Guardian Angel

She walked across the beach, pondering over her already messed up life. She was stranded and helpless, what she needed was an angel in disguise. She continued walking and then began picking up shells, just as they used to do together. Then she sat down and buried her legs in the sand. She remembered how he would playfully sculpt the sand around her legs and then she would to his. They used to sit for long hours at the beach, smiling at each other enjoying the beauty of God's creation. But all of that came to an end when he was called from above. He was snatched from her. That stupid man who ran over him, would probably be feeling guilty even now, but a mistake is a mistake and no one could do anything about it. His carelessness had cost her husband his life. She cursed. 

The air gently blew and she felt like he was around. Telling her that he'd never let her out of his sight. She smiled at the enveloping air and tried to catch it. She spent the entire day walking and running around the beach trying to feel him and then catch him. Stupid as it may have looked to others, she had every right to behave stupidly. After all, it pains to lose your first love. Her only love. She thought back to how their fingers had been entwined all through their marriage ceremony. Everyone called them the happiest couple. That was her moment of bliss. 

Slowly she settled down on the rug, in their loft. The small one, they'd acquired over time with a lot of struggle and perseverance. She observed everything, each picture, each furniture, everything had its own story. And all of it was as crystal clear to her as his face was. Then she went to their bedroom. The place they'd decorated as they'd always imagined. She opened his cupboard and took out his clothes... laid them down neatly on the bed and then she noticed something weird in the cupboard. There was a box, she'd never seen it. 

Slowly she took out the box and placed it on the bed. She sat down and wondered if she should open it. It was his after all, he deserved privacy. Alive or not. But then she saw her name inscribed on the lock and it hit her. The necklace he'd given her a while back which his name on it, the one in the form of a key was the one that would open this box. He knew that we were incomplete without each other. She began crying, their love was deep and crazy and she knew that she'd never ever be able to live the same normal life. 

Slowly she unlocked the box with the key and was surprised to find a letter. He'd not left her after all. 

'He always wanted to ensure his presence. He'll never let me stray, never let me alone. He's always going to be my guardian angel'. She mumbled

And just as she was reading the letter absorbing every word as if he was saying it to her...

The bell rang. 

Love

Sonshu

Love at first snow!

When i reached my stop, I exchanged a shy look with Joshua. His deep blue eyes have left me numb since the day i saw him. Now i knew, why all the drama about my dressing this early morning. Joshua was back to office after a very long vacation. I wished he didn't get engage to some one during his vacation. So as i sat beside him waiting for the bus, i checked his finger. When his honey filled voice called my name, Hey Zoeeeeeeee, i smiled. I started blabbering about everything that happened in his absence.

That's when the bus arrived. We both boarded the bus. I was shy to sit beside him. My loss was her gain. A young beautiful girl sat beside him. Which made m jealous as hell. and my mind stopped working, I was not sure if my heart was working. That's exactly when i realised two things, that i am madly in love with him and its freezing cold outside.And i am dressed for summer. Huh! The castle i built in the air vanished just like the air. I hit the rock bottom.

The whole day in my work place i was not sure if i knew what was going on around me. I was completely lost.I just wanted to go home and cry loudly. I left office early. As i stepped outside i saw the snow flakes.The first snow fall of the year.The beautiful snow didn't change my mood.I sat alone in the bus. Slowly the bus started getting filled. I saw Josh getting in. When he sat beside me i didn't know how to react.

I felt warm sitting beside him. When i saw his smile, i forgot that i was angry. He started telling me about his trip. When we got down, he asked me if i would like to walk with him. I nodded my head in response. He laughed at me, and gave me his coat. As we walked he held my hand.I was not quite sure what was happening. We sat by the tree side. The view was breathtaking.

He said, Zoe, "she is not my girl friend".

My face went all red. He took my face in his hands and kissed me on my lips.

I felt warm and safe in his arms. My Love at first snow!

Word Count: 398.

HELLO.... I... HELLO...

HIM – hey dear! How is life? ( in a voice choked! )

HER – don't try to hide your restlessness by your ever stupid formal gestures!

What happened?

HIM – nothing!(frustrating manner!)

HER – there surely is something!

HIM – how can you be so sure?

HER – because you are pressing a bit too hard on “nothing!”.....

( a long pause.... )

To be continued...(tomorrow....)

