The Last Wish

Chapter 1 : Homecoming

In a dark room that feels empty and quiet, everything appears to be neat and tidy. The walls are bare except for a large photograph of Om Agarwal, who has passed away. The room is filled with a fog caused by the smoke of incense sticks that were recently burned in front of the photo. In one corner, a table holds various stationery items, and amidst them sits a black file.

Parwati Agarwal enters the room, her eyes scanning the surroundings. "There it is," she murmurs to herself. She walks purposefully toward the table, reaches out her hand, and grabs the black file. She opens it carefully, making sure it is indeed the exact file she has been searching for.

"Ma, did you find the file?" asked Shruti, standing at the door, clad in a beige shirt tucked into high-waist black trousers, and holding a black jacket.

"Yes!" Parvati closed the file. "Let's go."

Parvati walks to the door and before leaving she takes a glance at Om's photo and leaves.

As they walked downstairs to the hallway, Shruti asked, "Ma, you didn't get proper sleep last night, did you?"

Parvati touched her face, puzzled. "What? Why? Is there something wrong with my face?"

"You look tired."

They both reached the hallway and settled at the dining table for breakfast.

"Maa, I know after Dad's death you've been through so much, but maybe it's time to take a little rest. You're working too hard," Shruti said, her expression filled with concern.

"I'm fine. I'll rest when I'm dead," Parvati replied.

Shruti sighed deeply and shook her head. "I'll bring tea," she said before leaving.

As Shruti left, Parvati took out her phone and opened the camera to examine her face. Suddenly, the phone started ringing, and she answered it.

"What is it?" said Parvati into the phone. "Yeah... no... don't reschedule any of the meetings... we'll be there in 30 minutes."

Shruti placed the tea on the table in front of Parvati.

Parvati moved the phone away from her ear. "Tell the driver to get the car out; we'll be leaving in 5 minutes," she instructed Shruti.

"What about breakfast? You haven't eaten anything," asked Shruti.

"I'll eat later. Right now, we have to go."

Parvati put the phone back near her ear. "Yeah, we're leaving right now." She hung up the phone and took a sip of her tea.

*********

Now seated in the rear seat of the car, Shruti stared at her mom, whose attention was fully focused on the file.

"Will you stop staring at me like that?" said Parvati.

"Ma, why did you get separated from him?"

"Shruti, I'm not in the mood to discuss it right now. I have a lot of things on my mind."

Shruti took out a card from her bag and handed it over to Parvati.

"What is this?" asked Parvati, slightly annoyed.

"It's an invitation card to a party," Shruti answered.

"Yeah, I can see that," Parvati replied, her annoyance evident. "Whose party? What party? Shruti, I just told you that I have a lot of things going on in my mind right now. I can't attend any party for a few days." Parvati handed the card back to Shruti and returned her focus to the papers in the file.