It was sunset, and the weather was perfect for taking a stroll. Clouds were moving in the evening sky. They were moving south towards the ocean, together yet independent. Gaps were widening and closing, one slides right under another and always they were changing its shape. The whole environment was filled with smell of fresh rain. On the sidewalk, the uneven slabs had a rainbow sheen, all that was left of a kid’s game of hopscotch. The outline was still there. Though the grass was looked normal but after one step forward that was telling a different story. After the rains, any pressure would bring up the water, soaking the foot. Without boots, there was no choice but Sanaya chooses to remove her socks and shoes, at least then her feet could be dry and warm. As she walked ahead the chilled wind was slapping her dress against her legs. she confessed that she would have worn trousers and brought a sweater along.
She was working on demanding project. And though she loved this weather, she seldom got the chance to enjoy it because of her hectic schedule. Since she had freshly joined this company, she wanted to prove herself and this meant compromising her feelings and desires.
Sanaya was enjoying that weather. Then, suddenly her eyes went to the corner of the road. There was a man on the steps. There were so many small pale spaces here and there on his face, like the tips of grass struggling to show through the golden-brown leaves fall. His hair was a perfect mop of red, it would have been lion-like had. His old green t-shirt was small, but on him it was like his big brother’s shirt, clinging where it shouldn’t and hanging loose where it shouldn’t. The concrete steps were damp from the morning rain, but he was sat right on them like it was summer. Already the frigid water was seeping in. surely he must feel it. His arms were wrapped tightly around his knees. She saw his face, which had no trace of life other than blue. It was like he was breathing without being alive.
After some probing, Sanaya found out that this ogre looking person was Rakesh Bansal. He was the youngest “businessman of the year 2015” in Forbes list. But suddenly something wrong happened in his life. That forced him to leave like a beggar. He used to be gregarious and generous nature, now he was just gaunt and melancholy.
No one knows anything about him now. He became just a past. And no one has time to remember the past. Everyone wanted to enjoy their present. But Sanaya wanted to know about him, each and everything. She knows that it will be tough for her but still she wanted to try once. And Rakesh himself was the only person who can tell her about this. She went near to him. And greet him very politely
“Good evening sir! Why are you sitting here like this?”
He gave snarling look to this unexpected question. He just ignored her and turned his face in opposite direction. Sanaya was shocked with his unpredicted response. When she was about to get away, her looks fall on his leg. It was bleeding badly and the swarm of insects was playing in that. She felt very bad. She pulled her handkerchief from her pocket and covered his wound. After watching this kindness of Sanaya, Rakesh told her “this physical wound can be cured if you will do like this, but the wound left in my heart will remain forever. These are like A Wound That Never Can Be Heal.”.
Sanaya got that he was talking about his past. She replied him “I know sir some wounds run too deep for the healing, but if you pour your heart out then it may be easy to overcome with your pain”. Rakesh was watching her like a person who got a son ray after a long while.
“The deepest wounds aren’t the one we get from other people hurting us. They are the wounds we give ourselves when we hurt other people. This sentence changed my life completely”. Rakesh told with a heavy voice to Sanaya that he used to teach the same to his two sons. But he never thought that they will take that this much serious.
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He was continued with his painful voice, he told to Sanaya that he was in love with a girl when he was studying in IIM Kolkata. After a hard effort, she also started loving her. Because she loves his caring nature and she liked the sound of snap. Which Rakesh used to create with two fingers. And then finally both decided to marry. But as usual, the problem was parents. But in their case, they were lucky. Because their parents gave them approval with very less effort. They were leaving very happily life with each other.
One day Shweta (Rakesh’s Wife) gave him the good news that he will be a father very soon. Rakesh told to Sanaya that he was very happy with this news. And after 9 months Shweta gave birth a twin. Both were boy. It increased their happiness just double. They were very happy with their two children. They named them Raj & Rohan. They both used to take care of them like they were the only thing in the world for them. Like that time start passing after four-year, both children started to go school also. During this period Shweta again gave birth to a girl. Now their family was complete. Now they have the son as well as a daughter too. Rakesh taught his both son to snap with two fingers. Because he wanted to learn this family tactic to everyone. Rakesh’s business was flourishing at that time. All thing was going very good.
