Farmhouse Exit

Nikhil and I stand in the balcony passing a joint between us every two puffs. It’s cold, windy morning and the two of us are restlessly moving around, yet remaining in close proximity. The faint music becomes louder as Dev walks into the balcony to move the furniture we brought out the previous night back inside the farmhouse. He looks to me, then to Nikhil, but then he points to an owl that flies by us. I pass the joint to Nikhil as we both watch it fly by. Nikhil turns to pass the joint to Dev, but he has gone back inside. 

Back inside, I start to rearrange items around the farmhouse back to their original place, immersed in the music playing from the speaker. Dev is throwing all the waste into trash bags, Nikhil goes to do the dishes. Nikhil turns the tap and water erupts out full blast, spraying all over him. Both of them laugh as I turn and smile. We pack our bags, lock the farmhouse door and walk down the path to the gate before turning back to pause.

We load our bags in the trunk. I take shotgun and Nikhil takes the passenger seat behind. Dev takes a second to set up the music in the car and we head out. The drive takes over all of us, no one says a word. Dev honks at the cars in front to zoom past them. There’s a car coming in the opposite direction, but Dev deftly swerves past the car in front before the car in the opposite direction can come close. I smile, “Mad.”. Dev looks over to me and bursts out laughing, bringing his hands together. I laugh too.