THE STORY OF LIFE | A 21ST CENTURY RAMAYANA

STATIC SCREENS

"Who Love her."

Siya had the volume of the small TV in her room on the lowest, but not lower than the sound of her muffled cries.

In just the days she had left him, his eyes had bags, his jaw an oddly sharp and tense, the greys shed always teased him about taking over his face.

Yet in his eyes there compassion, faith in what she did. Both of them knew she hadn't taken the best step, but she knew through that one look of his, that he meant;

"I trust you, and I am not angry for anything you did. I will always be waiting for you."

Guilt struck Siya harder. Just earlier in the day when shed been playing with the children, she thought that everyone home too would have moved on without much effect. But the truth was, no matter wherever they all went in life, they would always come running back to the strings that tied them together .

She would not rush back. She needed time, time for everything to pass and become better for her and her child. For her family back home to bounce back on its feet.

But she could talk with them, for once, let them know she was well .. couldn't she?

Siya eyed the laptop that Valmiki had brought her. He had ensured complete privacy whilst using it, so that no one would be able to trace her with any IPs.

She could make use of that feature for once, she thought .

She pulled up the emailing site, and made a new account. Ram's was embibed into her memory.

Her fingers hovered over the keys in indesicion.

Was she rushing this in emotion, or did this really need to be done?

For once, Siya let emotion take over her rationality.

Ram ,

I am fine. He/She is fine too. Please take care of your health. Make sure none of them worry about me.

I will come back when its time. And time passes quick.

Please do not reply to this mail. This account will not exist after a few hours.

But for me, you all, always will.

S. 

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Rams eyes found themselves struggling to the sunlight that fled in. The light that once carried Siyas warmth and radiance with it, now seemed like a mere prick on his skin that he felt only when it hurt too much.

A new day meant new responsibilities, new news that Ram couldn't ignore. It seemed however, that with each passing since the press conference, public opinion of him and his family had begun to change. They realised what public scrutiny over something that didn't exist had done, and were taking steps in their own way to rectify it.

Naveed had been found, and his case had been opened again. They hoped that finally, justice would prevail and the family, with Snigdha, would get the peace they deserved, or as much as they could have it.

Ram sat at his laptop, looking over any emails or messages from his close contacts giving any contact or sign of Siya, but somehow nothing had come across concretely.

He was just about to close his laptop when an unread mail with no subject caught his eye.

His eyes scanned over the contents, and with each passing word, his heart began to beat faster and faster. The world blanked out before him until he could only see a jumble of letters before his eyes and hear the sound of her voice and his heartbeat entwined in his head.

She was there, somewhere. She had seen the conference. She was safe.

And she loved him.

"Then .. then why did you walk away, Siya? Siya.." Ram broke down and time passed before he could stop his eyes from crashing on their own in front of the static screen.