Happy Life
The stars and moon made the dreadful night sky even more horrific by choosing to abstain. Shravan incessantly looked over his shoulder every few seconds. He was always scared of the malicious monstrous bird that followed him relentlessly. He gained altitude cautiously. When he heard a shriek somewhere down, he halted his flight and anxiously rotated his neck in an acute angle to witness something terrible. However, like always, it turned out to be an inconsequential episode of a puppy being chased away by a bulldog. He saw the puppy stopping at a safe distance from the bulldog and attending nature’s call. Shravan, sporting a wry smile, momentarily let his nerves relax. For a while he forgot about the monster bird chasing him. That was when he noticed the magic.
He had never witnessed such an enthrallment in his life. He tried to swallow the scenic beauty in entirety. It was an enormity of still water like a sheet of glass. Slowly, in a corner of the glass, some activity started picking up. An amber ring pierced through the water glass and moved skywards. Gradually, it became a big golden ball of fire coming out of water. It gently yet surely warmed things up. He noticed the water, which was calm till now, starting to jump up and down with energy piling up every passing second.
After sometime, there was so much energy that the water suddenly erupted to hit the fire ball with a big bang. The ball started moving towards him like a ball hit by a ferocious bat. As it came, he saw something growing in the two sides of the ball. When it came too close to him to avoid it, he realized that the ball was actually the monstrous bird. He could see its eyes sparkling with a wicked smile. He grimaced and shuddered at the instant. He became immobile and closed his eyes so tight that it started paining him. Nothing happened for a few seconds. He slowly opened his eyes. He saw Preeta’s worried face. He saw himself holding her both biceps so hard that even his hands started hurting.
That Sunday morning would have been much better without the nightmare. He had ruined another day for both of them. He did not fell like facing her and answering her questions. Freeing his hands from around Preeta’s arms, he eased himself out of the bed and went to lock himself inside the bathroom for half an hour…
He stepped out of the bathroom and searched for Preeta. He would rather face her now than facing his own questions. It was much easier, he thought.
He found her pouring some hot coffee in his mug. She always played her role as his wife impeccable. She was too good to him to be true. That was one more thing which bothered him. It was he who had to be blamed; if at all somebody had to be blamed for their collapsing life. And he did not like it either. It was not his mistake to have a nightmare like this. “If one has to get nightmares, one gets them. How can anybody avoid nightmares by choice?”, he thought to himself. But she did not seem like asking him any questions. That annoyed him further.
“Why don’t you ask me why?”
“Why should I? When you really want to tell me, you yourself will come to me”, said she with a smile. It was a genuine smile with care and sincerity. She had been asking for long by now what’s bothering him. He ceased to be himself in the past couple of months. How charming he used to be? Didn’t she fall for his smile when he asked for her hand? Didn’t she forget to look away or to say anything, yes or no? Where’s that smile now? He hardly spoke to her these days, let alone smile.
She got up from the chair and sat on the glass top of the tea-poi facing him. She gently caressed his hair and said “I know something is bothering you for sometime now. I know you are declining to accept it to yourself. Probably that is why you are not willing to tell me anything. But you have to share it with somebody sometime, when you are not able to handle it”.
He buried his face on her lap for sometime. He felt so comfortable doing that. He would do anything in his power for Preeta. She had been everything to him for the past 4 years, especially after the demise of his parents. They passed away one after the other in a short interval of one year between them. However, he recovered from it pretty well and pretty fast, thanks to Preeta.
“I am thinking of quitting, Preets”
She kept silent for few seconds though she continued stroking his hair. “Yes, if you want to. No probs with me.”
He lifted his head and kissed her. “I don’t want to talk about it now. Can you avail leave from your office for 15 days? Could we go somewhere? Some hill station?”
“That is actually a very nice idea. I also wanted to take a break from work”.
Before he could answer, his phone starts ringing. He picks it up to answer it.
“Ok. Done! Will be there tomorrow morning”, he said to the other person in the line.
