Entwined Lives

V

Mrs.Mytla was trembling. The ghosts had returned. Back to gorge on her soul. She sat in the dark, knees hugging her chest and her body cold as dead. They were back to punish her for the sin that she had committed. No one knew, in the plain world she was just a regular person leading a very normal life with standards of an average human being. The ghosts were messengers of the dark underground. Appearing as clouds of blue dust, they held the capacity to make of Mrs.Mytla too just dust. She was scared. She wanted out, she wanted an escape. What she had done, was done and there was nothing she could do about it. If she could, she would surely change the turn of events that took place that naïve day. But as of now, she knew the wrong that she had done was a mistake and that it, just happened. Her teeth chattering, she believed in what she was trying to convey.That day, the circumstances had pressed her,the universe had pressed her. She had not exactly meant for it to happen. If only someone could peep into her mind and see what all had been happening in it. She was messed up. Not on her own, not on volition.

And for now, she found an escape.

She was only anywhere on her bed the whole time. It had been a dream. The sigh of relief she let out, was more like a shriek. Aloud to jerk awake the man sleeping next to her, her husband.

''What happened?''

''Oh nothing.''

''Yes Lali that's exactly what it sounded like too.''

''Really it was nothing, go back to sleep.''

''Okay... I am... You know, since I don't love you that really wouldn't be a problem.''

A warm smile, her warm smile slowly curled wide along her face. She gently planted a kiss on his forehead and nodded, really approving her wellness at the moment. If wellness meant infirmity, she wasn't lying.

Mrs.Mytla had a lot of work on her hands that day. Her class, the Eleventh A had to complete the chapter 3 that day or else they would fall back on the schedule. Their mid terms were to begin next month and they still had 2 more chapters remaining.

Her class that day again was ruthless. She was tired.'They just wouldn't stop talking.', was the complaint constantly on her mind. But something stopped it from reaching her lips. Those kids of her class were ruthless and inconsiderate but then again, she realized they were just kids. Innocent naive children who had to be guided and told the right from the wrong and she would smile.

''As you must remember from class 10, we have already learnt about some trends seen in the modern periodic table. Now who would like to remind us all of them? Ok yes, Sivi.''

''Ma'am we had learnt about the horizontal properties of elements along periods and the vertical properties along groups. The horizontal periods from left to right......''

The bell rang. It was 8:30am. Mrs.Mytla had successfully completed the 3rd chapter. Now it was time for Eleventh B.

It was the same routine topic for the B section as A. But what was not like the A were the answers that she had got from A. The children in B hardly ever took part in the class. And that was precisely why, even though A made a bunch of ruckus, they were better students. In the pauses of her dynamic lecture, she was going back to bed. Imagining her head touching the pillow, slowly sinking to a comfortable position. They were seconds of the comfort, she usually got in B. That's what this class made her do. Go back to the morning before she had come to school to attend to her duties as a teacher.

Mrs.Mytla had always wanted to be a teacher. Shape young minds. As a child, her family had been conservative. A little over the top orthodox. At the least, talking to a boy too posed an inconvenience to her parents. From the co-ed that she had been studying at from 1st to 7th grade, she was shifted to an all-girls school. This was one of the reasons that made her pursue the stream that would be an opportunity to turn this kind of a situation around. She strongly felt, the communication between all the types of humans we have, that is no more than two, is crucial for development and growth.

'Yes, there is almost constant sexual tension between the two , but it was natural and would continue to, if it was allowed to remain the same.If the nature of life between the two is disturbed even at the young age that I teach, it makes difference.'

She wanted to, through her subject, allow these tender minds to mould when the light was shone at them. Her love for chemistry was an entirely different story.

Mrs.Mytla rode the bus back home. Past every road they drove on and every turn they took, she was thinking about Sivi. The answer she had given amazed her. She had explained in such basic language, yet not missing out on a single keyword, and so eloquently. Mrs.Mytla till now had known her only as a quiet and calm student, who didn't enjoy fun or probably, had a different definition of it. But this, felt like a tight slap on Mrs.Mytla's face.

Mrs.Mytla was starting to see Sivi in a different light, as someone else, someone who had a presence and a bold and influential personality.