Author: Bheeni Jajodia, Class IX C
Lucy was wondering about what to pack for her Asheville trip. She was an introvert, as you might say, a package of eccentricity, social anxiety and self-consciousness— not the kind of person you would want to hang out with. She did not relish family weekends and would go blank when asked what profession she’d pick later in life. Since Christmas was around the corner, she was obligated to spend time with her rather-derisive relatives. As she loaded her luggage into the trunk of a rental car, she took out a book which she had stuffed inside. The road journey was going fine until her parents started some indie music. The book lay on the car’s seat, listening to the soft humming of its owner.
A week later, on December 31, Lucy was sitting in an aeroplane, on her way back to Pasadena. Almost everyone around her was sleeping. Her digital watch displayed “11:40 pm”. As she passed into oblivion, her dreamland had some blissful memories in store for her. She was sitting with her mother, who was narrating sweet incidents from her childhood, by the fireplace. The next moment she found herself decorating a Christmas tree with her cousin Dorothea. Before she could hang the ornament she was holding, on the tree, she was taken to the campfire, where she was laughing and dancing to carols.
She then woke up to find her family celebrating with glasses of wine in their hands. The epiphany that a journey had never been so euphoric before put a smile on her face. ‘Twas the night of New Year’s.
