Thursday 19 January 2012 0 comments

A Well-Said Goodbye


     The light in his room illuminated the dull moonless night. She was restless in bed and his apparent sleeplessness next door gave her comfort. She was not the only one who had trouble sleeping at night. It was a Monday morning, probably after 4am. The week was not starting on a very pleasant note. She shuddered at the thought of attending school the next day. Sleep-deprived days did not qualify as good days.
       She got up and checked her phone. He'd texted her precisely 7 minutes back. She couldnt stop herself from smiling. Had he guessed her restlessness too? And yet again her heart skipped a beat.
          He was her neighbour; the school jock with a girlfriend and a ton of female fans. She had a crush on him, as is apparent. He was completely oblivious of her feelings, as was expected. A very typical high school love story, hackneyed to be exact. She realised how much her situation resembled a Taylor Swift song, yet she could not laugh at the humour behind it. She was too love-lorn for that.
        She was a tiny, frail creature. Pretty in some people's book, fairly ordinary in her own judgement. He was tall, well-built and perfectly handsome. Yet that was not the reason for her infatuation. She knew there was an amazing person behind that pretty face, an amazing person under the semblance of arrogance and pride.
           She texted him back, "Walk?". This was their midnight ritual. They would sneak out of their house and talk under the starlit sky in the rare occassions when sleep refused to cooperate. He gave an affirmative answer. She again smiled briefly to herself in the dark, feeling moronic.
          They hadn't talked to each other in a while. His girlfriend and soccer kept him busy. Oh-so-busy. She, on the other hand, was too busy looking busy. She was also preoccupied with thoughts of him, however she stubbornly denied this to herself. She wasn't the kinds to admit submission easily.
     "What keeps you up? " , she whispered. Her voice trembled and she put her might into making it sound steady. His voice was gentle, "Nothing". That one word reply roughly translated to "Everything". She could feel his grief in the still night. They walked silently for a while. Finally, he puckered up the courage to whisper, "My parents are getting divorced. Im moving with my mom, to the other part of the country. "
         She was speechless. Of course. Things always have to go awry. Why was she so surprised? She choked out the word, "When?". "In 3 Days. Im sorry." She briefly pondered over why he was apologising. He dint give her a lot of time to mull things over in her head. Her pulled her in a bear-like hug, knocking the wind out of her. He mumbled , "I love you", incoherently against her hair.
       They could hear the birds chirping. The first rays of sunlight shone through. Dawn was breaking. A fresh day, a fresh start. She decided it was best to keep him in the dark. It would make the separation easier for him. Silently, she smiled and walked back home, leaving him alone on the road.

Friday 6 January 2012 0 comments

Reunion


      She was acutely aware of his presence in the mundane atmosphere of the crowded hall. The room was filled with inconsequential people discussing uneventful topics, making it hard for her to concentrate on anything over the din. If only people appreciated the beauty of silence, she thought gloomily. She caught wifts of fiery gossip from the circle of women who surrounded her. Something about someone's daughter marrying a man beneath her social standing. She couldnt care less. Again she wondered why someone else's life should be of any interest to these ladies.' Human Nature',she thought, answering her own mental queries.
      He sat on the other end of the room,enjoying the party with a woman,who she assumed,was his wife. And yet again,their eyes locked. Blushing and swearing under breath, she vowed not to let her gaze wander in his direction.She realised soon enough that this was an impossible task. Every few seconds,her eyes would scan the room for him, and again he would catch her staring. Embarrassed as she was, she decided to move to a calmer location where his presence would not tempt her.
      Almost as if he'd read her mind, she found him in the garden outside,by the rose bush. The same rose bush where years back, he'd kissed her for the first time. 9 years it had been, she counted in her head. Seeing him there gave her a headrush. She wanted to avoid any awkward confrontation,yet fate seemed determined at going against her wishes.
      She tried to steal away from him while his back was to her. The sound broke his reverie and he caught her standing behind him. Colour rose in her cheeks. Her long gown fluttered in the chilly night breeze, the only audible sound apart from the rustling leaves. 'You dont have to avoid me', he muttered in a matter-of-fact tone. He looked exactly the same to her, though his face had gained the maturity of his late twenties.
     Quick at defending herself, she denied avoiding him. His lips turned into a knowing grin. She hated how he still had a peculiar insight into the workings of her mind.
     "You remember-" , he started to say, when her affirmative answer interrupted him. He edged closer and every fibre of her being responded to his proximity. She could think of no subtle way of escaping, so she stood still as a statue.
     "So many years have gone by... I've lost count..."
     "Nine", she answered calmly.
    "You've just not changed."
    She grunted. "Neither have you."
      They stood silently next to each other, peering at the starlit sky. The awkwardness of their encounter faded. She whispered, 'Your wife must be waiting for you now....'
     He started at her with an incredulous expression on his face, humour clearly evident in his eyes. Trust him to destroy the solemn moment, she thought.
    "Thats not my wife."
   "Oh."
     " It was great meeting you after all this while" , he said, clearly trying not to laugh. Resisting the urge to punch him, she responded with a polite, "You too." Still smiling at her blunder, he strolled off, leaving her alone under the purple nightsky.
     She was pleased with how his cocky grin and sarcastic humour had not taken leave of him. He was more or less the same guy she had surrendered her heart to 9 years back. Smiling to herself, she secretly prayed that they might cross paths again. She dint know that her unspoken plea had been answered, for in the course of the next few weeks, she saw him on more than one occassion, and this time, it wasn't a coincidence.

 
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