A Living Death

3) Is everything over?

When one of the most iconic poets of all time, Rabindranath Tagore said, "You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water"- he tried to instill in every other scuffling lives, the avidity to win the battle and dissolve the appetite of victory. Waylon, who had an immense interest in Indian literature was a stout acolyte of this fact. Somehow it was inspiring to keep himself as sturdy as possible.

But fate was so cruel that he couldn't even give a faint cry to let the others know about him. He couldn't.

Yet that disrupted peace agitated Elee. She could have taken that sound with ease if she had not been preoccupied with ill thoughts.
She rushed down the stairs much like one does when chased by someone. Perhaps,she was chased by her ill thoughts.

Claire couldn't stop Elee. She ran at her fastest pace, caring about nobody, without any fear of stumbling upon something and breaking her legs or bothering about her initially dishevelled hair which was then tied beautifully with so much self-love and self-care.

"Waylon! Why are you lying like this? Waaayloooooon! Get up", howled Elee holding the motionless body of her brother. By then, his face didn't bear any indication of his grapple with his puissant fate. Claire screamed for help as they were unknown to what had happened to Waylon, or perhaps, didn't want to become known of what had happened.

Waylon laid frozen with eyes closed and lips joined. His hands and feet were unusually cold. Was he......no he can't leave Elee like this.

Uncle Jonas was informed by Claire. The Doctor arrived at Deslys House. The neighbours gathered into the room. Claire absolutely had no idea about what to do.

Waylon had breathed his last! It was a heart failure. He was already growing the blockages in him and didn't have many days. But, still, wasn't it too rapid? Couldn't he think once about her little sister who was blind without him?

That Christmas turned out to be the worst Christmas ever! Had Waylon been with them, the gloomy air couldn't replace the air of gaily song lingering in the Deslys house. The family lost its colour. Uncle Jonas could do nothing but curse himself for not being able to bring his nephew back, although it was impossible, but his disturbed mind could not think of anything else.

Was the family really a hexed one? It saw the death of Mr. Adrian Deslys and his wife Mrs. Carina Deslys ( Elee's and Waylon's parents). It saw the death of Miss Meenaylia Betteredge, the fiance of Jonas Deslys. That was another tragic phase that they had gone through. She died after an accidental fall from a dangerous cliff at the outskirts of the city. It saw the death of Waylon. And it saw the mental death of Elee. She was physically alive, but not mentally.

Claire had no words left with her to control Elee. She sat still on the sofa after the last rites were over.

"Once again I lost my child! Once again!. God, you could have spared that child. You could have taken me. Why him? What made your stare so cruel?"

Uncle Jonas cursed himself. He couldn't be present in the house to manage the situation.

Uncle Jonas had to talk to Claire as now the entire duty to take care of Elee rested on her. Claire would do that happily without any further complaint.

But Elee? It has been ten hours now, she was sitting all silent with one photo of his brother on her hand. Tears dried up on her chubby cheeks and her neatly tied hair was not 'neat' anymore. How can she be brought back to her normal conditions? Her life was not meant to be put to such a rude halt. Why is she not speaking a word?

"Elee Miss! Would you like to have some bread? You need to take your medicines," said Claire gently swaying her hand through Elee's sweaty back. She got no response.

"Don't torture yourself. Do not let the sudden high wave of self-created malady vanquish your fragile heart," was all that Jonas could say.

Claire tried to shut the topic by saying some true words that Elee's psyche uttered every now and then, "How can one persecute oneself when there's a lack of empathy, self-esteem, aptitude and in place, an existential crisis?
How would the wave crush a heart when it has almost perished?"

Only God and  Moon knew actually who's absence deserted Elee's life and that it's not that easy to come out of that trauma!

~~~