Krishna!

Chapter 6 - Early morning conversations

The next morning at Brahma Muhurta,

Krishna woke up as usual and saw Balaram asleep, cuddled like a small baby. He smiled, grateful for a wonderful and caring brother like Balaram. He completed his morning rituals and since there was some more time before waking up Balaram, he decided to quickly take a walk, hoping to catch a glimpse of Shree.

As he was walking towards Jayant's house, he heard a voice call out to him softly, "Nice that you also wake up this early. I am just so tired of waking Kanika up. She never listens to me", and his heart started pounding so hard that one could almost hear it loud.

Shree came up to him, flashing her generous smile at him, showing all her perfectly aligned, making him extremely restless. She looked more elegant day by day and today she was dressed in a grey Nauvari cotton, bordered in maroon.

"Good morning, Shree! What are you doing here now?", he smiled back

"Good morning, Shyam! I am usually up by this time and I like taking a walk, a quiet one, all by myself. Do you want to join me?", she asked.

"Of course. Where do you go usually?", he asked.

"Well, just across this lane, there is a small stream. I like going there and meditating.", she said with a sigh.

"That's wonderful. I would surely like to join", he grinned excitedly.

"Come on then! You would surely like the place", she signed him to follow her.

As he followed, he saw her footprints on the floor. He carefully placed his foot on them, feeling more elated with every moving step. And what he saw was a sight that took him to another world. It was a little stream, amidst a lot of trees and flowers. It looked more like a garden. It reminded Krishna of Vrindavan. He was in tears when he saw this. If this was the beauty of the place before Dawn, he wondered how picturesque it would be with the first rays of the Sun.

"Be careful! There are some insects here which can bite you. The bite is harmless, it can pain for a while, and later it can make you feel itchy for hours", Shree cautioned him, but he wasn't listening. She turned around not hearing him say anything and saw his tears and came rushing to him immediately.

"Shyam! What happened? Why are you in tears? Did something bite you?", she asked worried.

"Sit down! Some insect must have bit you. I'll get some medicinal leaves. It'll reduce the pain.", she said, wondering where the insect had bit him. She was even more worried because he did not respond to her. He wasn't even listening. His mind had drifted back to Vrindavan, with the same scene, the same weather. The only thing was missing! Radha!

"Shyam! Shyam?! Are you listening? Go and sit there quickly. I'll just put the medicine, you will be fine", Shree was now afraid that something had happened to Shyam. Krishna still did not respond. Shree was thoroughly frightened now and wanted to help him, but she was hesitant. She wanted to hold him and help him but was not able to muster the courage to do that.

"Dear Krishna, don't mistake me for this act of mine! I need to help a friend and I have to do this.", she prayed with all her heart, guilt-ridden.

And she did something that she was absolutely hesitant to do. She put her hand forward, lifted his hand, with eyes shut, she put it around her own shoulder and held his waist, trying to help him move.

Krishna was startled at what she was doing, but said nothing. He just watched her, with bated breath and with all the affection in his eyes, unable to react.