house when he left for the other world instead he was there in the basement.
It was only when they were finished talking and decided to leave when they heard someone come open the door of the basement. It was none other than their cousins who had large, thick wooden sticks in their hands for some reason.
"What are you even doing here?" Asked Gopal
"Uhmm.... okay..... so....."
The three were trying to make an excuse but happen to find none. So with certainty of not being believed after they told the truth. Which there cousins somehow believed.
"Now that I think of it something strange happened when I was little. So one day I got up at night and went to the bathroom, when I was on my way back to bed for some reason I took a detour and decided to check out the basement, I found the door open and when I went in I was back in my bed, being a kid, I was creeped out but somehow convinced myself it was a really really realistic dream I happened to see. I saw it again and again for a long time." Said Gopal
"Yeah, you told me about something like that."
"Something about this basement really felt different but we thought we were being stupid."
"Long story short we believe you."
"Also about what you told me" said Janhavi "I think you are right."
"Finally you agreed, I wonder what changed your mind."
"A question." Said Jeevan
"Yeah."
"Why are you having sticks in your hands?"
"Oh we heard noises from the basement and found it open so we thought someone has broken in."
"Makes sense."
Next day the three returned their home. As Janhavi had decided she huged Jeev and Jai hard and will finally told them,
"We are done teaching tuitions, you won't be laughed at anymore, I am sorry I ain't mummy, I ain't Papa, I ain't the big sis you imagined me to be, I ain't strong, I ain't independent, I ain't responsible. I am sorry, this world is cruel, this reality is cruel, Mummy, Papa, Uncle and Aunt are all gone, sadly they'll never return, atleast not in the form we remember them in. Life is unfair, time is unfair, it won't stop or become easy to pass, because we are recovering, we are mourning or because we are simply kids, it's gonna be harsh but there will be people who'll support us no matter, no matter how weak we are, no matter how stupid and childish we are, no matter how crazy and sensitive we are. I am sorry I am late to tell you this, let's hold hands together through this all, so that one day when we are older, we can finally laugh together and say I love you."
"It's alright sis we don't blame you." Said the two brothers
"Sis, we have relied on you for so long. We don't intend to do it, not anymore. Me, you and Jeev all of us we have hidden our feelings from each other for so long, I feel it's time we stop doing that. You needn't act like the tough one, instead when you feel disheartened and like you couldn't do anything anymore lean on our shoulders for sometime, and when we feel like that we'll lean on yours after all that's what family is for. None of us is perfect, and there's a reason because of which God made us like that. As when you try to be perfect you start improving and once you start improving you change for the better, and once you change it sooner or later starts effecting you're daily life and once that happens you're surroundings change too. And when they change it changes you again and through aiming towards perfection you as well as people around can get better and this process is called evolution." Jaivik finally expresed
"Sis, bro!" Said Jeevan "I have been a brat, given you a hard time. Despite not being the only one who has lost them I acted like I was. I thought, I thought, you have forgotten them. That moving on means forgetting, I have realised how stupid I have been. Moving on means excepting, excepting that, that though they aren't here beside us, we can't stop. It's the realization that they, they may not be here, they will never return, but it's gonna be alright, it's gonna be fine, we're alive and we need to keep living, on their behalf. Maybe, maybe, they're out there watching us from above, or maybe out there living another life. Wherever they are we want them to be happy, and I, I now know they live on in our hearts. We don't have to grieve them but-but cherish them, the moments we had with them, the lessons we learned from them and finally the life we got from them. This is moving on. I will, I will, try to move on, I believe I have begun to. At Diwali this year let me be the one to put garlands on their photos, I might be asking too much, but please. Not once- not once have I even looked at their pictures. Maybe I was the one trying to erase their memory, and for that I am truly ashamed. I-I will try to except instead of erase, I hope you'll be there to support me."
"Of course we will, that's what family is for. You can take you're time we rushed you for that we are truly sorry. At Diwali you can do so, you don't need our permission. There's never too much you ask from family, thats what family is. You don't need to be ashamed we all feel like that at times. Moving on is a process, it doesn't happen over night in or in a day. It takes time, months maybe years. Truly we haven't moved on there are times when this realization hits, we got the injury together so let's heal together as well and cherish all that we have. We love you and we'll always love, you no matter what happens. I promise."
Took two years to realise but once again the family had united. They were just teens thrown in the scary adult world. Walking here was difficult but when you hold hands, lean on shoulders, interlock hearts, and walk together with family and friends, it gets easier. They had finally realised it.
"Now that I think of it!" Jeevan smiled. "It's all because of you that I realised!" He pickedup his diary "You along with all the people we met helped me get there, I am so happy and I feel so grateful to you, Thank you. I mean it. You made me realise and se so much it's like you added a whole new chapter no a whole new volume to my book." He turned to Jaivik and Janhavi. "The best mistake I ever made was judge a book by its cover."
********
"Jeevan your turn."
"The answer of question number forty-eight is C option."
"Good job, sit down!"
Jeevan was sitting beside Moksh, talking to Lakshmi who was sitting behind him, eating his lunch, smiling at Suhani's joke. Moksh finally understood how wrong he was to turn his back on Jeevan and now he was determined to help him out.
"Hey Jeevan, let's go to my home today" Moksh said with a smile.
"Yeah!"
It took him time but he was back again as the cheerful boy he used to be but more mature. He knew what it meant to be hurt and healing was a long process but a process worthy enough to reach the destination. People come, people leave but this world continues to exist. The world is not bound to any person. This is the way of nature to show people are an aspect of our life not life itself, no matter what happens what we need to do is keep moving forward with their memories to cherish.