This short story is participating in Write Story from Picture India 2012 – Short Story Writing Competition.
WSPI-2012-02
Photo credit: Nevit Dilmen
Tears were pouring out of my small eyes .With left hand I was wiping away drops from my right eye and simultaneously my left eye was gazing as far as it could in search of her. My lips were whispering with air “Where are you”. And there I saw her, with her both hands covering her weeping eyes and moving round and round looking for some thing. I knew that something was definitely me. I ran towards her and when she saw me coming towards her, I saw her smiling face covered with tears. I hope she had seen my face in same condition. We hugged each other and there was a relief after half an hour in the pumping section of our body.
She said “Shakshi where were you”.
I replied “I was searching you”.
We moved towards a lonely place on a busy beach of Port Blaire where we had come for holidays with parents. She hit me on my shoulder with tenderness and said,
“Don’t go away from me again”.
I nodded with innocence and purity in my heart to assure not to repeat this mistake. We sat on a rock with my head on her left shoulder. I remember, we sat there, like that, for half an hour until mom came searching for us.
Nupur and I were twins born on 24 April 1985. Mom tells that she is elder because she came first in this world, so I should call her “Didi”. But I really don’t remember whether I had called her “Didi” ever. I had always called her Nupur without any objection from anywhere.
Trip to Port Blaire was one of our favorite as we had celebrated our fifth birthday on a beach. As mom came searching for us and saw us sitting and gazing sea in front of us ,with my head on Nupur’s shoulder , she managed to take a snap ,rather grab one of our cutest memories in camera. That memory is still hanging on a wall in our room. We had fought so many wars to keep that snap on our respective walls in our room which we had shared from starting of our life. But she is more stubborn than me, so from last so many years it is on Nupur’s wall.
Actually on that day on beach we started our game of hide and seek as usual with mom’s permission. She asked us not to go far away. Mom also knew the type of hide and seek we use to play. If one would see other searching for more than a minute, other would come out herself. Because in those days, it was really impossible for we twins to remain away from each other for more than a minute. But on that day due to crowd on beach it took half an hour for me to find Nupur or you can say half an hour for Nupur to find me because after a minute or two we were both searching each other. It was for first time my sister was away from me for such a long period. Even mom was in tears when Nupur was saying,
“Mama you know Shakshi was nowhere, I kept on searching and searching then Shakshi found me. Mama if we would have not found Shakshi then what would have we done.”
I said “No mama it was Nupur who has gone away”.
Mama took us both in her lap saying “My two sweet flowers you will remain together forever.”
Today after twenty two years I find those words of my mother so untrue. I am standing in front of same memorable snap in our room and Nupur is about to leave us forever. Dressed in red attire, with jewelry all over her, she is looking like a red rose ready to be taken away from the garden which she had fragmented for so many years. Everybody is calling me as Nupur is being taken to “Doli”. I hesitate to weep in front of so many people so I was weeping in front our cutest memory.
“What will I do now when she will go forever“.
I took that framed snapshot, removed my tears and moved outside. I saw Nupur hugging mom and dad. All of them were in tears. She saw me coming and hugged me also when I came near. Then it was impossible for me to stop crying in front of so many people. Dad departed us. Nupur then hugged dad who took her to “Doli”. In one of my hand was that framed snap. After she sat in “Doli” I offered her that snap. For the first time after that snap has come in our home she said,
“You keep it Shakshi”. And continued “Its true place is our room”.
I hugged her again and tears started coming out with much more speed from our eyes. Dad came and helped us.
“Doli” was picked up. And I felt that a part of me is going away.
__END__
