Hi friends, back again with the second part of my series. Had lots of things in mind the previous days, so took quiet a long time for the second one. I hope I can at least post one every week. And it's getting difficult to bind memories and imaginations together but I will try my best to complete what I have started. Thanks everybody for reading. And Manbji, I don't know which notebook you are talking about. Love Fiction is usually based on nature and therefore I set up the scenes of stormy weather near the jungle for my story. And my home is really near the woods. ' We were engrossed deeply in our conversation. Then, there was that strong wind blowing all around us. Birds flew back to the trees and the roaring sound of the pre-summer gale (chaite hure) disturbed the serenity of our place. I looked around and found darkness surrounding us in the edge of the woods. Then we had to rush towards the temple. ' Now, contd. from above: The thunders stopped roaring but the rain was gushing more heavily. I tacitly thanked Durga maa (goddess of power) for dwelling nearby the woods so that we could take asylum on her sanctuary. From a small window, I could see her inside riding on a dummy Lion (when I saw the statue of Durga maa, I always used to think that the beast is a dummy but the goddess is real) with sword and other munitions in her eight hands. I gazed at Durga maa and started thinking about how she chopped the head off of Sumbha and Nisumbha (demons in Hindu myths). I was like imagining the scenes of the battleground and lost in my thoughts before I felt some prickly pain in my head. ? Leave it, let me see the goddess ? she pulled my hair, as the silence was broken. ? And do you have to pull my hairs? ? I frowned back and gripped some strands of her hairs. Her hairs were charming-long, black and really beautiful. Mine is still a cowlick, which never rests in shape. ? Leave my hairs. And you think you have the right to pray her alone? Get back; it?s my turn now. ? She was adamant and I moved ahead to make room for her and leaned myself against the wall. As the wind was still blowing, now rather calmly then before the downpour, water was dripping on the porch. I tried to collect some drizzle in my right hand. I saw her peeping from the window without noticing what I was doing. So I took some water and poured a drop of it on her ear silently. ?Aathoo? she reacted and I giggled. ?Kaam nalaagne manche? (worthless man!) I laughed again. The rain was so heavy that the drizzle swept by the wind threatened to wet our cloths. There were block of pillars supporting the temple from the four corners of it. I went towards one of it and found the floor dry in between the pillar and the wall. I sat down there and suggested her to go by the other pillar. She sat on to the one next to me and I saw her cascading hairs kissing the pillar. ? Afno sampatti lai jogaune ni ? (Protect your hair) I shouted at her loudly so that she could hear me. She was saying something back but her voice fainted in the sound of the heavy rain. I kept on looking her. That day my little Sabi was clad in a parakeet coloured Kurtha Surwal that perfectly matched her beauty. Her face was fairly white, smooth in a good shape and I thought perhaps it was painted by the nature?s hand; and the teeth milky white and perfectly arranged. Her nose was slightly larger than average but her eyes were marvellous. I can?t describe the beauty of those pair of pearls in words but they hypnotised me every time I could catch a glimpse of them. She stared at me with a strange expression as if she disliked me for looking at her that long. And turned her face in the other direction. She rested her head on the wall and stretched herself to lie down. I turned the other way round similarly and closed my eyes. * * * * * * * ?Ting, ting, ting, ting? The sound of the bells awakened me. I abruptly stood up and found that the priest had come to the temple for the evening prayers. I went to her and she was still in her sleep. ?Sabi wake up? I shook her head up and she lazily opened her eyes. ?Oh ho Sajh po parechha? (oh it?s evening) She said, rubbing her eyes. ?Yes, it?s evening. Now let?s go home.? The door of the temple was open and the priest was reciting ?Sarbagate Devi Narayani Namastute?. (Mantras from Saptasati ? a religious book). Dashain was over already but the priest was offered a permanent role in a salary basis so that the new temple could be maintained throughout the years. He would do his duties every morning and evening and be paid a thousand rupees monthly in return. The gifts offered to the temple belonged to him as well. To be fair, I didn?t know him in person and so did he. We called, ?punditji? from outside the door and he asked us to get inside for tika. First, he put the tika on her forehead and gave a rupee coin and then it was my turn. He glanced at me expecting something. I looked to find some money in my pocket but there was nothing at all. She handed me the same coin quietly from the side and I gave it to him. He threw a weary smile and put the money in one of the puja-thalis. (plate). Surprisingly, he didn?t offer us any fruits and carried on with his recitals. We bowed down to the goddess and came out of the temple. I could not remember when the rain had stopped. The moon was emitting faint white light from far off in the sky. The rain in the afternoon had cleared the clouds and added brightness in the spring evening sky. The way from the temple to the village was gravelled after it was built but the rain had washed some mud from the edge and carried it on the way. She caught one of my hands and we were carefully strolling back towards our home. It took us a quarter of an hour to reach at the junction where two more roads leading to our homes separated. There were lights from this road onwards on both directions. Children were playing and screaming in the roadside and some of them had their moms pulling their cloths and arms to get them back home. One was crying to his mother to let him play for some more time. The mother would not hear his plea. We said goodbye to each other and separated from there. I looked back to see Sabi. She was walking back steadfastly towards her home. Probably she was thinking about her school?s home works for tomorrow. I turned back and my eyes meet with the moon in the sky that was brighter then before. One moon was going away from me but I got the company of another moon. I was very pleased with myself and started humming the classic by Bachhu Kailash- Jeneli Raat ma Dil Kholi Dohori gauna mann lagyo Yo thau ma namarne pirati gasna mann lagyo. By the time, I reached my home I had sang that song as many as six times. I knew all the words. To be contd.