(It is continuation to the prior written short story "The Written Note". Soon, to be called a collection of chapters from Shree's life.)
ii
Memories hang around in her mind. Can she ever get out of
her past? Does she even want to? The questions go unanswered while she swings
in the armchair. Yet she found music in every sound and sight. She desperately
waited for the evenings to come as they ensured the noises of the children
playing outside in the colony park. While she shuffles through her wedding
album 11th time that day, the bell rang; Shree gets up and is
surprised to have her childhood friend at the door. She stood speechless and
tears rolled down her eyes. Anisha came closer to embrace Shree. She needed
this; the minutes which denied the passing on. Time was running out of her grip
at once, she didn’t wish to lose this moment ever. Anisha’s arrival had made
Shree smiled, her heartbeat grew fast and summer seemed spring. Some 15 years
back, Shree and friend, had shared their tiffins daily, had helped each other
in completing their school assignments, had known each others likes and
dislikes and had been together through thick and thins. But this time they met,
it was different. They were neither school going girls nor some aspiring youth,
but life had been tough to Shree.
He had gone ending all the things in a note, a note that was
written to amaze her, to shake her out of her comfort zone and then putting her
in a lifetime of trauma. It was Anisha in whose company Shree could sip that
evening coffee in relaxation. Shree missed him and wished his soul sat near
her, watching her face talk, and her eyes seeking him. Anisha talked about her
homely stuff, the mother-in-law who was affectionate and the children who were
the apple of her eye. Shree wished he
was there to look at her countenance and caress her hair which fell on her
forehead. She was listening to what Anisha spoke, but was deep down missing
him.
Anisha stayed that night with Shree. They both talked about
Shree’s life with him, how happy Shree was, and how she had met him at their
first date. The eyes were full of tears, they remembered him. The thought of
the written note had been scorching her nerves. Shree wished he was there
again, wiping away her tears and hugging her across, and the thought brought a
sudden urge to be loved. Again, she slept with his memories holding her bosom tight;
she could hear her own heartbeat. Anisha went back that afternoon. It was five
in the evening, the sun had set. Now, the children did not play in the park
outside. It was quiet and gloomy. She opens her wedding album for the twelfth
time. She missed him yet again!
