Nostalgia Meets Ambition

Discover how college nostalgia meets the present-day ambition of a writer.

Some pointers before you start reading:

• The writing course I was attending was held at the college I went to a decade ago. Thus, this name.
• The following was an exercise in the course where I only had to describe that ‘settling’ (one particular area) with emotions.
• I have chosen this corridor and bench as it was right outside my class.

My flat-heeled shoes whispered tap-tap with every footstep on the wooden floor of that dingy corridor. I accompanied the lonely bench next to a cheery window on the first floor by sitting on it. I took out my phone and opened ‘Google docs’. I was doing a dull job describing that very bench when I heard more tap-taps. I did not want to be creepy, so I only followed that sound, not looking up.

A female voice came from a couple of feet away, it sounded disappointed, for some unknown reason, “Yeah and did you see that Valentine’s day ad today? It said ‘Love comes in all forms’, huh, what a rip-off! Wasn’t that the ‘queer month’ tagline?”
Now another voice came from next to her, responding in curiosity and amusement, “Wait, how do you know this stuff?”

Laughter and the tapping were now away. Desperate for a distraction from my rising nostalgia, I got back to my description.