(With this I start the quest of searching the two people whom I dont know... Him N Her... My first attempt on this )

The night (Part IV-Concluding Part)

(First, apologies for having taken so long to post the concluding part. I was almost done with it when the poetry contest was announced and the lounge was closed. Then when it reopened, I got busy with college. Anway, for those of you who have been following this series and those of you who would like to read the previous parts, you can find them here, here, and here. )

Yes, indeed it was—the voice of Shashank. Just last week, on her birthday, Shashank had gifted her a cell-phone. She was very happy. She’d asked him to record his voice on it and had set it as her ring-tone. So every time she received a call from him, it was as if he was calling out her name. Neetu had been shaken back to reality… Shashank was calling her, and she needed to answer her phone.

“Hello Shashank…” she muttered into the phone, while the stranger stood beside her.

There was no answer.

“Shashank… Hello, Shashank… is it you?” Neetu stammered into the phone. Shashank had never bothered to call her ever before. There had been many instances when he’d not returned home at night; he’d come back the next morning, pick up some more files, bathe, change, have breakfast, and leave without uttering a single word or even looking at his wife. Sometimes, she wondered if he was a workaholic robot! She’d tried to kindle love for him in her heart. Alas! All her efforts had been in vain. But the question remained: “why had he called up tonight? And why wasn’t he answering?” The question made her uncomfortable and her stomach cringed.

“Hello…” a different voice answered. “Hello… who’s this?” Neetu asked. “May I know who I am speaking to please,” the stern voice said matter-of-factly. “This is Mrs. Neetu Sahni, wife of Mr. Shashank Sahni, whose phone this is,” replied Neetu, starting to get worried.

“Well, Mrs. Sahni, I am afraid I have some very bad news for you,” the stranger said with deathly seriousness. Neetu could hear her heart thumping wildly within her chest.

“Mrs. Sahni, your husband has been found dead in his office this evening. Apparently, he’d lost all his money and had mortgaged his house and business in a bid at the race last week. So, he committed suicide this evening. There’s a suicide note here as well claiming the same. We have started the investigations. May I please come and meet you tomorrow to hand over the body and complete some formalities? Mrs. Sahni…. hello… are you there?”
Neetu was frozen. She’d just lost her husband forever, and she had no wealth or house to fall back on. Everything was lost. She started to feel dizzy. As she was about to fall, someone held her, held her close, comforting her. She clung on to him tightly as the world turned into a blur.

“Neetu…” she heard her name escape from the stranger’s lips. That was the first word he’d uttered since their chance encounter. “Neetu… are you okay?” Hearing him utter her name injected some strength into her, and she composed herself. Tears filled her eyes, but they were not tears of sadness or loss. They were tears of relief, tears of freedom—freedom from being imprisoned in a relationship that had killed the woman within. It was as if Shashank’s death had given a new lease of life to the woman in her. She felt nothing for Shashank or his wealth—both had never mattered to her, and she was, in some way, thankful that both had gone away from her life for good.

She looked into the stranger’s eyes, her own eyes full of hope, love and some apprehension. The stranger seemed to understand: he tightened his grip on her as if to reassure her that he’d never let her go, and looked back lovingly into those dark brown eyes of hers. Yes, finally, she had found love, even if in the most unlikely of places and under the most unlikely circumstances. She didn’t even know his name. But deep inside, she knew that they were meant to be. And they would be, together, forever. She closed her eyes to let the feeling, the moment sink in. From the secure confines of his arms, she opened her eyes to the sky… the first few rays of the sun were beginning to grace the sky. Love had finally dawned… after that night!

(PS: I had initially thought of a rather sad ending. But something urged me to try and end it on a happy note. I hope I have been able to do what I set out to. This is the happiest end I could think of. If you think you could come up with a better ending, I'd be glad to know. Thanks for stopping by... I hope it was an enjoyable read!)

The night (Part III)

(This is the third part of the story. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. As always, comments and criticism are more than welcome.)


Neetu stood there, speechless, numbed, her eyes filled with despair and helplessness. She could not come to terms with the fact that she had come this close to finding love... but had lost. She didn’t know what to do. A ray of light flickered at the end of the platform… a train was entering. Neetu stared blankly at the train as it approached her. The logical next step would have been to get into the train and go back to the same old loveless life. The train stopped in front of her. She took a step towards the door, contemplating whether to get in or not. She again turned back to where he’d stood, with the hope of finding him. Destiny had decided otherwise. There was still no sign of him. She was being a stupid, mushy, crazily romantic teenager hoping for the impossible to happen. Reluctantly, she got in, tears in her eyes; the train was rather empty, but for some reason, she decided not to sit and leaned against the door. The horn blew. She looked up…

There he was, staring right back at her from the platform. The look on his face urged her to get off the train… and the horn blew. What was she to do? Was she dreaming of him or was he really there? What if she took her eyes off him and he disappeared the next moment? What if she stood helplessly in the train looking at him on the platform, while the train moved out, shattering beneath its wheels her hopes of finding love? “Oh my God, the train’s moving,” she realized, and ran to get out of the train. She jumped out of the moving train like it was a matter of life and death, she was about to fall on the platform when he caught her in his arms... The world around them stood still. They looked into each others’ eyes—eyes filled with pain, hurt, anger, guilt… but sparkling with love.

