Silence gushed through the dim-lit horizon in a rhythmic tone. It was the softness that called the body to rest, where the night came as a reward, a restfulness above to calm the soul.
The four-walled house, standing tall and mighty. Spread its colours through the small lamp kept near a wooden chair.
Flattening down her gaze, Nisha slants down her hand; slowly grazing the head of the chair. The cold touch against her lean fingers ignited a fire, but she was used to such cold. It felt like she was back in time, where she was a girl of twelve. Quite young, with that curious-brown eyes and mid-shoulder hair. Wearing her fav white frock, and a pair of ankle bells on her feet. Those days were bright, the world being a fairytale garnering her as the centre of everyone's affection.
A tale that ended way too soon.
Blinking down her trance, she unfurled the feather fan. Slowly stroking it against her frame for an added breeze.
"I brought some tea," A voice brings her attention back to Renuka. A fragile, petite woman whose pale complexion upheld the light colour clothing she wore.
Tilting her, with a slight nod. She spoke, "Come, sit down with me then."
Renuka stood for a moment at her invitation. It wasn't like she didn't expect such a reaction to her odd request, given it was her first time letting the women join in for a conversation. Even though they had a great relationship all these years of living in each other's company. There was still a thin line that would alter everything worth.
Eyes pointing a short look at the empty chair. Nisha, stares at her in a soft gesture. "What are you waiting for?"
Tuning in her proposal, Renuka takes a seat. "-I still remember, the day I met you." She smiles, a small sigh eluding out, "I found you so brave that day."
"It was you who defended me that day." Renuka retorts in a severed voice, hesitating for a second; "-It's me who was lucky enough to find you that day."
Nisha chuckles, the low ends of her voice cracking up. Looking up the walls of brown and white, up to the very free sky dangling in between the woods. Almost making her feel the hollowness, the space of her heart left to its fate.
She keenly recalled the day where she found a crying Renuka on the streets of Kemupur, the girl looked lost and hardly look composed to be in a crowd. From her puppy red eyes to the quiver of her lips. All screamed that she needed someone, to just hold her. At first, she was angry at the people who passed by without a second thought. How could no one see the girl crying all alone? How rude can someone be?
She recalled how calmly she soothed Renuka, giving her countless words of assurance. Promising her to protect her, even though they were strangers. It did take her a lot, to gain the trust of the girl who refused her promise like they were just candy given to lure kids.
"You know how ahead were you from your age. Already knowing how dark it can be." She coughed, clearing her throat from the obvious signs of a cold.
Renuka hums, even as she pours the hot tea in a cup. Giving her one, while she poured herself another. The silence was peaceful, the night was her solace and the moon. A great companion for the deserted and forlorn.
"You know Renuka, lately I have been missing a lot of people." The rims of her eyes blur at her vocal response, blinking a few times to pull back the tears; she recites in a low hum; "-Uncle Shaurya, Grandmother Nidhi, Grandfather Nitesh, Uncle Swapnil, Uncle Sam, Juhi, Golu, Omkar, Paro, Jahnvi and even Shipra. I wonder what they would be doing if they were here. With us."
Renuka looks at her, in empathy. "They might have joined us in here."
Sipping the warm tea, she let her tongue taste the sweetness of the sugar. In childhood, she never liked anything sweet. Not even now, she prefers it but if the sugar was switched with life then even her willingness cannot have the sugar come across her ill-fate.
"Yes, who knows. Even Krishna might have been there." She chuckles, heart heavy with grief. "-If Juhi would be here, then she would group up with us. Even Kalpesh would have the company of his big sister, and we might have been playing somewhere. I also remember how Uncle shaurya would call me to spend time with him, he was ill those days and would barely be out of bed to pamper me as much as he can. The last time I saw him was when I fought with him in childish anger, and now the regret of the past is too strong for the present to take. If only I had taken that moment, to show him how much he means to me."
Feeling a tear slip past her eyes, Nidhi let her emotions run deep. The dam of water is too weak to hold the storm of the ocean. She had cried countless nights for them, where no tears would be enough to make her heart leave the mourning period behind.
Feeling a comforting hand holding hers, she composed herself even as Renuka hushed her. "You have suffered so much here."
"Everyone suffers here, don't they."
"But I have only seen how much you have tolerated. it's just that-t this world doesn't deserve someone as kind as you."
Keeping the cup down, Nisha shakes her head. "External affairs shouldn't become the cause of change in true nature,"
She has now become used to grief, it comes and goes with time. Frankly speaking, this world itself was a web of lies for her. The young die, the old die, the infant dies. None are free of the clutches of death, and now she has become so detached that the world no longer amuses her. She moves around like a stranger, knowing that this isn't where she belongs. No one does but still, life plays the game of life and death. Of light and darkness. Of knowledge and ignorance.
The people are being grinded in between, some escape. And others become doomed.
Looking at Renuka, she could feel the women reduced to tears. Smiling, she keeps her hand across her warm ones, "You know, there's a saying 'Flower blooms at its given time and withers at its given time'. No matter how much you water them, they still die. A relation that starts in happiness, ends in heartbreak. Back then, I wouldn't know its meaning but now that I see it. It makes more sense now."
Renuka shakes her head. "But you have me, I will be with you. Until I could stay with you."
"-Nothing stays forever, but we can be together, until death itself comes but you know what's the irony. The death that I hated back then is now something that I will embrace when it will come to me." Nisha sighs, even as she fans herself against the breezy air.
"I think, you have gone mad in this love." Renuka blinks her eyes, hinting well at the troubles that lately surrounded them.
Laughing softly, Nisha shakes her head even as the distinct image of beloved spreads across her inner sanctum. "What's love without madness." She smiles, the peace prevailing across them. "-It's just that I feel sympathy for the others who have seen me like this. "
The woman against her blinks, quite exasperated at her words. "Sympathy?"
She nods, softly. "At some point, you just leave. And I guess, that's where you embrace loneliness. A world that awaits."
She, for once knew that this mundane life of mortals wasn't her cup of tea. She had loved more than she could, she had crossed all borders in relations. Relations that are like mind games, tricked her into believing that fairytale exists. It doesn't, you create your own.
And she knows, where the peace lays its roots are the trees where the fruits of devotion get the fountain of love.
Smiling, she stood up. Whisking the meadow breeze to slither past the curls of her hair.
Where the bonny trees, the starlit sky and the moon. All hearken.
