Once upon a heartbeat! - (2)

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 Wormhole :

She ran to the bus stop only to find her bus, slowly moving ahead. She banged with her palms on the side of the bus and her friend peeped from the window, "Alora! Driver please stop. My friend wants to hop in, please, please". 

The driver halted. Alora hopped in dabbing her sweat. 

"Here, I've saved a seat for you", her friend Jia said. "Thanks buddy", Alora gave a fist bump to Jia, as she got seated. 

"Help me with this math question Alora", Jia took out her notebook and placed it on Alora's lap. Alora gave a slant look and rolled her eyes up, "Is this why you always save me a seat? ", she said with a smirk.

"Hey! You are my best buddy, ain't you?", Jia winked in reply. 

Alora helped Jia with her math problem and by that time, they reached their stop. 

"Envisage High School", the conductor yelled. 

The friends got down and chit-chatting happily, entered an extensive arch, which read 'Envisage High School'. There was a huge board at the right side, of the last year's toppers, 'Toppers of 2020', it read with photographs of the student. 

"Next year your name and photo, will be here....Topper of 2021", Jia announced and pulled Alora's cheek. 

They had to cross a big playground to reach the school building. On the laterals, there was lush greenery. Beautiful blossoms were planted all along the path. There were huge trees alongside the compound. Boys dressed in sports uniforms were playing football on the ground. Girls wearing grey coloured skirts, white shirts and grey ties, were hovering around, cheering the boys. Few girls were sitting on the benches, chatting and giggling. The school building was a four storeyed, big white structure. Ornamental plants and bushes surrounded the entrance. 

Alora and Jia were in their 12th grade. It was crucial year for the batch and also the last year together in school. They had been together since grade 1 and this was the deciding year for their careers. 

The classroom was a medium sized space, with desks accommodating two persons each. Jia and Alora shared a desk. Their desk was close to the window. Alora kept her bag on the desk and a book fell off. Jia picked it, "You brought the book to school? What if someone sees? What if teacher catches you reading?", Jia warned Alora. "Its such a gripping novel. I cannot contain my excitement Jia, I've to finish the chapters, else the curiosity will kill me buddy", Alora's zeal for reading was evident through her sparkling eyes. 

The teacher came in and the lecture started. Alora was a bright student but equally voracious reader and hence, oftentimes, in her own world. She stared outside the window. The trees were swaying with the breeze and the leaves made a whistling sound in the background. She imagined a tune of song playing along with it and in her head she was already singing.

Teacher called out her name to solve a problem on the board. Jia elbowed Alora quickly, to break her reverie. Alora wasn't paying attention, yet one glance at the question and she solved it in a minute. Teachers knew that Alora was an intelligent student, so, many a times her dreamy, distracted personality was overlooked. 

It was lunch break and everyone was at the canteen. Alora wasn't feeling hungry so she had stayed in the class. She had to finish the book. As she turned the page, she looked outside the window and saw some movement near the trees, at the far end of the school. She stood up and looked carefully, rubbing her eyes and peeping more. It was obscured and she decided to go and check what it was. She rushed towards those trees and looked around. There was no one. She stepped ahead and a cracking sound was heard. She lifted her foot and found something like a wormhole. Its contour was moving in a zigzag, random motion. In no time, the motion picked up speed and wormhole increased in size. Alora couldn't comprehend what was happening. She bend down and tried to touch it. And within a blink, she was yanked in. Passing through a series of bling bling lights, or were they disco lights? Flickering and blinking, flash lights blinding her vision, something like stars twinkling, she finally was shocked to see herself standing in an unknown, busy street. People were in a hurry, rushing to reach somewhere, while she paused in the middle, looking around.

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