We had already made a couple dozen rounds to the hut and back and now we were stood on the corner of the street advertising for our brand new business model. People came in, bought and left and with every increasing customer, the old man's eyes shone a shade brighter. We had already sold 50 packets before we went in for breakfast and a 150 more after that. People loved the taste of the foreign place that has been hidden till now. We met some edgy customers too, but other than that our mission had been splendidly successful. Uncle told us this was the highest they'd earned in a long long time. We never realized about anything else until he came to us and invited us for lunch. We happily went inside, already imagining the delicious food. They had very simple lunch with chapatis and a vegetable, the best I'd ever eaten.
And then suddenly, like a cold bucket of water suddenly dripping on me, I realized I have no idea what the time is. Involuntarily I snapped my head in his direction. He was engrossed in a story aunty was telling him about her village. A slight smile on his lips and head nodding regularly in attention. He didn't have a care in the world, neither about the time, nor about anything else that could ruin it for him. And so I heard the same story quietly, instantly forgetting about the worries that behold me.
We got out of the hut at around 3:00 clock, three hours more than what we had decided. In the hut was the last we spoke and since then we had been walking aimlessly in a particular direction, quietly. The silence wasn't awkward, instead it filled whatever awkwardness we had before. We crossed many people, most of them tourists, we walked past gardens, changed roads, looked out at funny houses. It felt like a dozen hours of walking although the afternoon sun still blazed the sky. I never cared too much about where we were going, in the last twenty four or more hours I had realized that nothing is going to be any more familiar than it already is. I looked at everything we walked past, just never bothered to be bothered about that. That was until we stood in front of the same bus station I had come on before, same place where we met. I stopped and turned to him surprised.
"The next bus to Chandigarh leaves in an hour.", was the response that I got. My heart broke down into a million pieces. What happens when the end you had been preparing for even before it started arrives before you know it. I never asked him about anything that could get me to know him more, I was too afraid to get hurt. And now, involuntarily I know the things about him that maybe nobody do. I have shared a piece of my heart, my diaries with him. It's already too much damage.
My anxiety kicked in, the fear returned. The fear of being left alone, living alone and dying alone. I braced myself for the truth. It was bound to happen this way, I chose it. In those few seconds I told myself everything that I had learnt in previous years of my life. I had to let him go, like everyone else. That's how it works, that's how life works.
Let's not just yet say goodbye
What could we do but try
As much as we know we end here
Let's tug on the hope and pretend
Years later when we meet again
We'll fall in love and be again
Till then just smile and leave me
And when the day will finally come
We'd laugh and promise
To never thing of goodbye again.
YOU ARE READING
An Endless Day
Short Story"Alright, it's 12 noon. Deal or not?" I couldn't look at him, so I stared at the beauty in front of me. Somehow I knew he was watching it too. I felt like we were characters of a famous story, standing side by side, gazing ahead. I hesitated, my he...
