I threw another pebble into the lake!
It hovered a little across the afternoon wind before falling prey to the water so unruffled, yet awake.
I watched an army of ripples marching right towards us,
Reflecting on every spectrum of light
That the departing sun could radiate.
I saw one ripple touching my feet,
And disbanding into an anarchy,
Almost instantly...
And i wondered,
Why is it that we can't pause time?
Why is it that
Whenever we try to freeze the moment,
Away it sublimes?
Why is it that photographs are the only entities that can capture a moment that's gone forever?
For, sometimes when I think about it,
I regret,
-The million beautiful accidents,
Crawling out of nowhere, every other day,
Just like an earthquake...
Shaking, changing the course of my life,
slowly,
But to all new extents-
Being gone unarrested.
Sometimes I wonder with an astonishment,
How amazing it would have been...
Chasing down the spontaneity of life,
Entrapping it inside a sweep net,
Just like an entomologist does to the insects,
Filling the jar of glass with all that i catched...
So that someday when i decide to unfasten all the caps,
I can see them drive down my memory lane
And knock me over...
Just like time travel.
As I was lost in million thoughts inside my head,
Suddenly I came back to reality as I felt a touch...
Soft, tender, compassionate.
Fingers running through my hair,
Slowly unravelling the turmoils that my curls had set.
She asked me, "What are you thinking?"
I shifted my gaze,
From that evening horizon to her irresistibly alluring face,
I wasn't surprised at all, she looked exquisite !
With that poise, grace..that elegance,
She seemed like the most fascinating piece of art as always.
She kept staring at me, gently, through her long, slender eyelashes,
Her eyes- two cups of hot cappucino that I constantly wanted to taste.
Looking at her, had made me forget what she had asked me,
And she, not waiting for the answer of her question, leaned and kissed me on my forehead.
'Now this is a moment that needed a pausing.'
I thought as with my palm I clutched over my jacket,
And tried to feel the ring that was hidden inside my pocket.
-I have been carrying this precious thing around for a week now,
Waiting for the right moment to bow down and tell her,
How badly I want to spend the rest of my life with her,
How desperately I want that rest of my life to start as soon as possible.
But I haven't! Why?-
I had no answer.
Maybe because I had no sweep net,
Maybe I had no jar of glass,
Maybe I was afraid of the fact that,
Once the moment is gone, it's gone for eternity,
Once the star has fallen, it's lost beyond the infinity...
But then I looked at her again,
She looked like this calm, subtle september wind,
Waltzing by, softly quivering every iron swing on its way.
And like a storm that lost all its enthusiasm and finally wanted to run into apathy,
In a moment, I gathered all my courage and slid one hand above my chest,
And brought out the thing that was causing all the distress...
'Who cares if it's not perfect?
Who cares if life doesn't pause? Who cares if the most beautiful moments in our lives escape us like smoke does, inhabiting the deepest chambers of our hearts?
'It'll be everlasting... That's all that matters !' , a voice inside me whispered.
My hand was occupied again, but not with a pebble anymore.
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