word game..!

She stood in the balcony for a long time, in the cold stark night. Everything was the same. The dark silence, full moon standing alone in the crowd of glittering stars, voices of summer insects and she herself. But then again she could feel an emptiness that was making the whole scene gloomier and more eerie than ever before. The time had seemed to lost count.

A distant laughter jolted her. She looked behind with a sharp twist but only found complete darkness gawping at her.  ‘oh’ she now remembered. It was her very laughter that was lingering in some distant town. Stray winds had brought it back to her but it had died without touching her lips.

She stood staring at the sky and there she could see it all like a clear movie scene. She was with them, the two kids she adored. Their muffled voices were reaching her ears. She remembered teasing the little girl with long shiny hair and dimples and her denying and tickling her in reply. The young boy with twinkling black eyes was laughing and egging her not to give in to the little girl.  

An owl hooted nearby and brought her back to the real world. She tried to locate it in the dead of the night but it was impossible to even make out its silhouette in the dark.

A slight movement caught her attention in the nearby bush. She looked at it for a while but her mind was still wandering in the wooden corridor where in the middle of roof hung a beautiful ancient chandelier. Whenever the strong winds rattled the window panes, she feared that chandelier might crash but it never did. She secretly believed that it was hung in the air by magic; however she never mouthed this to anyone.

On the left side of the corridor was the door to kitchen. Black marble floor and wooden shelves in a spacious room gave it a very classic look.  A smile spread across her face as she remembered herself sitting on one of the selves, eating sweet sugar balls as fast as she was chatting with Gul bibi.

Gul bibi n she had a lot in common. Despite the age difference they enjoyed each other’s company, always finding something new and fresh to start the day with. This time they had chosen hair treatment. They plucked long and swollen stems of aloe vera plant which were dripping with the gooey transparent material. After half an hour this along with oil were transferred to their heads. Laughing hard at their own reflections in the mirror they tried to guess what miracles will occur with their hair. Being ‘Rapunzel’ was their target.  Even though they were unable to achieve that, the result was quiet satisfactory, enough to keep them marry for the next two days.

A strong gust of wind sent a cold shiver down her spine and she shrugged involuntarily to keep herself warm.  Suddenly she craved for coffee. She had never liked it strong n bitter rather creamy and very mild. More like her.

Unintentionally she looked at the clocked and was taken aback... it was more than four hours that she had been standing outside reminiscing. And at this late hour while making herself coffee she was reminded of the last person who resided there. That comfortable sofa in the far corner of the room, with a tall lamp standing right behind it, was always occupied by him.  She had known him to be an intellectual soul with a very unique perspective about thing and an insight that was not very commonly found among the masses. She knew he was special but unrecognized. She wondered if he was at a wrong place at right time. And it usually saddened and at times infuriated her to see him wasting himself like his.  But nevertheless she enjoyed his company and the descriptions and explanations he gave.  There used to come times when she used to stop listening to him and just concentrated on his feature. He was very handsome but years of negligence had left its effect on his physique. He looked older than his age and somehow his weary soul was visible through his once very alive eyes. 

The steaming hot mug was ready. Taking small step she stepped into the lounge and stood by the window. It had started to rain heavily. Unaware of it her eyes started to shed water too. Her heart still bled whenever she was reminded of one of the most painful incidents of her life which affected her so deeply that she, herself couldn’t measure the depth of it.

Although she could sense the tension among the spouses but she thought it was under control and quiet normal. Couples do have differences. Sadly, they had no idea that the tension was ebbing towards the threshold limit. She cursed herself for not being smart enough to assess the situation.  The divorced between gul bibi n him came as a shocker for her. She remembered herself standing stunned in her room, as those ugly voices reached her ears. She tried to shut the sound waves but there was no way she could not listen. It was all too loud and clear. She broke down when he uttered the first ‘divorce’. crying hard she prayed for some miracle that would put stop to the words coming out of his mouth. The cruel words that were destroying everything around, setting everything ablaze, washing away everything… after what seemed like ages, she opened her eyes. The world had lost all the color. Everything was grey. Even the lights had gone dim. And the sun outside hid behind dark grey clouds as if heart broken itself.

Soon after that everything happened as if in haze. The cozy cottage went barren and empty.

3 MONTHS LATER:

She sighed and for an umpteenth time wished to go back to the cottage that was not hers. She wanted to leave behind her lonely world she loved and step into the warmth of that cozy house. She wanted to feel the strong waves of love and longing in the air.  She was never superstitious but right now she asked the Lord for some sign. And suddenly as if responding to her silent prayers God sent a shooting star. Tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes. She closed her eyes, letting the tears run down her cheeks and prayed with all her heart.

As the first rain drop fell on her tear streaked face she made her way inside. She hoped that the rain would wash away the pain of yesterday!