It was a winter vacation of both sons. They both were playing inside the room. Shweta was busy with her kitchen work. After finishing her kitchen work she asked her sons to go out on the terrace and play. They also agreed and went to the terrace. They were playing a game called thieves & police. Raj was the police with a gun which was just a sharp tin. And Rohan was the thief, who was trying to escape after robbing a bank. And inside the room, Shweta was busy with her 3-month old daughter in the bathtub. And she was monitoring her two sons from there too.
At the terrace both boys were busy in a game then sudden Raj told to Rohan “I catch you now I will give you punishment”. And the punishment was, Rohan had to die. So, Raj started rubbing his weapon on Rohan’s neck just for fun. And Rohan also started crying. But Raj was acting as a strict police inspector. After 3 min Raj realized that his feet were full of blood. He saw that Rohan’s head is hanging. And he is not replying to him. He was shocked!
He couldn’t believe his eyes. He didn’t want to anyway. He never saw something like that even in his worst nightmares. But that was only because his brain always woke him up before such a horrific image covered his mind. And now he was seeing his eyes won’t ever be able to erase. The adrenalin flew over his veins like a carp through the river, but he couldn’t move a single muscle, not even to scream. The absolute fear completely paralyzed him, and the more he thought about run away, or simply moving a bit, the more he felt discouraged and utterly terrified.
And then he took a hard decision which he should never take. Their flat was on the third floor. Shweta was busy with her daughter in the bath tub and sudden she saw Raj, he was jumping. Shweta was running like anything to stop him. But when she reached their Raj was already fell. She was started crying madly, and she was shouting. And then her eyes went to Rohan who was bleeding and the floor was covered with the red blood.
After watching this Shweta was devastated! The wall clock ticks like the timer on a bomb. She can’t stop it, reverse it or slow it down. Each tick drags her forward, helpless and nervous. She can no more avoid it than the beating of her own heart as it pounds with futility against its cage of bone. She was about to faint but she sudden remembers about her daughter whom she left in the tub only.
She again started running towards her. But when she reached there she found that her daughter was sink in the bathtub. Because that tub was full with water. and when Shweta was running to save her son she totally forgot about that. Now when she checked her daughter she was not breathing at all. After realizing this Shweta was fell on the floor.
As usual, Rakesh reached home at 8 o’clock. He opened the door with his keys. Because he wanted to give a surprise to his family. And that surprise. He was eagerly searching everyone silently. But when he did not find anyone then he went to the terrace. The scene was unbelievable, shocking. His mind was unable to process the image which was sending by his eyes. He looked away, then he looked back to see if it was still there. It was. There were four dead bodies in front of him. He was madly trying to wake up everyone. He used his family tactic i.e. he was snapping with his two fingers. But no one was replying him.
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He was describing her sadness to Sanaya like death by a thousand cuts, for every time he remembered her loss. But this was also not enough to kill him. He was still snapping in front of Sanaya. Because in his imagination, his family was still there in front of him. After finishing his sentence, Rakesh started crying in front of Sanaya like a child. And Sanaya just holds him. But her chest heaved with a quiet sob, and tears welled up behind her eyelids, slipping down cheeks without resistance.
Sanaya told Rakesh “I will not say all thing will be fine because I know whatever you lost in your life that will never back. I will never tell you that try to forget everything that happened with you because forgetting our mistakes and our wounds isn’t enough to make them disappear. But yes, one thing is that Time is a very big medicine in this world. If you will give them a chance it will heal your wounds.
Rakesh replied to Sanaya “Time heals wounds. But not this one.”
Sanaya told to Rakesh “Everyone breaks a little sometimes. That doesn’t make you weak. It makes you wounded. And I will always be there to help you heal”.
This sentence beads Rakesh’s skin like dew on spring grass. He feels it radiating in to soothe his blood. He couldn’t know for sure that, that day will be better than yesterday, but he was optimistic after a long while.
–END–
