He Never Showed Up

Confronting with destiny...

He Never Showed up

 

  Long she stood…  Beautiful pale fingers placed on the window bars and wide graceful forehead kissed against the misty glass window pane. The chilly wind taking morning rounds has met her tender warm breath and blurred the transparency of the window pane into translucence. Throwing the sight outside, the atmosphere resembled a skillful artist’s canvas of ranging varieties of emerald pines and trees. Winter breeze that climbed down the mountains and valleys have already brought smiles on sweater sellers’ faces early that week. Sunlight has been taking a nap under the blanket of clouds since the silver threads of nature started holidaying on Earth.

 

         Tears, originating from her soft cheeks, journeyed lightly over her lips and finally sought salvation in her pink shirt with pretty flowers around the neck. They knew for sure that they didn’t belong to this angelic girl’s eyes, but their sulks were in vain. They had no choice, that was the fact. The birds outside and other creatures joined to sing her melodies along with the drizzle.

   

          This is Megha … Megha Malhotra… For her, this isn’t a ‘just’ day. This day… She recalls with a deep sigh… Two years…!!!  It’s been two whole years since sorrows stole her smile. Only Lord, the creator knows how she whitened each dark night since then.

 

        “Megha …dear…”

           She looked back her left shoulder slowly, to behold her aunt standing with a cup of coffee. The warm vapors stirred the room’s moody silence with lovely coffee smell. Her aunt had been trying to neutralize her mental health with her charisma, but nothing had blinked a green light for last two years.

 

  Aunt (After a long pause):” Meghan…Have this. How long do you think you’ll go hungry? What’s the point in it? “

  Megha slightly changed her position of meditation. Megha, the bonny girl with fair skin, tired yet huge still eyes and wide silent lips turned to face her aunt. Her uncombed long brownish hair lay loose and curled by her shoulders. Face blank, cheeks wet, hands loose and long skirt dragging along with… Her eyes locked with aunt’s. But those eyes were googling something in the infinities of the pupil. Her brown eyes sank unconditionally into the opposite ones. There was something unreadable on that girl’s face. Time ticked…Drops dripped… And after a long delay, came her response: “I… I don’t want anything… Would like to be on my own… Please… “She said crisply.

     Megha, turning to her former meditating position continued with the rain. She doesn’t know whether her aunt responded, but later she heard her footsteps fade away into thin air.

 

Megha’s pages of memories were as fresh as if they were written yesterday. Zephyr turned pages from her memories.

 

                             *         *        *       *       *       *

Dec 13 2004:

Megha (weeping):”But Ma…This is not fair…”

Mom (comforting):”Dear… We are helpless. You have your exams ahead, or else, you too could’ve joined us to Kashmir.”

Megha:” Still…Two weeks. I want to see grandpa.”

Dad: ”Megha, grandpa is gonna be fine. We’ll meet him again after his surgery. I’ll take you there during you hol’s. Now bid a good bye my little girl.”

Megha: “Rohan is coming, na???”

Mom: “He is young. He won’t stay without Ma and Pa, you know that.”

Megha: “Mmm ….mm.. But Pa, promise me that you’ll take me to  Kashmir soon after my 10^th exams.”

Dad (smiling and hugging):”Obviously sweetheart. Just two weeks… We’ll be back by then. You’ll be fine with aunt and uncle here.”

Megha (absentmindedly):”Okay Pa…”

 

                             *          *        *          *           *

Rain drops carried by a fresh wind shook her off from the past. Eftsoons, her mind drove back.

 

     It’s been two years. The promise of return was never met. She was left alone with her kins in that house with large windows. Hopes had lost their colors and have blurred over time. Now it’s calm… As calm as a night sky …

 

   “Why did they leave me? Was it because I was adopted?” She couldn't choose, but weep.

Megha hadn't been a shy girl nor was she talkative. Her lips had been forever calm but not eyes. Her eyes were restless, portraying every single thing that ran in her mind. But now they've slowed down.

  Nobody knows how long she stood. But the nature continued playing karaoke for her sad melody.

Drops of rain slid down the frozen glass panes kissing the same tenderly. Paced Megha, back and forth her verse of past and future, pursuing countless possibilities of her fate.

Either her tears might have dried or eyes might have become weaker, purpose is still unknown and behind the curtain… But the change was vivid. First Megha and then her skirt came down the stairs step by step.

    Her long fingers swept wooden rails of the staircase and they savored her touch as a kitten under her master’s affectionate care.

The clock on the wall whispered it was 10 past 3.

