The Honeymoon Voyage- A Mature Anidita Story

Guilt...Forgiveness...Love

The man in that violet-colored groom's dress was approaching. With a snigger and a crazily dangerous expression on his face and a lewd gleam in his eyes, he bent a little forward...touching the soft feet peeping under the hem of her bridal sari. He slowly inched his fingers towards her feet and her toes curled in repulsion as she tried to move her body backward...away from him as a whimper escaped her lips and a sob followed.

Suddenly, the man's face contorted and changed into someone else's ... a guy much older...bald...and with equal animalistic lustful expressions fixed on his devilish face.

She tried to get away as she was scared...but the bald old man held her feet and suddenly, the younger man in the violet suit reappeared and lunged his whole body onto hers...

A cry of despair escaped her mouth as he planted his hand on her face to silence her, and....

"Bonditaaaaaa....Nooo.... Bonditaaaaa!"

A scream wrenching from his chest jolted him from his slumber.

"Sakha babu...Kia hua apko?"

Her soft hands held him from his shoulders as she tried to assess the situation.

It took him a few seconds to completely emerge from his sleep and from the dreadful nightmare that had shaken his soul completely.

Panting, he tried to catch his breath and control his thundering heart as he raised his head and looked at her worried face just inches apart. He was on the sofa and she was sitting right beside him.

His eyes were scared as he was still feeling the terror that he had envisioned in his nightmare just a while ago.

Looking into her eyes, he gulped hard as a silent thankful prayer left his heart.

"Hey Dugga maa... shukar hai yeh sapna tha. Shukar hai ke meri Bondita surakshit hai."

The after-shocks of the horrifying nightmare were now making him want to cry.

Raising his trembling hand to her face, he touched her to reassure himself that it was just a dream and nothing bad had happened to his Bondita.

"But what if it wasn't a dream? What if it had happened in real life?"

The thought shook him again to the core, and feeling like losing it completely, he just pulled her in his lap and buried his head in her warm embrace.

"Sakha babu...sakha babu... kia hua hai? Mujhe batayein na? Bura sapna dekha aapne? Kia hua hai Sakha babu, please kuch tou kahien?" She pleaded as she felt the jolts of his violently racking body and his tears dampening her chest.

Her voice laced with worry and concern brought him out of his tormented agony.

Raising his head, his tear-drenched face was now in front of her as his hands protectively clutched her waist, bringing her closer, he mumbled,

"I am so sorry... I am so so sorry Bondita. I was about to let you down once again!"

Sobbing bitterly, he confessed to his crimes to her,

"I drowned myself in alcohol... I was ready to die. Bondita... I was ready to leave India... I was ready to leave you there...leave you to... to..." his words and tears choked in his throat as he struggled to say, "I left you. Miene tumhari Thaku maa ki shart maan li thy... tumhien chalta phirta dekhne ke liye tumhare par kaatne ki ijazat de di thy unko. Mien...tumhien vivaah ke mandap per chhod ker ja raha tha"

Pinching his eyes with his fists, he then joined his hands in front of her,

"Woh tumhare sath pata nahi kia kerta... Meri rooh kaamp jaty hai sirf yeh soch ker ke woh ladka meri Bondita ko..." and he couldn't complete the painful words as they tore at his heart.