Casualties Of War

Chapter 5: Dear Haseena, You Are A Shipwreck

A/N: On request, an epilogue/Haseena's point of view

She always wondered what heaven was like - paradise maybe. Paradise is a deferential corner where one is created by the aficionado hands of the divine. It's a place where inner peace that can only come from being emancipated from the slavery of life prevails. It was the gift of happiness one bestowed to others. A quiet symphony would play in the background as she sipped a cup of warm tea, looking down upon her loved ones.

It was almost like a ship sailing in the vast ocean; a space to see the birds taking a flight towards freedom, listen to their soulful chirping, feel the wind touch one's skin delicately and simply exist.

When the ship has been destroyed at sea, it's known as a shipwreck. Sunken to the earth's core, it rests until the winds adjourned the waves to usher it to the surface and it remained there - floating like a sun-kissed belle worth desiring.

What if a person is in place of that ship and the sea is a cliff?

In the cliff bottom were caves, carved by the hurricanes and yet sheltered the various life forms that rested beneath. The rocks built upon one another, standing tall to salute the sun every morning, greet each season and welcome ecosystems that coexisted with each other in its gallant arms. By virtue of the cliff's purpose, she survived the fall down its majestic boulders - near death but soul left scathed.

Mere moments before plummeting to what she assumed was an untimely demise, she saw the silhouette of her father. He was comforting her unsettling fears and assuring his brave daughter that they would meet again. The dark lanky figure appeared before her invariably in moments of hopelessness- encouraging, motivating and inspiring her to do the right thing. She longed to see his face, to smell his favourite floral perfume that she wore as a reminder and to feel his strong arms wrap around her providing the kind of security she longed for since he took his leave. It seemed like she was finally going to meet him in the land where the dead resided - infamously known as the other side where she would sit with her father and have orchestra music playing in the background.

Heaven looks alot like a hospital. Didn't know god treated our wounds before we officially became spirits.

She spun her head around briefly, expecting to see her deceased father - not Intelligence Bureau Officer Bakshi.

Station House Officer Haseena Malik survived the fall. She did not die. She was not dead. She would be meeting her living family again because her father was still a long walk away.

With the plans of returning to her maker temporarily suspended, she had made a new one- find the people who tried to assassinate her. Sad to say, she went In over your head with it.

Coming back as Urmila Mahadev was supposed to be an act for a short period - return to Lucknow with Karishma and Pushpa, lure out the culprits, arrest them, tell everyone the truth and things could return to their usual state of fairs.

If only she didn't suspect her own teammates for attempted murder, her own murder no less.

If only she was not blinded by the stupid orders that in hindsight made no sense and was not obsessed with her idea of patriotism.

If only she stuck to the plan instead of getting derailed by useless distractions. Talk about fatal flaws in Shakespeare's tragedies. Maybe that's how Hamlet felt when needing to kill his uncle. Indecisive

The idea put forward by her senior officer was absurd. But the power of suggestion managed to clog her better judgement. Besides, nobody would expect their loved ones to be remotely involved in illegal activities, much less be considered traitors of the country. She had to be objective and leave her emotions aside - give up on the principles that have guided almost every decision of her life till this point. She didn't feel comfortable in her own skin almost as if this body belonged to another person- fitting.