    To her left, was the grand piano. It lay there untouched and dusty. No key had moved up and down and no symphony had ever peeped out ever since her family stepped out.

  ‘It was the happiest dwelling in Mussorie those days…Laughter, love and music! Not even a tinge of sadness dared to enter that family. It was so perfect! Birds flying cheerfully, chirping in the heavenly rhythm of the keys that leapt below Megha’s fingers and nature smiling at her jingling laughter…’   The air there recalls with a sigh…

 

 

     She then moved to her little brother’s aquarium. She opened the shelf above it and took out the bottle to feed the fishes. Then her eyes met that! The golden fish had shifted the residence from Earth to Heaven. She knelt down to have a glance at the sleeping fish. She was startled at the discovery of her brother’s favorite fish lying cold dead. Should she cry? Should she take him out? Should she keep it still? She never knew… Were her senses a little reluctant to respond? Or had her adrenaline gone on strike? Everything was delayed…

    “Ding dong” rang the calling bell outside. And to her surprise, all she knew was that she was running towards the door. She flew opened the door.

  “Dad! “, spelt her tongue almost in a chocky voice.

Dad: “Megha…  My girl…”

Megha:  ”Two years dad! Two whole years! How could you…”

Dad: “Forgive me Megha…  We are here now.”

Megha (Cuddling her dad):”Missed you Pa… Missed you a lot ... I wasn’t even alive since you left. It’s not fair… Not at all…”

  She stood there, wrapped in her dad’s warm hug for a few seconds.

Megha: “Rohan, where’s that naughty boy?? I’m gonna kill him for not even texting me. How dare he leave me like this?? He doesn’t deserve apologies!”

Dad:”Rohan… He…”

Megha:”I know. He must be hiding behind the car. Rohan! Stop your drama. Stop hiding. I’m coming to you…”

(Megha walking towards the car)

Dad: ”He won’t come Megha… He won’t hear you…”

Megha (confused):”Pa, don’t try to fool me anymore.”

Dad (tears bursting out):”The day we reached the hospital to see your grandpa… The blast there… Megha, that dreadful day stole our Rohan. It grabbed him. Your mom… It took two years to recover from that trauma. Still she isn’t completely fine. And what was I supposed to say you in between these?”

    It was then that Megha noticed her mom sitting in a wheelchair. She wished so badly it to be a dream. Her heart did not know how to bear that affliction. She ran to her aquarium and knelt down her knees.

    Her mind played the reel of past.

         

                               *          *        *          *           *

    “Rohan…  What are you doing over there? Mom is asking for you. The taxi to the airport has arrived”, said Megha.

Rohan: ”Sis… Take care of my Crypto. He is my best buddy. I don’t wanna leave him and stay…”

Megha: ”Hey… Just two weeks, na? He’ll be fine. I’m here for your fish.”

 

 

Rohan: ”If anything happens to him, you can believe that something has happened to me… Kay??”

Megha (bursting into laugh):”What?? Have you gone nuts or what?! Something happened to him is something happened to you? That’s the stupid thing I’ve ever heard. Hey, now give me a kiss and get ready to leave.”

                           *          *        *          *           *

The laughter came to her ears intensifying and then faded gradually…

Megha took out the fish in her hands.

Megha (Glueing eyes on the fish):”Was it for this that you said if something happened to him is equal to something happening to me?? Brother… I shouldn’t have allowed you complete the lines. I…

    She stands up calmly… Her last vestige of tears falls on the fish…

Megha: ”Hey, Crypto, open your eyes. I want my brother back…”

(Breaks down)

The perpendicularly of her body came horizontal to the ground…

The drizzle outside continued the melodious melancholies.

                            *          *        *          *           *

              

 

Reviews

[rickm97]

Loved the detail and the feelings in the beginning. I could feel the cold window pane and the breath upon it, and see the drops of rain on the outside. I could feel Megha's sadness, the loneliness of winter. Wonderful job. Carry that into your dialogue; make me feel their playful banter, make me feel her joy at seeing her father, then drop me like a rock into sadness with the news of Rohan.

And never give up.

Good job.

[Sufana Anakkachery]

Thank you so much for your review... It really persuades me to keep on writing.

[James Glazier]

Wow, very detailed. I'm actually quite astonished. Thank you for submitting.

[Sufana Anakkachery]

Oh my God, that really flattered me!! To be frank, i was a little doubtful whether the details were beyond the limit..But, this review really washed away my confusions.Help me to improve.

[Cali]

The descriptions and details are absolutely mesmerizing-- can definitely feel the emotions as if you were there.

[Sufana Anakkachery]

Thank you so much...Need your suggestions.