Maaneet FF: Whispering Knolls NEW LINK on Pg141 - Page 2

Chapter One: New Horizons

            The alarm went off promptly at 6AM beside the bed. As the alarm chimed loudly a hand crept out of the comforter to stop the alarm from scaring her little angel. She lightly hugged her daughter and placed a light peck on her forehead before she slowly crept out of the bed, rubbed her palms and looked into it and muttered a small prayer for a good day ahead. Stretching out a little while trying to suppress a yawn, Geetanjali, known as Geet by her friends and family, walked towards her balcony on the 24^th floor of her posh apartment situated in the midst of midtown Manhattan. She watched the beautiful sunrise in the city that was fondly known as a city that never sleeps. The hustle in the city reflected the attitudes of the people rushing by the street corners, dodging the yellow taxis. While few enjoyed sipping hot coffee and strolling down the street others were keenly bargaining their way through with the fruit vendors on the streets. She smiled and turned around to begin her routine as usual.

            She went to the bathroom splashed some cold water on her face and picked up the brush and toothpaste. While brushing she walked through the living room and and went out of the main door to get a piece of daily dose of news from New York Times. She came back dropped the newspaper on the couch and went back to the bathroom to finish up her brushing and showering. Coming out of the shower in a neat copper sulfate saree and a towel that neatly tied her wet long and curly hair into a tight bun.  Switching on Venkateshwara Suprabhatam with just enough volume and walked to the dressing table.  She carefully took a matching blue bindi placed it on her forehead and rushed to do the morning pooja. She was taught by her mother to do daily pooja before she stepped out of the house and she religiously followed to do so. Although the apartment did not have any special place or room for her daily prayers, she had set up a small mandap by the kitchen facing east as instructed by her mother. The mandap contained few murtis of Vishnu, Ganapathi, Saraswati, Lakshmi and a few photos of Murugan, Shiva, Hanuman, and Rajarajeswari. Below the mandap she had neatly arranged a small lamp and a pooja thali containing aarati and a small bell. From the side of the mandap she picked up a small cup containing vibhuti (sacred ash) and placed a tiny mark on her forehead and earnestly began to pray.

            Quickly finishing up the prayer and placing a set of s'more poptarts in the toaster and switching on the coffee maker, she proceeded to the bedroom to wake her little angel.

  "Kritika! Wake up chellam (sweetheart) its time for school!" Geet called out as she walked into the bedroom.

  There was a slow stir on the bed and a slight annoyed moan came from underneath the comforter. Geet kneeled on the bed and slowly started removing the comforter. Kritika jerked away the comforter back with a sharp tug and turned to face the other side away from her mom.

  "Amma, I do not want to wake up! Just 2 more minutes pweese" squeaked Kritika from underneath the comforter.

  Geet knew that her 2 minutes was a cue for another half hour but she wouldn't allow it as she would be late to school. Again Geet slowly pulled the comforter and went near Kritika and cajoled her to wake up else she would be late for school. The word school did the trick, instantly Kritika's eyes opened and she sat upright on the bed.

"That's like my good girl," Geet proudly said and added, "ab chalo lets get ready quickly and go to school teekhe?" She placed a soft kiss on her daughter's cheeks and lifted her into her arms and headed to the bathroom to brush and bathe her daughter.  Kritika who was securely wrapped in a white towel ran out of the bathroom with her hair dripping wet and Geet running behind her to prevent her from catching a cold due to her hair being wet.

"Kritika kanna (sweety) come here right now so that I can dry your hair!" Geet screamed as the little one dashed to the kitchen and hid the little coffee table cleverly dodging her mom. Geet knew where her little darling would hide but not wanting to spoil the fun easily she stopped in the kitchen and called out again, "Kriti kutty (sweety) if you don't come out then Amma will go to school in your place. Do you want to miss school on the day of your friend, Chandu's birthday?" Kritika, fearing her mom would go to school instead of her quickly came out of hiding and ran to her mother's arms.

Kritika's cute little brown eyes widened at the thought of her mother's declaration and screamed, "No Amma please I have to go to school today I cannot miss his birthday!"

Geet gathered Kritika in her arms again and walked to the dressing table to quickly dry her hair and dress her up in Kritika's favorite orange turtleneck shirt and jean shorts. After dressing up Kritika, she herself turned to the mirror and removed her towel from her hair that had absorbed most of the moisture from her hair and dried her hair with a quick wave of the hair dyer and changed into a formal office wear neatly ironed the previous day. In one motion tied her long hair into a bun and applied light makeup and eyeliner. Straightening her clothes, she motioned Kritika to come to the kitchen to get a bite of her favorite s'more poptarts with a glass of orange juice. While kritika happily munched down the poptarts, Geet made herself a cup of coffee and toasted a slice of bread.  Skimming through the newspaper she ate her toast and gulped down her coffee. Finishing their breakfast, Geet gathered her bag and house keys while Kritika gathered her tiny little princess backpack and walked out of the main door holding her mother's hand.

hey .. that was a gr8 update... lolxxx.. kritika's smirk :D :P . she's upto something :D :P .. 

nysh update .. and continue soon :) :) ..

interesting story....

do continue soon.

add me in ur pm list plzz😳