The silence
between the two was meddled by irregular hammering at the mechanic’s shop. She
took out her mobile and gasped to see 7 missed calls from home, unable to catch
signal she turned towards him. She tried to get a look of his face, failing to
gather his attention she called out, “Excuse me”? He looked perturbed, like
disturbed from a deep meditation. While asking for his cell phone she tried her
best to figure out the possible reasons of his melancholy.
She keyed in her
mother’s number and waited for her to pick up. There was no answer, disconnecting
the phone she checked the time to realize her mother must have slept already
assuming she might be working another late night. She held the phone in his
direction to see he had closed his eyes. The subtle stern expression had
started to transform, he was unable to hold it any longer. She could sense it was
her fault of having taken him off the zone of numbness by disturbing him. A
tear rolled out from the corner of his closed eyes visible from her side. She
could not figure out at all what would be the best suitable reaction for this
time. Looking away for a while she decided to talk to him but could not pick
herself the best way to get the conversation started.
All of a sudden
she spoke, “you know my father died of cancer last year”. That confession made
him jump a little from in the inside. He opened his eyes, felt sorry for the
loss but was unsure of the ways to react to such an event. He was left confused
by a stranger telling him the most painful feeling in their life. Before he
could console her about it, she spoke again. “I cried because it was not in my
hands, I believe and hope what you are worried about does not need tears but
actions. The watery eyes will only haze the picture of future you dream for
yourself. There are certain times in life you need to let go of the
attachments pulling you down so as to realize your potentials to the full.”
Aghast! She
spoke everything he already knew. The same old rusted philosophies, but it made
sense. In that moment he felt the strength to move forward in life. The
monotonic tone in which she said all the big words made it even more impactful.
Just then the mechanic informed that the car couldn’t be repaired until
tomorrow. She panicked a little only to be assured by him that he’d drop her
after he gets his scooter. Finally she heard him speak. His pain attracted her
in a completely absurd manner as if somebody had challenged her to make him
smile. She spoke about everything she could think of, every little curl in his
lips, every time he took off his constant gaze from the puddle to look at her,
were like giving her points in some life game.
He got his
scooter, they drove to her place. The ride was a silent one; she had placed her
hands on his shoulders and kept staring in the darkness trying to figure out
the reason for change in the way her heart had been beating! They pulled over
at her place. This was an extremely difficult moment for her. She could not
just let him go without the hopes of seeing him again. Without a second thought
she invited him to come inside. This now meant a life changing leap for him. He
had decided to start afresh being motivated by her, and it would have been just
perfect having alongside a companion who wanted nothing else but your
happiness.
He could not say
no, and so he turned around without a word, powered the engine and went off.
There was so much he needed to correct in his life, so much to move away from,
so much to sort. Unsure he would even be able to ever move on effectively, he decided not to drag her into all the mess and make her suffer. He had decided to unboard the present broken boat not to
catch a similar another, but to swim alone along the tides, empowering himself.
And just when he made that decision, the tides got low, the water became appropriately
calm!
P.S. Choosing right over wrong is important than choosing happiness. Mending the present things in life is important than moving away with a new opportunity leaving the past ignored. Happiness cannot be sought only in the presence of a companion, solitude has its own perks.
