Trigger warning
The night air was calm while she was far from it. Just one moment had been her undoing and she loathed herself for being so weak. She was disgusted with herself for still being affected by the man who had broken all of her. But most of all, today she stood defeated! Plagued by the emotions that overpowered her being and pushed her here yet again, she climbed onto the edge of the terrace. Just one more step and she'd be free of everything! Just one more step to end this suffering!
But just as she was about to take that step, she felt a hand pull at hers with force, causing her to fall on the person as she landed back on the terrace, at a safe distance from the edge. In physical pain due to the fall and completely disoriented due to partial daze and partial shock, she blinked her eyes repeatedly, trying to make sense of what just happened. As she finally managed to shift from atop the person who had pulled her, her vision cleared and whom she saw left her perplexed.
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A resolve was what it took and resolve was what he needed to make after enduring the loss of the only family he had. But it took much more courage than he had for he had no purpose of being alive and hence no motivation to stand up and move on. This was why he had attempted to end his own life as well. But as he stood at the edge of the terrace, willing himself to jump and end it once for all, all he remembered was his mother's words full of hope of how he'd have a much better future than she could give all because he was willing to make it for himself with hard work instead of blaming his circumstances. Those words, repeating themselves in his head repeatedly penetrated through the haze of devastation and hopelessness in his mind and gave him the much needed purpose for life - he himself! As he stepped down the edge, only one thought crossed his mind - he'll make his mother proud by bringing reality to her words!
With a smile on his face, remembrance in his mind and pain in his chest along with determination and renewed hope, he made his way back home. He had jobs to look for!
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"Imlie?" Rupali muttered even as she blinked the haze away and tried to stand up.
"Are you out of your mind Rupali Didi? Do you even realize what you were about to do?" Imlie blazed, her heart thudding with panic and anger.
Despite being a bit taken aback, she gained her composure and coldly replied
"That's none of your business! You're the maid of the family, not a member of my family! So it's better you stay out of all this.Why do you care anyways?"
"I know very well who I am and where I belong.You don't have to remind me about it. As to why I care- I care because I'm a human who has humanity towards other humans and will not allow degradation of human life this way! Life is precious and a gift given to us by the Almighty. Sita Maiyya is the one who gets to decide when you'll come to her. You have no rights to relinquish your life! Nothing is more worse than suicide and nothing can be so worse that you have to opt for it!" Imlie snapped.
"So what the bloody hell should I do then? Tell me Imlie, what the bloody hell should I do? And what do you even know? Do you even know how it feels when your husband chooses someone else over you? Do you know how it feels when you find out that your husband doesn't love you, that you mean nothing to him? Do you know how it feels when all around you see, people are happy with their partners and you are all but reminded of how the man you loved with everything shunned you, cheated you and just walked on as if you never mattered? Do you know? No you don't! You don't and you can never understand my pain! So you have no rights to either stop me or advise me" Rupali yelled, tears freely flowing down her eyes.
Imlie swallowed painfully to refrain from shouting out loud that she knew! Of course she understood! She might not know how it feels when the person you love betrays you but she knew, all too well how it feels when your husband chooses somebody else over you. She might not have been in love with him and was also aware of the circumstances in which they had been married, but that did not in any way lessen the pain she felt. It instead aggravated it. She hadn't asked for love or marriage but now that she had been bound in those sacred vows, despite them being forced, she couldn't help but feel affected by it all. She swallowed back the pain agony threatening to take over and blinked back her tears. Taking a deep breath, she said
"You are right, Rupali Didi. I have no idea how it feels when...when your h-husband deceives you. I know not of the pain that grips you. I know not of the hollowness you feel and the questions that plague you. But I do know one thing - giving up on your life is not going to do any harm to that man who cheated you nor is he going to be bothered. The only people who will be hurt and bothered are your own family!"
"Family" Rupali scoffed and looked away
" Yes family" Imlie calmly said
"They won't be bothered Imlie! All these years they never did! They took me in but did not have the guts to stand up for me infront of my in-laws or take a stand for me in society! All that they ever cared about was their own reputation!"
It now became clear to Imlie what Badke kaka had been saying the other day. In an instant, the entire picture became clear to her.
Love,
Pratyusha
YOU ARE READING
Lakeerein - Ties That Bind Us
Fanfiction------ Can Be Read As General Fiction ------ One night. One event. Lives of two people altered completely. When Aditya Kumar Tripathi, Chief Executive Reporter at Bhaskar times stepped into Pagdandiya and met Imlie, he did not know how his life woul...
