Half Girlfriend (1)

Where can I get a cab?’
'Want one myself.’
I checked the time: 11.25 p.m.
‘Walk west to Fifth Avenue.You will hit Central Park. Try there,’
someone said.
I took rapid strides to Fifth Avenue. I reached the periphery of
Central Park, near the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Amber lights lit
up the museum building. The falling snowflakes created a soft-focus
effect.
Time: 11.31 p.m.
If I didn’t get a cab, I would not be able to reach West Village
before midnight. I couldn’t see any cabs. I looked up at the sky to
pray. Snowflakes fell on my face.
God, please, please, I said.
I looked around me. At least six more people waited for cabs. My
heart sank. I wanted to cry.
One cab, please, I said, waiting for magic to happen.
No cabs.
Time: 11.34 p.m.
I reopened Google Maps. I checked the distance from my current
location at the Met Museum to Cafe Wha? and chose the pedestrian
option.
It displayed this: Walk 4.0 mi, 1 h 10min
The route was simple. I had to go straight down south on Fifth
Avenue for 3.8 of the 4 miles, and then turn right.
‘Four miles. 6.4 kilometres,’ I mumbled to myself.
An hour and ten minutes to walk, I thought. If I ran, it would be
less. If I ran like a mad dog with a pack of wolves chasing it, even
lesser.
‘Madhav Jha,’ I whispered to myself.‘Run.’
I remembered basketball. We used to run and dribble on court all
the time.
A basketball court is not the same as six-and-a-half kilometres in