A Journey to 25 | Day 14

It was a fine school day. Nothing very peculiar about it. I was in the eighth grade. A few things had changed from the last one. I was now seated on the first bench. During the free classes, I would often go towards the back of the class and hang out with my friends. We bonded over dance, one of the best things I remember from school. We would often skip classes in the name of dance practice. More than studying I looked forward to these dance practice sessions in school. If someone asks me what was the best thing about school, I would say dance, without a second thought. Coming back to this usual day. We had the last two classes of the day free. All of us got together at the back of the class. We talked and played and talked some more. I don’t remember exactly what happened but one of my friends said something and I felt pretty bad. Bad enough to walk away to my designated place in the front. Now he was seated diagonally on my right. He tried talking to me while I kept avoiding him. Maybe it was something a bit more serious than the usual leg-pulling we had amongst friends. Soon he stopped trying. As a kid, I always thought that if someone hurts you once they would do it often. It was better to stay away than getting hurt again. My innocent mind was yet to learn the art of Forgive & Forget. I had a pretty sharp memory. I would remember when and how someone annoyed me or hurt me and how they reacted to it. After the classes ended we would have an evening prayer before leaving the class. The whole class would stand up, join their hands, close their eyes and chant the prayer along with the speaker. While we were at it the friend who annoyed me earlier had different plans. He tore a piece of paper from the back of his notebook and wrote something on it. When no one was looking during the prayer he placed the piece of paper on my desk. After the prayer, as I read the piece of paper, a smile crept up on my face. The paper read SORRY with a sad smiley. Such small things seem insignificant at that moment. But as the time flows they stick with you, fresh as new in your memory. Small things matter. They create magic in their own mystical ways that put a smile on your face every time you revisit them. Cherish these moments. Life is full of them. Take a look.