The day I fell twice

A Story by Javith Abbas

I always wondered about my college location as it was in a place called Madukkarai, home for wild elephants, a small range in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Coimbatore. It is also called the Gateway to Kerala. My college is in top of a small mountain enclosed by tall oaks, elevated rocks and a small township. I boasted for an hour about the campus’s scenic beauty to my hometown friends, the day I came for the admission and was the day I first enjoyed this such a beautiful place which is far reach for my mind to construct in my dreams. After completing my Higher Secondary education in my hometown, I enrolled here for four years Bachelor of Technology IT programme. Since the college is very far from home, two hours’ lousy journey by bus, my parents decided to accommodate me in the hostel inside the campus which I gleefully accepted.

Being a bright talkative person I managed to make sizeable number of friends in my class and hostel in a very brief period. I became less studious and more mischievous in college than my school days. Me and my boys regularly slipped out of the campus to watch movies late night and return after midnight. It was during this period I first got the habit of liquor drinking. There were few occasions where I attended classes and lab exams getting drunk. And all kinds of cheat codes were applied for exams. I got caught once for cheating in a test, it was after completing the test not while cheating. I made a micro Xerox copy of the book and carried it to the exam hidden. After successfully copying all the answers and being carried away the half-successful mission I swung my arm in style while I was submitting the answer sheets to the invigilator, the copies that were hidden in the shirt sleeves dropped like leaves from the branches. Then my parents were called and they had to bear the wrath of my class advisor, head of the department and principal.

Having built up a pile of colourful memories in just six months of my college life, I happened to befriend a charming girl from my class. I was susceptible to her enchanting eyes and winsome smile from the day I saw her, but never had the idea of talking to her. We were introduced to each other by our mutual friend at her birthday celebration. After a couple of days, we exchanged our phone numbers and then in weeks we became caring companion to each other.

She had a peculiar and offbeat style of walk. It was like a lame gait as if she was trying to walk with a limp in her left foot. She was always ridiculed while entering the class. I urged her to change it and helped her decode the art of firm walk by walking with her to hostel for about two weeks and point out whenever she makes a lame step. This made me a more caring and trustworthy person in her sight. But she was being a great dancer despite that walk. Her performance in the cultural event shut all the doors of mockery.

We were constantly connected to each other by our mobile phones. If either of us are busy with other friends we will be texting otherwise we will be in call with each other. Duration of the call was increasing day by day. From ten minutes in the beginning it was now ten hours. Sometimes we were awake the whole night. Going to college for fun has now become for her. We will be at our classroom before others in the morning and would leave late in the evening after others. Never in our mind at that time we questioned ourselves for this meaningless behaviour.

After three months, our final exams for the first year were started. Instead of worrying about our exams we were obsessed about the one month holiday after the exams. It will be very difficult to use our mobile phones constantly if we are in home. A day before the third exam there was a heavy thunderstorm. It started raining from afternoon and was pouring down till night. Students were hoping that the exam will be postponed if it continues till next morning. As always, I was talking to her the entire day. It was half past ten and heavy thunders were rattling outside but all we heard was our own voices. We were babbling about the weather which we didn’t notice. Suddenly, our call was disconnected due to insufficient balance. Her balance was zeroed already so we were using mine but now both are zeroed.

Being intimidated by the weather outside I couldn’t go out and recharge, so I decided to continue the silly talk next day and sent her a goodnight text. But she felt otherwise, she called from her friend’s phone and said that she wanted to tell something very important and it must be said on that day itself. She felt that this day was something special about her feelings and it should be expressed. She was reluctant to control her emotions and insisted me to go out and recharge. I was confused and yet I was happy. It always happened with her ever since we got intimate, I felt like I could guess her all the time. This time my hunch was that she might make a love proposal.

I wrapped my mobile in a plastic cover, slid in my pocket and started running from the hostel gate. It was very difficult to run in that blustery winds and heavy rain. I must reach the half-constructed compound behind my hostel without guard’s notice and jump across it to reach the main road which is half a mile from there. I managed to do the same with ease as it was very dark than usual because of the rain. I was completely drenched by the time I reached the shop at the main gate exit of my college. Wasted no time on recharge and called her immediately.

The moment I heard her voice I was out of breath. My lungs became dry, chest was filled with vacuum and my body felt very light. She was saying something but I couldn’t listen to a single word. And then out of nowhere I said,

“I love you”

After a long hush, she said the same. But she was upset for ruining her proposal plan. She hung up the call by asking me to return to hostel immediately.

I started running and was thinking about all the beautiful moments I had with her. I fantasized about carrying her in my arms, covering her head with my t-shirt and running. As I reached the wall, I climbed it and made the jump. I regret that moment, the moment I made the jump dreaming about her and completely ignoring the surroundings. I landed on the hollow blocks piled up on the other side of the wall. It was my feet first hit on the blocks then the rib cage and finally a blow on my head which knocked me out completely.

I woke up after eight years. I saw my mom crying, holding my hand and calling my name. Dad was there behind her with tears. There was a young guy in mid-twenties standing at the door smiling at me, who is my younger brother couldn’t recognize him at that moment. I have been in coma for all these years. My friends started visiting me after my parents informed them. They are all not students now, some are IT professionals, some are entrepreneurs. Some of them are married and have kids. They said that it was some students who saw me at late midnight near the compound wall lying in a pool of blood. I told everyone that I was out there just for recharge and didn’t mention anything about her.

Some of the guys who are near my hometown visited me regularly on weekends. I was hoping that she would come but she hasn’t yet. I never asked anyone about her and even no one bothered about telling me anything about her. Every moment I spent with her I have been in love. When I think about that night the first thing that comes to my mind is her words acknowledging our love. Our love lasted just for a moment but that is also love �" a true love. I wish we had one hug or one kiss before it had ended like how classic love stories end. I believe at some day we may bump into each other and fall in love again, at least for that moment. Because life is unpredictable and so is love.