Stormy Night

That stormy night

It was September, and in September it rains a lot in Kerala. Ameya was a journalist working in TOI and because of the rain, she was caught up in the office waiting for it to get over. She used to live with her mother, she was old and fragile. But she was not always like that. She became like that 5 years ago when she lost her eldest daughter and her husband in a car accident. Since that she was always sick and that made Ameya upset. Somewhere inside her, she felt responsible for the condition of her mother. The rain slowed a little bit, Ameya had to get home, her mother was all alone and she couldn't leave her mother, she was all that Ameya have in her life. She started her Activa and went through the slippery roads of Vytilla to her home. When she reached she was completely drenched. She was all sticky and smelly. Disgusted by herself, she climbs the stairs to her home. Just then she hears her name from somewhere, she looks around and finds Jenny. "Hey Reporter" she calls out as she approaches Ameya. "Hey, Instagram model," she says cheerily. "I'll take that as a compliment. So why are you so ......" she looks at Ameya finding the right word to say without hurting Ameya's feelings. "I'll complete it for you, sticky, smelly and drenched?" Ameya says keeping her hands in the air. "I was going to say suspicious" and they both share a laugh. She rarely laughed, but who knew her 5 years ago knew that she did not laugh rarely. She was one of the liveliest people in her friend circle. Even in difficult times, her face did not lose her smile. But seeing her like this, all her friends were hurt. Like what to expect from a girl who deeply loved her sister and father, who both left her and her mother who waits each and single day to die so that she can be with her husband. After a small chit-chat, Ameya goes to her home. She opens the door and finds the home all dark. The current went by 5 and came by 6, she wondered, at least that was what Jenny told her. "Mom" she called out, she went to her mom's room to find her asleep. It was weird actually, she never slept like this. She went near her and called "mom, wake up it is pretty late" she opens her eyes slowly, she behaved as if she woke from a 1000 years of sleep. "I saw" she was telling in a feeble voice "Mom? Are you ok?" "I saw your dad, I also saw Vedu. They asked me to move on. They said that the mourning time is over and I have to take care of you, regain my strength for you" Ameya's eyes welled up, after 5 years her mother was talking about them, she was talking to her. "And what else did they tell?" Ameya asked her mom by wiping off her tears. "They said to make idli and chutney for tomorrow's breakfast" "What?? You know that I hate it!!" And they laughed whole-heartedly. "Go take bath before you catch a cold, I'll make chappati and dal for you". 1 week later Ameya found her mom died in her sleep, peacefully gone. And that one week was the best she had in 5 years and she promised herself to move on and never complain about the things that she lost in her life. After 10 years Ameya became one of the highest-paid journalists in India and during every stormy night, she remembers the day her mother saw her father and sister in her dreams.