(Narrator: Tejasvi) Panchagni is a famous hill station near Aag in Aagrashtra. The place is famous for fresh fruits and vegetables, mainly strawberries; oh, how I love strawberries. The place has a cool climate as it is at a higher altitude. There are many viewpoints, a lake, a strawberry garden and fields of fresh food. So we decided to go there with Alhila, but Ijan did not join us cuz he was asleep and we did not want to trouble him.
Honestly, Ijan is our biggest mystery. We know nothing about him, and it is like he almost have infinite energy while eating so little. So that’s why we let him take some rest that day.
(Narration switches to Alhila) So I reached Aag a day ago, and I stayed at Vibhuti’s place. While Ijan was taking the rest he needed, we decided to have fun. At day we decided to go to the nearby hill station of Panchgani (Pachgani). Marin drove while Vibhuti called shotgun as-usual, “You really like the front seat, hun, mi-amigo.” Marin said to Vibhuti with a cheeky grin, “What gave it away the fact I sit in the front all the time” she responded “No, I thought you liked the front seat because of mi-amigo Ijan.” He replied smoothly. “C’mon I love the front seat and Ijan is just the bonus.” Vibhuti relied punching Marin painfully on the shoulder, which made him recoil in pain and Vibhuti started to apologise profusely, “No, no it is fine, I get hurt very easily”, he said in pain. Vibhuti then said, “I am extremely sorry Marin. Stupid me; this is why I don’t have another friend other than Tej.” “Vibhuti, you have friends, me, Evanthia, Alhila, Ijan and especially Tejasvi”, Marin said, reassuring her. They conversed for a while about life for a few minutes. At the back Evanthia and Tejasvi were asleep probably cuz it is five in the morning now.
We drove for about three hours passing by beautiful scenery. We arrived at the hill station by eight, starting with a morning trek. We walked down to see a beautiful scenic view. A riverine valley down bellow us. Vibhuti who hade previously bought herself a strawberry lollipop, was peacefully sucking at it (don’t take it in another sense). We looked down at the view with some binoculars. We saw some amazing birds. As we were done with the viewpoint, we head up.
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As we did so a monkey spotted Vibhuti at peace with her lollipop and decided that it too wanted some. So it ran up to her and when she noticed it charging at her she started running and threw the lollipop at the monkey. The monkey happily took it and ran away, (Vibhuti: it still scares me, I am traumatised by monkeys; I want another lollipop : ( .) Besides that, lolly-pocketing the day was good.
Next went to the lake, where we went on a boat ride. The water was peaceful and made me relax after all that climbing. The water glittered in the sunlight. Marin secretly used his magic to splash us with water, which Vibhuti combated with her magic, using it to pull the water through evaporation, then condensed and splashed on Marin. After the boat ride, we ate some roasted corn, which was very delicious. We then decided to retreat to Aag.
(Narration switches to Evanthia) It was late afternoon when we reached Aag. When we were back, we saw that Ijan was wide awake, sipping a cup of coffee. “I question the character of you diurnal out?” he asked, and Vibhuti gave him the whole narration of our experience, including the monkey incident, which was funny. Slowly, as I saw Ijan and Vibhuti together more, I got comfortable with their dynamic. I meant that it is not that I don’t like Ijan anymore; it is just that now I like him more as a friend than a lover. I know Ijan loves Vibhuti, and Vibhuti, Ijan and I have to be supportive friends for them. I will find someone else more my type, but Ijan is not it.
After narrating our experience to Ijan, we played a few board games. We first played a detective game, which Ijan won by finding the person who committed the crime first. In the second round, Vibhuti won, then Marin. We then played some cards, and if you know me, I always win at cards, and I won. Vibhuti was so close, but she needed to make that last set of four. We then played Pictionary, which Tejasvi and Alhila crushed. At last, we played a few games of UNO, which Marin found amusing to say dos or tres when he had two or three cards left, respectively. It was our last round, and we were down to Alhila and Marin. Vibhut and Ijan cheered for Marin while Tejasvi and I cheered for Alhila. Marinus took another card and found it was a skip, and then he stacked multiple skips and reverses; then his last card fell back to the floor in triumph. Marinus and Alhila shook hands as if to say good game.
After dinner, Alhila left for the Nuṣb-al-Qamar.