The Trip

It’s already 3:30 pm, with only half an hour left to report to school. I was both nervous and elated. How could I not be? This is my first school trip and I don’t want to miss it.

Yesterday, our teacher had told us that we will be going on a school trip and students will have to get permission from parents to come on the trip. If allowed, we are supposed to report to school by 4 pm and at 8 pm our parents are supposed to come to pick us up.

Initially, my parents hadn’t agreed to let me go on the trip. Even after much pleading, they didn’t agree to allow me. But once they got to know that my best friend, Jishu, would be going, I was allowed to. Even then, my parents were hesitant to let me go and before we left for school, they Jishu to keep an eye on me.

Now as we were nearing school, I could see many people standing near a yellow van. Seems like everyone has been allowed to come on this trip. That’s great. Everyone can enjoy the trip together.

On reaching the gate, I and Jishu bid our parents farewell and headed to meet our other friends. Everyone was elated and was talking animatedly about where we will go and what we will see. Some of them were trying to show off by telling others that they brought money with them.

Just when the time turned 4 pm, our teacher came up to us and asked us to get on the van orderly. Thankfully I got the front seat. But I couldn’t seat with Jishu, who was seating behind near one of the side windows. The person who sat beside me was Deb. He looked dishevelled and unwell. On asking whether his health is ok or not, he replied to me that he was fine. It was only that he couldn’t sleep last night due to the excitement of the trip.

As the van started moving, our teacher told us that we will be going to Massanjore. That started the chatter. Someone told me that Massanjore is in Jharkhand. Someone else told that there is a dam there and there is a lot of water allocated in one place. The chatter continued for a long time.

It was when the van stopped near a stall, everyone in the van stopped talking. The stall was near a large body of water. Our teacher announced to us that we will be taking a short break, before continuing the trip. We all filed out of the van and sat around a table in the stall. It was windy. Coffee and chips were ordered for us. I sat with Jishu on one side and Deberghya on the other. Though he was the tallest and looked scary, Debrerghya was a nice and humble person.

There were no dustbins nearby, so we had to keep the cups on the table. But it was so windy that cups flew here and there. It was then I and Debarghya thought of an idea. What if we put two of our cups together and then pour a little coffee? We can also turn it upside down so that there is more surface area. We tried it. It stayed for some time before flying and falling on one of the girls.

It was a scene to behold. The girl jumped up with a shriek. A little bit of coffee had also fallen on her skirt. Our teacher scolded that girl for causing a scene. Then he asked who among us was immature to put the coffee cups like that. I looked at Debarghya from the corner of my eyes. He was also looking at me. Seems like we were thinking the same thing. But thankfully everyone was busy gossiping and knew who did it.

After some time we left for the Dam. The Dam wasn’t far away. On reaching there our teacher asked us to form groups and not to go anywhere far. We formed groups of 3–4. All of us walked from one to another end of the Dam. The was a hill there, but none of us got permission to go there. Still, there were enough things to enjoy. There were lots of trees. Different types of birds fly in and out of trees.

What caught our eyes was the red parrots. There were green ones too, but a few of them were red. While we were watching the birds, I heard someone shrieking. On turning back, we see that a girl from our class had fallen and gotten injured. Everyone gathered around her, but when our teacher came, he started scolding her. This girl was hopping around alone, instead of staying in a group. Seeing the girl getting scolded, Deb started giggling. But he was quickly silenced when our teacher glared at him.

After this incident died down, we started leaving. After all, it was getting dark and we needed to return to our pick-up spot by 8 pm. On the way back no one talked. Everyone was tired. It had been an amazing day.

On the way back, I got the front window seat. Though I liked it and didn’t want to give this place to anyone, I was scared. I was scared that as we are crossing the forest in the dark, some ghost will attack me. So, I got ready with my bottle. I will hit the ghost with my bottle. At one point I had fallen asleep, only to be awakened by Deb when we were nearing our school.

As we draw nearer, I could see a group of parents standing near the gate and gossiping. They have come to pick us up. I was saddened that the trip got over so quickly. I don’t know when again we will be going out on another trip.

But I hope it is soon.