Episode 8: Of Seagulls chatter and DEATH!!

Once on they all reached the upper deck, most of them took their seats closer to the edges where they could see the boat departing away from Gateway of India, the beauty of the sea and yes… the playful seagulls. 

So there is a saying in Bombay regarding the early morning chatter of these seagulls. Flying just above the sea-water and touching the water with their feet creating a stream of water which looked like someone opening an envelope with a seizer or a little boy making a scratch on a car, Seagulls spoke of the customers on the ferries. They hovered around the Gateway in order to keep an eye on the customers entering the ferries. Once these customers entered the ferries, they chased the ferries and flew with them and posed for the shutterbugs. But the main part of their chatter was after all that. It was more of a verbal joust. As the exhilarated customers threw pieces of buiscuits at them, Seagulls entertained them by catching them and eating it, but more than that their chatter was to guide each other as the more promising customers who were good at throwing and had good enough food with them. And as they navigated around the customers who would gasp in awe each time the seagulls came closer to them, they devoured their morning breakfast. While some of those seagulls bullied the novice ones who even though had caught the biscuits but were snatched from by the bully seagulls. Marian was enjoying all this! (But in the interim she had thrown almost the entire ruffle’s Lays packet of his husband!). So, was Ketaki! While seagulls laughed in their language at both the ladies saying “seems like they are new to all this” and tried to scare them once or twice by trying to snatch the biscuits and Lays from the ladies.

While all this was happening, Pranay took out his guitar and strummed some beautiful patterns and all of them started flooding Pranay with requests to play their favorite songs. But as usual Pranay went on playing his set of favorite songs.

And it was all pleasant then!

An entire group singing tunes of merriment in chorus, an occasional dance by the ladies in the group, occasional nudges on the shoulders, the excitement etc. But that’s the beauty of life isn’t it? Even after everyone in the group hated atleast one person from the group they all were together enjoying.

As their songs finished Marian started applauding them. Could she ask for anything more? First time out of their boring house with Farooq and she got to see it all… the morning sun, the seagulls flight and now a lively and buzzing bunch of friends singing songs of merriment but wait a second…

Did she just see something awkward as well?

Perhaps it was yet again Nikhar who observed that from the fifty seats of the upper-deck only 48 were occupied. 2 of them who should have been on the upper-deck were not there. Where were they? And more importantly who were they?

2 days later…

His eyes opened slowly. At first everything was hazy. He felt as if he was lying in a hut… but then suddenly he felt the hut was dangling and realized that it wasn’t a hut it was rather a boat. And to his surprise he was NOT the only one lying on that boat in the middle of the sea.

In front of him lay another person who’s back pointed towards him, with mighty effort he rolled that person to see his face. Good lord! It was Shray Desai! As he took some water to wake him up… but to no avail, and then he checked Shray’s nerves.

Needless to say, Shray was dead.

And the person checking his nerves was none other than Nikhar Oza. But what the hell had happened? Why can’t he remember anything? Moreover what was he doing in that god-forsaken boat along with Shray? Did he kill Shray? Oh…god! What had he done!

By the way where were all the others?  

ANY GUESSES HOW HE DIED????

End of Chapter 1