'He was the past she vowed never to cross paths with, a mystery in himself.'
'She was the truth he could never run away from, broken beyond repair.'
Advaita Sharma was anything but curious. When all the others around her worshipped his presence, she...
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"We are here," Avantika turned off the engine and unlocked the doors. Advaita stepped out of the car and took a glance at the building in front of her.
"Take care Adu," she nodded and waved at her as she pulled the car away from the parking. A small smile made its way on her face as Advaita made her way towards the entrance.
She entered the building and started walking forward, the faint voices playing in the back of her head guiding her towards her destination. She heard a screeching sound of some metal colliding against the floor. Advaita followed the voice and came across a faint figure of a woman, her upper body bent forward and thin, bony hands resting on the neighbouring wheels of her wheelchair. The lady wheeled herself close to Advaita and glanced at her, "Is that you, Advaita?" Her voice was feeble yet the care and love radiated strongly from it.
Advaita crouched down to look at the elderly lady who had called her out and bobbed her head slowly.
As her eyes met the experienced eyes of the old woman, she heard a gasp release from her mouth. "Your eyes..." She began and a few tears leaked down her cheeks, leaving a wet trail behind. "An accident, " Advaita's voice croaked as a lump formed in her throat. Sensing her distress, the old lady smiled faintly at her and squeezed her hand comfortingly. She tried to change the topic to ease away her pain.
"You took so long to come back," Advaita shook her head and placed a gentle kiss on top of the lady's palm. She then bent down and placed her head on the lady's lap, "I am here now and I promise you that I won't go back ever, dadi"
The lady ran her hand on Advaita's head soothingly, easing some of her pain unknowingly. Both of them shared the same pain for years, one suffered the pain from losing the one she loved while the other lived with the pain of being unwanted by her blood.
She had rejoiced that day, eyes brimming with unstoppable tears when Advaita called her dadi. She felt as if she got her family back with Advaita's arrival in her life. Just a mere word it was but it worked wonders to bring a smile on the living corpse who had forgotten to smile ever since her family had left her alone in an old age home.
"I believe you. My child would never leave me alone," Advaita raised her hand to wipe the tears streaming down the old lady's cheeks. "Where are the others?" She stood up and pushed the lady's wheelchair as per her instructions and saw all of them gathered in the hall, laughing and enjoying their life even when the ones who were supposed to hold their hands down this part of their life had left it already and shrugged the so-called burden off their shoulders.
As soon as their eyes fell on Advaita, they stopped all their work and smiled wholeheartedly at her. Even when Advaita could not see their happiness with her eyes, her heart was filled with the much-appreciated warmth she longed for on those sleepless nights when she cried herself to sleep over the greatest loss of her existence. She could feel their happiness strengthening her weak soul and this was more than enough for her.
"Come here child," they called her and without missing a heartbeat, Advaita flew to their protection. She spent the rest of the day with them, making up for all the time she missed being around their care until the dark sky encompassed the night in its stillness.
"Adu, why are you sitting here?" Avantika made her way towards the seat where her sister was now sitting, looking over at the tall trees bordering the garden. She joined her sister and enveloped her in a hug.
"What happened?" She asked again after getting no response from Advaita. Turning towards her sister, Advaita just stared at Avantika with a solemn expression resting on her face.
"They used to say that this tree is capable of making our wishes come true. Do you remember?" Avantika just nodded at her sister, reminiscing about their first visit here and their parent's words. Flashes of the past were vivid in their memories as if it just happened yesterday. To them, it was just like a magic spell, sweet and appreciable until it produced the desired outcomes but despicable when its power reduced into the harsh truth which they had to live with all their lives.
"Why did they never tell us that it has its limits? Why did they not remind us that not all wishes could come true?" Advaita spoke up in a broken voice, her eyes not once breaking contact with the tree which stood tall in front of them, its leaves rumbling with the blowing wind as if laughing on their late realisation.
"Did the tree ever make our wishes come true? Our belief made all of it come true," Avantika replied while looking at her sister. "When we stop believing, the game ends then," she added after a small pause.
"I never stopped believing Avantika but it just doesn't work. Nothing works anymore," Advaita's voice croaked towards the end as the pool of tears blurred her already blurry world.
Avantika noticed the miserable condition her sister was in and so she didn't pry further. She grabbed her hand and led her to the car and they made their way towards their house. Throughout the journey to the house, Advaita didn't speak a single word. It wasn't new for Avantika but she was desperate to pull her out of those thoughts which just revoked the painful memories of their past.
