Shakeela And Boy -

Her fingers curled around the paper. For the first time, she looked at him without armor. “Then draw me one more thing,” she said softly.

“Shakeela, look at me.”

“You’re hiding,” he said.

Arul looked up, smudged with charcoal. “I didn’t know spots had owners.” Shakeela and boy

Not him. Not the tree.

One evening, they climbed the banyan’s lowest branch together. The sky turned the color of ripe mangoes. Her fingers curled around the paper