After their collision, he’d tried to walk away… but the look in her eyes when they’d first collided urged him to stay. He had contemplated walking up to her, but decided against it because she didn’t seem to care. He felt as though the entire episode meant much more to him than to her. He had started to climb up the foot-over-bridge, but halfway through, he decided to go back. He had turned and looked down at her, standing on the platform. She was talking to someone on the phone. And then, she turned and seemed to be desperately looking for someone in the crowd. “Maybe she’s looking out for me,” he thought. A lump formed in his throat. He started to climb down the stairs, one by one, and when he was only 4 steps from the ground, he saw her getting into the train that had just arrived. “Oh no,” he said to himself, “I can’t let her go…” He ran… and two breaths later, she had jumped from the train, into his arms…

He held her tight, as though he was there to protect and comfort her, and she rested her head against his chin, tugging at his jacket. He kissed her forehead lightly. The world was watching, but to them, nothing else mattered as they enjoyed the quiet company of each other. Not a word was spoken, not a look was exchanged… love had entwined them in a bond so unique; it was as if both had been destined to find each other. They stood still in each other’s arms… until she heard a familiar voice that shook her and brought her back…

“Neetu…”

Was she imagining things, or was it really the voice of Shashank, her husband?

The night (Part II)

(This is the second part of the story. Read the first part here. I got a few suggestions and all of them have pointed out that they want a happy ending. I assure you all that it will be a happy ending... as it is, we have enough sorrows and unpleasant things to deal with in our daily lives... the least we can do is have happy endings at least in stories!!! Hope you enjoy this series...)

She was walking away, tears streaming from her eyes and flowing over her cheeks. And as she stopped, she looked at her hand, and something glistened over her finger… a tear… atop the diamond on her ring finger. It was as if someone was reminding her that she, despite being held captive in a loveless marriage, had no right to love or be loved…

Her marriage was like a heartbroken lover standing at the edge of a cliff, wanting to jump, but slightly hesitant to end his life. The woman in her who’d wished for her prince charming to come and sweep her in his arms had died a brutal death when she’d married the stranger whom she was now living with, under the same roof. The stranger was happy with his life—work, parties, racing, and alcohol. He took good care of her, like he did, of the vase in his living room or of the Picasso on his bedroom wall. But that was all there was between them. And today, she’d run into another stranger! There was one little difference though—the person whom she’d been living with since 2 years seemed like a complete stranger, and the stranger whom she’d run into a couple of minutes before seemed like she’d known him for years…

Neetu had turned to work in order to distract herself from the emotional trauma of this meaningless relationship. She looked for love in all the possible places—right from buying an ice-cream for a street kid to helping a blind old woman cross the road. However, the desire to be loved and cared for by a companion had persisted as a void deep within. And today, destiny had given her the opportunity! A turbulent debate simmered inside her… between the woman who was lawfully wedded to a man and the woman who’d just had the first taste of love. And it seemed like the latter was winning…

Her phone rang. Someone from home was calling her. She expected it to be her husband…after all, who else would be calling her from her house at this hour? She felt surprised at the fact that he’d be concerned enough to actually call her. The next moment, fear took over. Had he come to know of her feelings for this stranger? “No, how can that be when I am myself not sure of my feelings,” she said to herself. Her phone kept ringing, and finally, she composed herself and mustered up enough courage to say “Hello…” “Memsahib, where are you? Are you okay? When will you reach?” It was the maid servant.

“Radhabai, I’ll be late. The trains are late. Is sahib at home?” she asked.

“No memsahib. Sahib won’t be coming home tonight,” Radhabai replied.

“Had he called? Has he had dinner? Did he ask for me?” Neetu inquired, like a dutiful wife.

“No memsahib. His secretary had called,” Radhabi said. The debate still continuing within her, Neetu said, “I’ll be there as soon as possible. You go to sleep. I have the keys,” and hung up.

