ON A TRAIL

‘’Where is it?’’ He asks. They have just come back to land after a swim. Dripping wet, he is searching through his pockets. They were standing by the edge of the lake, and she is looking at her reflection in the moving water. A gentle breeze pushed along through the lake and ripples like tiny waves were forming and crashing at the edge.

‘’Look at our reflection. It’s like the ripple effect I used on one of the portrait edits a few days ago. I remember focusing very hard to get the curves to look realistic. Sorted through a lot of stock references too. I should have just come here earlier for inspiration.’’ She turns to look at him. He is looking down at the reflection. But his eyes seems to be further away. Beyond the reflection.

‘’It has to be down there. Did you pack the snorkels?’’ He turns to look at the car, parked a few feet away. ‘’I’m getting the snorkel.’’ He says, and begins walking towards the car.

She turns to look back at the reflection. She is now alone in it. She keeps looking at herself, her hair moving in the water. A lonely bird flies above her and she gasps ‘’A shooting star!’’

before she erupts into an uncontrollable giggle. ‘’Oh what would I do without you?’’ She says out loud, to no one in particular.

‘’Without who?’’ She hears his voice from behind her. She turns to see he is already gearing up with his mask, cleaning it with his spit before he smacks it tight on his face. ‘’Are you sure you want to do this? Really, it’s just a hotel key. I’m sure they have provisions for situations exactly like this one.’’ Her brows are gathered together in deep concern.

‘’I added the beacon to the key chain for this very purpose. It’s great, now I get a chance to test it out.’’ The mask is already securely fastened and his voice sounds different. She takes a moment to register the whole scene before she lets out a deep sigh.

‘’Is that why you paid no attention to me when I warned you thrice that you need to take the keys out from your pocket before you jump into the lake?’’

He looks at her blankly. ‘’What do you mean?’’

She studies his face quietly. He looks clueless. Perhaps, she was reading too much into it? He had been acting strange off late, but she had been having a few tough couple of weeks as well. Just as she decided to let it go, she notices the unmistakable slow gentle flare of his nostrils. He’s regulating his breath intentionally. He’s got a good poker face, but she has known him far too long. Over the years, she devised her own unique ways to cope with his unique behaviours. “You wanted to lose the keys”, she laughs as she picks up a pebble from the ground and throws it his way playfully. “Why didn’t you just throw it in the lake directly, if that was the case? Why go through all this deception?”

He relaxes and grins. “Where’s the fun in that? The whole point is that it has to feel organic.” His lips curl in a way which make her want to walk up to him, lean in and kiss him and then shake him silly till he is out of his head. But she holds herself back and watches him as he puts the fins on, one by one. After a pause, she quizzes him -

‘’How can it ever be organic if it’s made up?’’

He’s all geared up now, the mask, the fins, his navigation clock clasped firmly on his wrist while his fingers are busy fiddling with the beacon. He looks up at her, and seems to be pondering over the question before he blurts out suddenly, ‘’Don’t bug me. I’m going in to find it.’’

“OK. But please give up if you don’t succeed in 15 minutes? And don’t stay down there for too long a stretch? You always over estimate your limits. Just come up quicker than when you need to, you can always go back down again. ” She watches him flop towards the water, his ears tuned out from her words.

It’s a funny sight, she thinks, as he continues to wade through the water. She wants to laugh, but she has laughed this laugh too many times and adds stoically, “I’m not going to just sit here, waiting for you to finish your little game. I will leave if I start to get bored. I really want to check out that trail upstream, I can see some very pretty colours from here.”

He turns around and looks at her. “Is that so? Why didn’t you tell me that? I would have tied the beacon on your wrist instead!” And in a quick second, before she can respond, he reaches up, pinches his nose, lifts his weight up and dives backwards into the water, his finned legs, hanging in the air for a few seconds before he completely disappears. Instinctively, she looks at her phone. The time is 4:18 PM

She stands staring at the lake. Large ripples spread out from the spot he dived, like waves radiating out, spreading further and further, until they dissipate into a seemingly controlled stillness. The air feels cold and there is a light breeze. She can hear the birds chirping as well as the leaves rustling. She closes her eyes and tries to isolate them in her mind. A game she used to play as a child. The sound of the birds was melodic and it made her feel reassured. The sound of the rustle felt light and refreshing, but the more she focused on it, the colder she began to feel. The rustle began to evolve into whispers and she opened her eyes to look at her phone. 4:20 PM

No sign of him yet.

‘’I’ll have a quick smoke, and then head out on that trail,’’ She says out loud, to no one in particular.