Before leaving for school, Tinni's grandmother packed her food in the tiffin box, with a small note inside.
Tinni always had a smile on her face while reading the notes. She never threw these notes away, instead she kept them in a box under her bed as it was one kind of treasure.
One monday morning, her day didn't start well as she forgot to bring her homework, later she had presentation which was good but not the best. Also, there was a badminton match during lunch time. So, she couldn't have her lunch. After finishing the matches, Tinni was already feeling tired.
Tinni left her school earlier, climbed on the bus and didn't even wait for her friends. She had her headphone and started listening to the music. She reached her destination in short time. While stepping out of the bus the conductor called for her but she was unable to hear his voice and went straight into her house.
At night, she headed straight for the kitchen.
"Sweetie, how was your day?" her grandmother asked.
"It was as usual nothing special. I'm starving."
"Then wash your hands and I'll prepare the food."
Tinni nodded.
Her grandmother looked around and asked, "Where is your tiffin box?"
She realized the tiffin box was missing.
She said, "Sorry, grandma. I lost it."
Her grandmother replied, "It's alright dear it's just a tiffin box. I will get you a new one."
But for Tinni it was a precious tiffin box.
The note from that morning was still inside.
The next morning the bus conductor was sick he wasn't couldn't come. Tinni asked everyone including the bus driver, "I have not seen any tiffin box," he said.
She checked every place at school but it was nowhere.
Over a week Tinni searched for it at every place and she felt devastated.
Her grandmother bought a new colorful tiffin box, but it wasn't the same. And packed the food for Tinni.
In the end, Tinni decided to accept that the tiffin box was gone. In her mind she had thought of multiple conclusions. She knew she wasn't getting it back ever again.
During evening time, Tinni sat near the windows and was looking at the sky.
"Do you still miss it?" her grandmother asked.
Tinni replied, "Yes, I do. It wasn't an usual tiffin box."
"Notes?" Grandmother said.
Tinni replied with a faint smile on her face, "The notes I couldn't read it, also the tiffin box belonged to my mother. It was the only thing of her which made me feel closer to her."
"You know, the notes aren't gone and your mother's presence is everywhere in our house."
"No! They are gone if the tiffin box is gone."
"No," her grandmother said. "The important part isn't the paper or the tiffin box. It's knowing someone loved you dearly, also someone is still here for you and loves you enough to write them."
Tinni thought about it deeply. In her mind she knew her grandmother was right but she was unable to accept it.
The next morning, a transfer student arrived in Tinni's class. Her name was Maya. She recently moved from another town.
During lunch, Maya was sitting alone and that caught the attention of Tinni. She remembered what it felt like to be new somewhere. So she decided to accompany Maya.
"Hey, is this sit booked?"
Maya nervously replied, "of course not, you can sit."
They talked for a long time and in a while their bond got stronger and decided to share each other's food.
Maya and Tinni both took out their tiffin box, as Maya was about to give her food from her tiffin box, Tinni noticed the tiffin box looked familiar. In a while she realized it was hers.
Tinni asked, "Where did you find this tiffin box?"
Maya looked surprised, "My dad gave it to me yesterday, he said someone left it. So, my father kept it for me. I also found a note inside of it."
Maya noticed Tinni's expression changed.
Maya asked, "Do you know who this belongs to?"
Tinni hesitantly replied "Yes, l lost it last week in the bus."
Maya's face turned red.
"My father is the bus conductor of our school bus and he thought someone threw the tiffin box. Because when he tried to return the box the person didn't turn back."
Maya gave the tiffin box to Tinni and apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
Tinni said, "It's alright, do you still have the note?"
Maya nodded and handed it over.
She ban to read the note, "You're my little star, no matter what I will always love you."
After reading the note Tinni felt overwhelmed and she took the paper, slipped it into her school bag.
When she went back home, she shared everything to her grandmother and told her how she found a new friend.
Her grandmother said, "Then maybe getting lost turned to be a good thing for you."
In the end, Tinni understood that losing an item is not always a bad thing.
The thumbnail is created with Gemini.