“Now’s the time to end it all,” she decided. The man whose wife was out somewhere till the wee hours of midnight didn’t even bother to inquire about her. All her efforts to save her marriage had been in vain. She couldn’t be stuck forever in her loveless marriage. She had the right to love and be loved in return. The woman had won over the wife. She was yearning for love, and what she had seen in this man’s eyes overwhelmed her. She had to tell him how she felt. She didn’t care if he felt the same way or not, but she simply had to tell him. If she didn’t, she’d regret it for life. She clenched the phone tightly as if to derive strength from it, wiped her tears, straightened herself, and turned back…

Alas! There was no one in sight. He was not there. He was gone. Desperately, she looked around…her helpless eyes sought him. But he was nowhere to be seen. Was this destined? A taste of love and then a rude shock? Her heart sank. She could not believe that she’d lost him… forever

Or had she?

(PS: Please keep pouring in your suggestions for the next part. I'd be obliged. And a big thanks to all of you who read the story and gave me feedback.)

The night (Part I)

“The slow local for Andheri leaving at 11 hours and 40 minutes is cancelled today,” said the announcer’s voice. Neetu looked at the watch on her wrist, wondering why its hands weren’t moving. The rains had taken a toll on her “water-proof” watch as well. She was on her way from a not-so-good meeting—her proposal hadn’t gone down too well with the clients and they had wanted to negotiate further. In what followed, time flew by and it was almost eleven when she realized that she had to go home. The clients were willing to come down to her office the next day for further negotiations—the only positive outcome of the entire meeting—and hence, she took off. It was raining, which implied that there would be a problem finding a local train to get back home at such a late hour.

Neetu looked at the people around her. All the stalls were closed, all benches were occupied with people in deep slumber, and rain drops trickled down from the gaps in the roof. There were not many people on the station tonight, and she wondered why. Probably after the 26th July mayhem, people in Mumbai chose to stay indoors whenever it rained a tad heavier than usual. She turned and…

“Bang!!!”

She’d collided with someone and hurt her nose real hard in the bargain. She looked up at him, irritated, tears blurring her vision, and a hand on her nose, but the guy was quick to respond: “Hey, I’m sorry… I hope I didn’t hurt your nose much! Hey, listen, I’ll call you back...” He hung up, stuffed the cell-phone into his pocket, and got back to Neetu, who, by then, had straightened up; however, all the frustration inside her was boiling and ready to burst out at him.

“Are you ok?” he asked with a concern so genuine that her heart melted.

“Yeah… I am fine,” she replied, suddenly conscious about whether her face would give her emotions away.

“You’re sure? I am extremely sorry… you turned… suddenly and… and my elbow hit your nose I guess…” he said.

“All I can say is that you have a pretty strong elbow,” she blurted, not believing that she'd actually said such a dumb thing!

Amused, he smiled… and all her pain vanished in a trace!! They looked into each others’ eyes and it was as if the world around them had suddenly come to a stand still. For a couple of moments, nothing around them mattered… all that mattered was the look in his eyes… and the tears in hers…

“Hey, I said I’m sorry,” he said, “You okay? You want some water?” he inquired.

“No, thank you,” she said. Something was going on inside her mind… her expression changed as she put on a cold look that sounded like a warning to him. One moment, she had been a vulnerable young woman holding his arm, and the very next moment, she was hidden behind a veil, so that he could not look into her heart through her eyes. And then, she started to walk away from him… And as she walked, something tugged at her heart-strings to turn back and look at him… even a fleeting glance…
He saw her walking away, but somewhere deep inside, he hoped she would turn back to look at him. He kept his eyes on her as the distance between them increased from a centimeter to an inch, then a foot, and now, she was almost ten meters apart, hardly visible. He frowned in an attempt to look at her face, trying to gauge her expression. Alas! He could neither see the tears that had welled up in her eyes, nor the pain inside her heart, nor the anguish in her muffled sobs…

His heart ached for her glance. She was not very good to look at, but there was something intriguing about her face that he could not forget…

And ten meters apart, her heart pained at the thought of loving and then losing… again…

She knew exactly how she felt about him…

He had no idea…

She was unwilling and he, unaware…

…to realize and accept that they had actually fallen in love… at first sight... that night...

(To be continued)

PS: This is the first part of a story that I intend to post. Although my draft for the subsequent parts is ready, I would like to know from you as to what you think will happen next. Please pour in your ideas for me!! I'd be obliged...