It was a usual winter morning but I wasn't expecting anything unexpected like that to happen all of a sudden. Like every Saturday, I woke up late at 9, sat on my study table for an hour doing nothing. Just staring outside from my window and thinking about things I don't recall, most likely something useless. I heard my mom scream,"Khaanaa khana aaijo, paskisake!" which broke my train of thoughts. So, I went and ate quietly before she broke my tympannic membranes with her another shrill and rather unpleasant scream inviting me for the sweet meal she made that morning. After meal, I sat on the sun for a while and then lazily started picking up my clothes I needed to wash. I undressed with only my underwear left on my body as they were dirty too. After taking care of my clothes on the wide flat stones laid around the tap by the side of my house, I took a quick bath and changed into clean clothes I had washed last week. I went upstairs and started watching TV but there was nothing good. So, I started to think about places nearby I could go - the woods, the riverbank, the bhanjyaang, etc. This is how my typical Saturday used to be.   As I was thinking, I heard the phone ring. It was one of my friends - Subash. He lived about 40 minutes of hike up the hill. He invited me to his house. I was feeling bored and wanted to go but the very thought of having to hike up the hill was discouraging me. "Saale, mero thaau ma keti bhayeko bhaye daudidai aauthis, khurukka aaijo!", he  said. I thought a bit of a hike won't hurt; so I agreed to be at his door in an hour or so and hung up. I ate 'khaja', jumped into the front garden and picked some oranges and started filling my pant pockets from one of the trees. I remembered that I was missing my cell phone that I had gotten just last month after a long fight with my parents. Although a remote village, I used to get quite good reception at some areas of my room - like my study table. So, the phone was more like a personal desk phone for me because it had to stay at one spot to prevent losing reception. I grabbed the phone and yelled at my mom upstairs that I was going to Subash's house. She yelled back,"Okay, but make sure you're back before dark. It's not safe these days to walk after dark because of the tigers roaming around." I agreed and started climbing the hill along a narrow trail.   It was almost 3pm when I finally got to his house, panting. There was his mom, a lady of short stature and smile you see in almost every village women. "Baabu, aaunus chiya khaau,"she said, "Subash ni maathi nai chha." I followed her to 'buikal' which was their kitchen and dining with 'pirkas' spread on one half whereas the other half was used to store 'daaura', just like any typical village home. "Saale, yetro hidera aaunuparyo, tai tala aauna sakdaina thiyis?" I said to Subash. "Kahile kahi ta pani aaunu hunchha haamro gharma, ma matra katti jaanu tero maa; bhatuwa bhanlaan bhanne darr," he replied. Subash's elder sister Sarala was pouring tea in the glasses. She handed me one and asked,"Ke chha ta haalkhabar Pukaar?" as she was doing that. I answered, "Sabai ramrai chha didi."   We all talked about how things were in families, and about the busy work in 'khet-baari' while we drank tea. Subash and I decided to hike up the hill and go see the bhanjyaang on the top. So we started hiking up again- catching up about news about our schools and families since we used to go to different schools in different cities. He used to stay with his uncle somewhere in Kathmandu where he was going to a  commerce +2 college whereas I used to ride my dad's old hero honda splendor he once used when he was in milk business to commute to and from a science +2 college located in the district's headquarter.   On our way up, we collected a few fist sized rocks to hunt hares if we saw any. But there was no luck this time as we had last time when we were able to hunt a hare for some nice meat. So we reach the top, walk around the bhanjyaang and sat facing west and started eating oranges I brought. He explained me the story behind why the bhanjyaang had its name like that (which I don't recall, not even the name of the bhanjyaang). He started talking about how girls in Kathmandu get dressed. He used to call them 'nakachariharu' and he used to add, "Kattu bhanda chhoto skirt lagaayera aauchhan, laaj pani nalaagni kasto hola. Uhi hagni laai bhanda dekhni laai laaj bhanya jasto!" He also talked about this one girl he thought was decent. He said that he liked her very much and wanted to talk to her but couldn't. "[Disallowed String for - use not allowed], malai chahi tharkaauna sakchhas, euti keti sanga bolna sakdainas! Paanimaruwaa saale," I said. His response was,"Ta badhi halla nagar na, ma garihalchhu ni." Then he asked about if there are any decent girls in my college. I repeated that I didn't care about girls. His remark on that was, "Tyaha pani testai nakachariharu ta holan ni!" We were just talking about things as such when my phone rang. The reception on the top was really good.   I saw that it was a text message from Deepika. We (including Subash) were in the same school until we parted after SLC. The text read, "Timro Khusimai mero khusi chha ani timro dukha mai mero dukha chha." I was quite confused. She hadn't contacted my for roughly 2 months and it was hard to get the message from the text was trying to give at once. Subash asked who it was and what was written. I said noone. "Ketiko hola ani ta haamlai ta k bhanthis ra." I was paying more attention to the message than what he said. I responded, "Timile bhanna khojeko kura ke ho, ali spasta hune gara. I'm confused." A few minutes later, another text came which said,"Ma aafno jindagi ko harek pal timisanga bitauna chahanchhu. I love you." Well, that was certainly unexpected. I was puzzled. I felt happiness and bitterness at the same time. The reason behind happiness was that she was a great girl and I liked her very much during school. Bitterness was because of things that happened during school, especially during the last year. I started feeling restless. Didn't know what to say to her. On the other hand, Subash was nagging me about who the text was from. So, I decided to go home. I turned my phone off and we started walking downhill. I told Subash to call me next time he's home and I'll see him then. I started down to my house thinking about the texts I received earlier. When I got home, I set the phone on the table and turned it on. There was already another message asking why I hadn't replied yet.   I responded, "schoolma huda ko bela bhaye beglai kura hunthyo. things have changed a lot by now, I'm sorry ." She responded back, "timi tyahi chhau, ma tyahi chhu, ke change bhayeko chha ra? ma timibina bachna sakdina" That made me think hard. Everything since I saw her in school started coming back to my memories like a movie.   To be continued…...