(I tried my hands on short stories a couple of years ago)
I know, I will never forget the first time I met
her. It was a new place for me. I am not
very keen on visiting new places or making new friends. I preferred being alone
but of course I had few close friends. Everybody thought I was loner.
So it was the
new place and my first day to the new school. My mother was supposed to drop me
but as usual she had an important meeting. Well, I really don't remember my
mother being a mother to me. Of course I had my father, who expressed more warmth than my busy mother. I remember, he used to cook for me ,bathe me, dress me, teach me,
take me for shopping and told me bedtime stories. But that didn't last long
till he got succumbed to drinking. Drinking was his world, his wife, his son, his work, his food and everything. I
don't know how he got into such messy habit. I hardly see anyone of them these
days. My work keeps me occupied.
On my way to the school, I saw a little girl with a
mole on her upper right lips; yup her mole is the first thing I saw. She was six and her first day to school. I
was eight. Crouched on the road, her lunch box lying around lifelessly and a
mutt feasting himself off the delicious egg curry. She was crying. I went closer, not so sure what to do. I
picked up her lunch box , chased away the black dog and stood their staring at
her. “Stop staring at me and give me your hand”, she said sobbing. I did and
she pulled herself up. Her right knee was skinned. She walked away. I followed
her. “And why are you following me now?”
she questioned. I stammered “I don't know”. She laughed. We became friends.
She was my
complete opposite. She wanted to see the world and travel around. She loved
everything that made her smile. Roses and ice creams made her smile, rainbows
and fresh spring flowers made her smile, kittens and dogs made her smile, which
pretty much didn't change for the rest of her life.
She used to stay few blocks away from my house.
Unlike me she was born and brought up in the same town. Maybe that's why she
always wanted to see the world outside. She lived in a traditional Bhutanese
house. I later found out that she was raised by her only grandfather. Her
parents had died in a car accident when she was two.
We always used to meet near the lake below her
house. She made me do her home works most of the time, While she would be
singing songs and plucking flowers. We used to share about our lives. It was during one such day she told me about
the importance of making a promise. ” Never make a promise you cant keep, coz a
broken promise is like a broken heart…… my parents promised me that they would
return in few days and they never did, so you see, I don't make promises.” In a
way I felt like an ass in front of her. She knew so much and she was so smart. Well, she did all the talking and laughing. Me, I did all the listening and staring.
There was a time when her grandfather had a
minor heart attack and she had rushed to the hospital. I found out later during
the day. So I went to see her. She was sitting near her grandfather. She was
crying. I was walking towards her. I
didn't see the cable which the nurse was trying to connect to one of the
machines. I tripped and slammed down and sprained my wrist. She couldn't stop giggling "you
are so funny, you make me laugh”, and I smiled forgetting the excruciating pain while sitting next to her, my right arm in a sling, and smiling like a dumb ass.
After I completed my 12th standard, my
mother decided to send me to study medicine. I had no ambition of my own. I
guess I never wanted anything out of my life. Well I met keza at the lake the
day before I left for my studies. ” I guess, there wont be anyone who would
make me smile when I cry” said keza vaguely. “Don't cry, if you ever do, you
will find me near you”. …I teased. ” yeah right, like in movies” and we both
laughed. Before we departed we planted a sapling each. Which was of course was
her idea. “I will water it every day and take care of our tree.” …. She was
smilingly while planting ” these trees are the symbol of our friendship”. ” you see you wont be the only one getting to
go outside. In few years I will move out of this town as well. I don't know
what will happen to our trees then. But promise me we will meet at this place
once again, at the same time, same date 10 years from now” . “I promise”.
In time our correspondence dwindled. Those days we
didn't had internet or mobile phones. I wish we did. A letter would take a
month to reach oversea.
But we always made a point of keeping in touch. I
wrote to her mentioning that I was in love with a foreigner, way much prettier
than her. I also mentioned that I have changed. I was not that lonely shy boy
anymore. I was quite a heartthrob now. She replied that she wanted to see my chilip zam and confirm it
herself. She also wrote that she got scholarship to study in India. She sounded
very excited. That was the last letter I received from her. I made all sorts of
assumptions, like she was busy with her studies, or she must be in a relation,
this and that. But none of it was comforting. I called my mother. ” I thought you knew?” my mother enquired.
“know what”. “its been more than a year” ” will you tell me?” I questioned. ”
Keza got hit by a truck last year, she was badly injured, she died in the hospital” I hung up…….i
couldn't believe what I just heard and worst of all its been more than a year.
“That clumsy girl ” I thought, she must have cried.
Its exactly ten years now since we last met. The
trees are all grown. I didnt know what we planted then. But now I can see that it was cherry trees. Fully grown, adorned with fresh pink flowers. The lake is converted to a beautiful park.
Keza would have been happy to see the changes. I know she doesn't like promises
to be broken. I kept mine but she couldn't keep hers. All our memories flooded
in and it still hurts that I couldn't be there when she cried her last. As evening approached the park got filled
with children of all ages and adults. Everyone looked happy. By dusk everyone had left. I was about to
leave when I saw a women with a cradle.
It seemed like the babysitter had a date. They sat under our tree. I smiled and
turned to leave. Just then the baby cried. ” I wish kezang wouldn't cry now”
grumbled the babysitter. Something struck me. Did she just said keza??? Cant
be?? Impossible? The maid was annoyed at
the baby who wouldn't stop crying. Something told me that I should hold the
baby. I went closer and asked the maid to let me hold the baby for a while. She
willing handed over the baby to me. The babysitter was awestruck ” she stopped
crying” … she whispered. I looked at the baby's face now smiling, she
had a mole on her right upper lips.
Its my keza. She kept her promise.
