A PUPPET IN THE HANDS OF DESTINY

When Vivian woke up, she found herself lying on her bed. She woke up with a start as the memories flooded her mind.

“No!” She screamed, tearing at her hair.

“Vivi, calm down. Everything is alright.” Ruza said, rubbing her back.

“How did I come here?” She said as she held her head. She felt like hundreds of hammers were hitting her at the same time.

“I couldn’t leave my BFF in Mr. Rollan’s cabin, could I? So, I called my boyfriend and brought you home,” Ruza said, pulling up the collar of her shirt.

“Oh! That Creepo touched me. Vivian said, getting up and dusting herself dramatically.

“Hey! He was just helping you, and he isn’t so bad.” Ruza said, pouting.

“If you say so…” Vivian said, shrugging her shoulders. Then her eyes widened, and she whispered, “No…no….no…no…”

“Can you stop it already! Tell me what the matter is.”

“I fainted, Ruza. How could I faint, Ruza!”

“I wondered that too. You have excellent health. You haven’t missed the routine for even a single day. You are also serious about your work.”

“Damn! Girl… You are not getting my point. They will cancel my selection…” Vivian said, pacing around the room. How could she faint at such a crucial moment!

“Hmmm…I will have to go on the mission alone now,” Ruza said, pursing her lips.

“What? Alone… They didn’t select a replacement.” Vivian asked with a frown. Never in the history of ZSRO had they sent someone alone on a mission, let alone a female.

“Ru, what are you not telling me?” Vivian said, squinting at her.

“N…nothing, Vivi. What can I possibly hide from you?” Ruza said, looking away.

“You know I can get the truth out of you any day,” Vivian said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“No, Vivi, no…don’t you dare….” Ruza said, taking a few steps backward while Vivian moved towards her with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

She tackled Ruza making her fall on the bed, and tickled her mercilessly. Ruza was a very calm and composed person. Her only weakness was that she was very ticklish.

Within a few minutes, Ruza was begging for mercy, “Please….Vivi…leave me…Vivi…no… Okay…okay… I lied to you. They haven’t canceled your selection. I am stuck with you on this mission.”

“Oh! Ruza…I love you.” Vivian said, hugging her tightly. Ruza moved her hand away and scrambled to the corner of the bed. Her eyes shone with drops of tears. She clutched her stomach, trying to get rid of the churning sensation.

She got up and flashed the ID card that Mr. Rollan had handed over to her. Now the ball was in her court.

“I was wondering if I should just throw the card out of the window,” Ruza said, walking to the window and opening it.

Vivian’s face contorted with horror as she realized what it was.

“Ruza, You are my BFF. Give me that, please.”

Ruza continued playing with the card wordlessly. She wasn’t going to let her go so easily.

“Okay, my sister, I was wrong. I won’t use tickle tactics again.” Vivian said, begging her.

“I know you will,” Ruza said as a matter of fact. She wasn’t going to fall for it again.

“Okay, then…throw it away. I was planning a date with you at the Celestial Paradise in celebration. I might even have let your Creepo come too. Since I am not going on the mission, I will cancel the booking.” Vivian said, tapping on her IAD.

Ruza handed the ID to Vivian faster than lightning. She was a total foodie.

The next week passed by in a blur. They got their backpacks ready, started on their special diet of energy pills, and spent time with family and friends.

Ruza spent most of the week with her boyfriend, Adam. She went to meet her parents and met all her friends.

Vivian didn’t have a family. She was raised by her grandfather, who lived on the other side of the world. She couldn’t go to meet him, but she did call him.

“Hello, grandpops!”She said ruefully as she heard his gruff voice. “So, my Vivu remembers that she has a grandfather too.”

“It is not like that grandpops. I was so busy training to go on a space mission. I will tell you what your Vivu is selected to go to an amazing planet in another galaxy. Can you believe that?”

Her grandfather chuckled as he replied, “I always knew that my princess would fulfill her dream one day.”

“Can you guess where I am going?”

“Where?”

“I am going to The Lycan World!”

Her grandfather didn’t reply, and there was a long silence on the other side.

When Vivian couldn’t bear any longer, she said, “Pops, are you there?”

“Ummm…hmmm… I would have stopped you, but Destiny often plays weird games, and we are all but puppets in her hands.” He said and let out a deep sigh.

Vivian ha no idea what her grandfather was talking about. She asked, “What does that mean?”

“Nothing dear, best of luck. Will you remember a piece of advice?”

“Sure, pops.”

“ Follow your heart. It knows what your brain doesn’t. It will lead you to your destiny.”

“Sure, pops!” Vivian didn’t know what he meant, but she didn’t want to bother him much. She bade him farewell and disconnected the call.

He was usually very busy. For his age, he must be the most active man she had ever known. She often wondered how he maintained himself.

Soon, the day of their departure arrived. She checked everything twice to make sure she had closed all the windows, main pipeline, electric line, and the locker.

She dressed in her Jeramakayun costume, Tsanr boots, and tied her hair into a neat bun. She strapped her IAD to her wrist a slung her Tsnar backpack on her shoulder.

She strapped the backpack securely. It was relatively light with only energy pills, flame producer, medicines, revivers, and emergency pods of oxygen. In space, less was more.

She looked at her flat ruefully before locking it. God knew how long it would be before she returned.