My Princess..

 It was 9 pm.. I rushed to my computer and logged into yahoo messenger. She was not yet there..
5 mins later a message popped on my screen..
Princess now online....

Aryan : Hey whr wer u dear?
Princess: Sorry sweety, reached home l8.
Aryan: oh.. been out wid sum1?
Princess: ohhoo is sum1 getting jealous??
Aryan: nope.. y shud i get jealous? ur life..
Princess: Hey Aryan wud u meet me 2mrw ?
Aryan: whatttttttttt?????????????? I mean r u serious???
Princess: +ve :)
Aryan: yeayayayayaya!!!! I wil finally meet my princess..

Yes she was my online friend.. Found her in a chatroom and since then we had regularly been chatting at 9pm.

Aryan: R u der?
Princess: yessss...
Aryan: Princess tell me ur name atleast now dat u trust me enuf 2 meet me..

Yes, she is not Princess and I m not Aryan.. I m Heet and she knows that.. I don't know her real name.. I haven't seen her.. I haven't even spoken to her on phone.. But I still love her...

Princess: Have patience honey.. Will tel u 2mrw wen v meet.
Aryan: :( :( ok.. but where?? n how do i find u??
Princess: Meet me at Mc Donald's near the Orbit Mall at 5 pm. I will find u der.

Yes, she had seen my snap but refused to send her own.. She had my cell number but never called me up. She was elusive and sometimes outright weird.. But what the heck! I still loved her like crazy..

Aryan : cool.. Hey princess..
Princess: wat???
Aryan: I wouldn't b able to sleep 2nite. waiting to c ur lovely face.. love u gal..
Princess: love u 2 ..:)
Aryan: wowowow!! its the 1st tym u said so:)
Princess: I know... Bye..
Aryan: Bye..

Princess is offline...

I kept staring at the screen for sometime... Was it a dream???

I never slept to wake up the next day.. I kept glancing at the clock and hoping it was 5 soon.. I couldn't concentrate on anything else.. I started getting ready when it was hardly 3.. I shaved and showered.. I wore a cool red T-shirt ( her favorite color) and blue jeans.. I left an hour early..

The direct road to Mc D was blocked for some reason and I was happy I started early so that I can go the other way which is always traffic jammed.. I reached the place sharp at 4.45...

There was so much anticipation.. A girl who I had never seen could turn me so crazy.. So impatient.. What would happen when she was with me... I began thinking how she would be.. I had a mental image of someone very agile, soft toned, fair and cute... A Princess... What if she turned out to be too fat?? What if she was taller than me? Why was I thinking all this? IT was superficial to think like that.. I loved her for her spirit, her inner beauty and that should never change...

I was lost in my thoughts and soon it turned 5.30.. I kept looking at the door.. Every girl entering made me anxious.. I felt she was Princess..  But no one approached me.. Did she forget how I looked?? No.. I knew that was not possible... I waited till 8 but she never came...

Disheartened, I started out for home.. I was angry .. I was sad.. Had she decided last moment that she couldn't trust me? Had I said anything yesterday on chat that must have made her think so? Was my eagerness to see her deciphered as desperation??

I was so much in my own world that I forgot the main road was blocked. I reached near the barricade when a policeman stopped me.

"You cannot go from here.. There has been an accident."

"Oh..anything serious?" I asked

"Yes, an autorickshaw collided with a truck. Auto has hit the divider. The girl in the auto died on the spot and driver is critical. We are looking for the absconding truck driver. Where you here earlier."

" No sir. Was the girl young?"

"Yes.. She was not even twenty I think. Her body is badly damaged. Her relatives are having difficulty in identifying her."

I could feel my heart thumping louder and louder, shouting at me .."That was your Princess.." I could hardly breath...

I had no way to know that.. I couldn't recognise her if she was in perfect health, then what with her disfigured and crampled body? Hell!! I didn't even know her name... I could do nothing but head back home.

It was close to 9.. My princess would come online.. I logged in yahoo..

There was an offliner by princess..

Hey Heet... M dying to meet u sweetheart.. want you to know I love you sooo much..... :)

She had sent this at 3.30... She was coming to meet me... Something within me died that moment... I knew my Princess was no more...

I kept coming online everyday at 9 pm to prove myself wrong.. She never came online... She could not... My Princess was far away in another world....