Long Island

Chapter 11: Learning some more!

Please Note: Statements between % something in italics % are game system messages. 

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Swamy looked at himself in the mirror. He had short black hair, black eyes and Indian brown skin. He always thought that his nose looked a little big for his face. He wore glasses, rectangular shaped, with a slightly thicker frame to hold it up. He had tried changing his look for the college and moved on, as he liked to call it, from the round glasses he wore before. He did not consider himself handsome, there were far more good looking guys around. But he could not call himself ugly either. Normal looking, that's how he described himself. He was thin, though the exercise he got from his training in the past couple of months, practicing his forms, did make him feel a little bit better. Not that he had gained any muscles but he could feel that he had improved stamina. Not that it mattered much if he stayed up late playing the game.

He looked at the blue shirt he was wearing and thought that it should pass. It was freshly cleaned and ironed. He wore normal jeans he usually wore, though he still washed and ironed them. He fidgeted for a bit with his looks and then sighed.

'Doesn't matter. How clean I am or keep my room, it will still be a little dirty.'

Swamy had a habit of keeping things clean and tidy, absorbed from years of training from his parents. He cleaned the floor regularly, kept things in proper condition in the fridge, and kept his bedroom all arranged. He checked his wardrobes to make sure everything was fine, looked at his study table where all his books and papers were neatly arranged, his open windows which let the air in and finally returned back to the living room.

'I hope it goes alright' Swamy sighed again looking at his game capsule. It was too big to hide and too expensive to throw away.

He had a small shrine set up in his living room cupboard. He prayed for some good luck and hoped his day would go alright. He rung the small bell as was the religious tradition.

Swamy then sat down on the couch, looking at the watch now and again, getting a little agitated. He was a little nervous but he had sufficient cause to be.

His parents were visiting today!

About noon, he finally got a knock on the door. He opened up to meet his parents, who were glad to see him. His Uncle from next door, had gone on to receive them in his brand new electric car. "Its Mercedes" he said remarking on its quality and stuff! His parents entered followed by his Uncle and his Aunt who had come in from next door. Swamy offered them the sofa to sit and went to get some water for them to drink.

"Ah! Lakshmi, how long has it been since I saw you?" His dad spoke to his Aunt, his cousin sister.

"A long time. You guys don't come here nowadays any more. Its only Swamy who's come here and gave us a chance to meet now!"

"That's true. Ah...water. Finally I can breathe. It is so hot outside. Summers are definitely getting worse but other seasons are no better. Global warming is effecting our weather a lot. The met department is saying it will stay hot like this for the next few days!"

"Aiyo Rama!(Hindu God) That is true. It is the same everywhere. Anyways how was your trip. The bus had air conditioning right?"

"Yeah it did. Thanks to this green revolution in technology, it does not take much to keep a bus cool and it does not even smell like those old a/c buses we used to ride before!"

"Hahaha yeah!"

"Hey Swamy, here are some sweets I made, keep them in the fridge would you dear! They would spoil outside!" his mother said.