Preeta once again felt that he was going farther and farther away from her…
The stars and moon made the dreadful night sky even more horrific by choosing to abstain. Shravan incessantly looked over his shoulder every few seconds. He was always scared of the malicious monstrous bird that followed him relentlessly. He gained altitude cautiously. When he heard a shriek somewhere down, he halted his flight and anxiously rotated his neck in an acute angle to witness something terrible. However, like always, it turned out to be an inconsequential episode of a puppy being chased away by a bulldog. He saw the puppy stopping at a safe distance from the bulldog and attending nature’s call. Shravan, sporting a wry smile, momentarily let his nerves relax. For a while he forgot about the monster bird chasing him. That was when he noticed the magic.
He had never witnessed such an enthrallment in his life. He tried to swallow the scenic beauty in entirety. It was an enormity of still water like a sheet of glass. Slowly, in a corner of the glass, some activity started picking up. An amber ring pierced through the water glass and moved skywards. Gradually, it became a big golden ball of fire coming out of water. It gently yet surely warmed things up. He noticed the water, which was calm till now, starting to jump up and down with energy piling up every passing second.
After sometime, there was so much energy that the water suddenly erupted to hit the fire ball with a big bang. The ball started moving towards him like a ball hit by a ferocious bat. As it came, he saw something growing in the two sides of the ball. When it came too close to him to avoid it, he realized that the ball was actually the monstrous bird. He could see its eyes sparkling with a wicked smile. He grimaced and shuddered at the instant. He became immobile and closed his eyes so tight that it started paining him. Nothing happened for a few seconds. He slowly opened his eyes. He saw Preeta’s worried face. He saw himself holding her both biceps so hard that even his hands started hurting.
That Sunday morning would have been much better without the nightmare. He had ruined another day for both of them. He did not fell like facing her and answering her questions. Freeing his hands from around Preeta’s arms, he eased himself out of the bed and went to lock himself inside the bathroom for half an hour…
He stepped out of the bathroom and searched for Preeta. He would rather face her now than facing his own questions. It was much easier, he thought.
He found her pouring some hot coffee in his mug. She always played her role as his wife impeccable. She was too good to him to be true. That was one more thing which bothered him. It was he who had to be blamed; if at all somebody had to be blamed for their collapsing life. And he did not like it either. It was not his mistake to have a nightmare like this. “If one has to get nightmares, one gets them. How can anybody avoid nightmares by choice?”, he thought to himself. But she did not seem like asking him any questions. That annoyed him further.
“Why don’t you ask me why?”
“Why should I? When you really want to tell me, you yourself will come to me”, said she with a smile. It was a genuine smile with care and sincerity. She had been asking for long by now what’s bothering him. He ceased to be himself in the past couple of months. How charming he used to be? Didn’t she fall for his smile when he asked for her hand? Didn’t she forget to look away or to say anything, yes or no? Where’s that smile now? He hardly spoke to her these days, let alone smile.
She got up from the chair and sat on the glass top of the tea-poi facing him. She gently caressed his hair and said “I know something is bothering you for sometime now. I know you are declining to accept it to yourself. Probably that is why you are not willing to tell me anything. But you have to share it with somebody sometime, when you are not able to handle it”.
He buried his face on her lap for sometime. He felt so comfortable doing that. He would do anything in his power for Preeta. She had been everything to him for the past 4 years, especially after the demise of his parents. They passed away one after the other in a short interval of one year between them. However, he recovered from it pretty well and pretty fast, thanks to Preeta.
“I am thinking of quitting, Preets”
She kept silent for few seconds though she continued stroking his hair. “Yes, if you want to. No probs with me.”
He lifted his head and kissed her. “I don’t want to talk about it now. Can you avail leave from your office for 15 days? Could we go somewhere? Some hill station?”
“That is actually a very nice idea. I also wanted to take a break from work”.
Before he could answer, his phone starts ringing. He picks it up to answer it.
“Ok. Done! Will be there tomorrow morning”, he said to the other person in the line.
Preeta once again felt that he was going farther and farther away from her…
posted by Ranga, The Raja at
12:19 PM
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