C37 The Boy From the Hills

Aisha lay comfortably on the bed, blanket pulled halfway up, watching Arjun with curious eyes.

“Your turn,” she repeated.

Arjun leaned back in the chair, folding his arms loosely across his chest.

For a moment he looked like he was deciding how much to say.

Then he sighed lightly.

“My life,” he began, “is actually very normal.”

Aisha smiled.

“Normal is good.”

He nodded slightly.

“I grew up in a small town here in Himachal.”

His voice softened slightly when he said it.

“Quiet place. Everyone knows everyone.”

“What did your parents do?” she asked.

“My father owns a shoe shop.”

She tilted her head.

“A shoe shop?”

“Yeah,” he said with a faint smile. “Small shop in the market. He’s been running it for almost thirty years.”

“That’s actually kind of cute,” she said.

Arjun chuckled softly.

“He takes it very seriously.”

“And your mother?”

“She’s a housewife.”

He paused.

“But in villages that word doesn’t really mean ‘just housewife’.”

Aisha nodded knowingly.

“She takes care of the house, the cattle, the farm behind the house, everything.”

A small smile appeared on his face.

“She’s probably the hardest working person I know.”

Aisha smiled softly.

“That sounds nice.”

Arjun nodded slowly.

“They raised us well.”

“Us?”

“My sister,” he said.

Something warmer appeared in his expression instantly.

“She’s six years younger than me.”

Aisha suddenly sat up a little.

“Wait!”

He looked confused.

“That’s the same age gap between me and my younger brother!”

She laughed.

“Exactly six years!”

Arjun raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head, smiling.

“He’s a complete teenage dirtbag right now.”

Arjun laughed quietly.

“My sister is the opposite,” he said.

His voice softened noticeably.

“She’s the sweetest girl I know.”

Aisha listened carefully.

“Beautiful,” he added casually.

“But more than that… disciplined.”

He shook his head slightly as if remembering something.

“Complete sweetheart.”

The way he said it made it obvious how much he adored her.

Aisha noticed that immediately.

“You love her a lot.”

Arjun nodded once.

“Of course.”

The room stayed quiet for a moment before Aisha spoke again.

“So how did a small town boy end up in the army?”

He smiled slightly.

“TV.”

She blinked.

“TV?”

“When I was a kid there used to be these army shows on television.”

His eyes looked distant for a moment.

“I used to sit in front of the screen and watch them like they were the most exciting thing in the world.”

Aisha smiled.

“That’s actually adorable.”

He shrugged.

“At that age it just looked… heroic.”

“Did your parents support it?”

“At first they thought it was just childhood imagination.”

He chuckled softly.

“But when I kept talking about it for years… they realized I was serious.”

“And they let you go?”

“They did.”

His expression softened.

“They trusted me.”

Aisha watched him carefully.

“You sound grateful.”

“I am.”

He leaned back slightly in the chair.

“At first when I joined the army it was just something I had dreamed about since childhood.”

“But later…”

He paused.

“I actually fell in love with it.”

“With the army?” she asked.

“With the profession.”

His voice grew more serious.

“The discipline. The responsibility. The people.”

He looked down briefly.

“A big part of that was my mentor.”

“Mentor?”

“Colonel Bedard Singh.”

Aisha raised an eyebrow.

“That sounds like a scary name.”

Arjun laughed quietly.

“It fits.”

“Was he really strict?”

“Very.”

Aisha smirked.

“I can imagine you getting scolded.”

He gave her a look.

“Trust me,” he said, “everyone got scolded.”

“What made him special then?” she asked.

Arjun thought for a moment.

“On the surface he was extremely strict.”

“But behind the scenes…”

He smiled slightly.

“He helped me a lot.”

“How?”

“When you join the forces everything is overwhelming at first.”

He gestured vaguely.

“The training, the expectations, the environment.”

“So he helped you adjust?”

“Quietly,” Arjun said.

“He never made a big deal out of it.”

“But he made sure I didn’t fail.”

Aisha smiled warmly.

“That sounds like a good mentor.”

“He was.”

For a moment Arjun looked lost in memory again.

Then he glanced back at her.

“And that’s basically my story.”

She blinked.

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much.”

She frowned playfully.

“Your life sounds suspiciously peaceful.”

He smirked faintly.

“It wasn’t always peaceful.”

“Oh?”

He leaned back slightly.

“But those are stories for another day.”

Aisha narrowed her eyes dramatically.

“You’re hiding something.”

Arjun chuckled.

“Everyone hides something.”

She thought about that for a moment.

Then shrugged.

“Fair enough.”

The room fell into a calm silence again.

Two very different lives sitting in the same quiet space.

After a moment Aisha yawned softly and stretched.

“So,” she said lazily.

“Small town boy with a shoe shop father and a strict army mentor.”

She grinned.

“Not bad, soldier.”

Arjun shook his head with a quiet laugh.

But deep down…

Something about telling that simple story had stirred memories he usually kept buried.

And he knew this conversation between them was only beginning.