Family Short Story – The Promise…
Photo credit: duane_j from morguefile.com
The “out of order” sign hanging carelessly above the escalator was the ‘cherry on top’ for the frustration Naveen had been trying to suppress inside him. He was having one of those days of constant terrible luck. After a breathless struggle of 3 hours, he still was pitifully 10 minutes late for that meeting which could’ve been a magical boon for his career graph, had he been able to be punctual. His excuses were stamped upon and he was left deserted in that well-furnished, air-conditioned room which was then, to him, nothing more than a torture-chamber.
After his boss had stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him, Naveen stood petrified in the same place that he had been standing on since he got there. He could not find anything, any assurance to grasp hold of and help himself from falling. As he stood on the concrete floor, he was falling down; down from a great height, pieces and shreds of him breaking apart like a sand-castle in a storm. He gripped the nearest chair that his hands could reach. He needed that support: the flooding emotions were shaking him from within, sending ripples throughout his physique. It was the first time in his career, that his dedication was put into questioning.
He sat down in that chair and covered his face with both his palms. Finding comfort in that darkness, he stood up and headed for the switch-board to sink in that comfort. Finding his way with his hands in sudden darkness, he sat down again, closed his eyes and said,
“You didn’t believe me that day Ma. You laughed away my fear when I said that you are the sun of my life, that without you it’s all pitch-black. You didn’t believe me when I said that without you my life is nothing but a chaos. And now here I am, watching my fears turn into reality. Yesterday, you took away with you all the light of my life within those flames that surrounded you. You left me in darkness, and darkness is all you left in me.”
He sighed. A faint sob startled him. He opened his eyes to the full-lit room, and saw his boss sitting right beside him, with a face washed with tears. He hugged Naveen and they both let their guards of emotions down.
The meeting was re-arranged and this time all went well. Naveen was garlanded with a great promotion and lots of love from his colleagues. That night in his dream, he saw a woman, sitting cross-legged beneath a huge golden tree, on soft, peach-coloured clouds. The air carried a familiar, soothing scent that reminded him of his childhood. As he neared her, the woman looked up. Naveen was caught up in high ecstasy when he saw her face- the face of his Mother.
She held up her arms and called him to her. It was the same gesture by which she used to call him to her lap when he was a child. He rushed and hugged her, taking in deep breaths to fill his mind with that sweet scent. He wanted to say so many things, but all that came out were wails of complaint and happiness mixed together. She soothed him like a baby and waited patiently until he had cried his heart out.
She then spoke in her mild voice: “You didn’t understand the meaning of my laughter that day, dear. I had no intention to make fun of your feelings, but your worries did amuse me. I wasn’t affected by that fear as I knew that wherever I would be, there won’t be a single moment that I won’t watch over you. The depth of a mother’s love is unfathomable even by herself. I can never leave you alone. It was a promising that made to you in our first meeting. The sun of your life will still be there when the stars are out at night, though invisible to bare eyes.” She smiled, and the light that projected from her, then, increased with such intensity that he could no longer keep his eyes open.
He woke up with a start and looked around searching for his Mother. She was nowhere to be seen. He heaved a sigh and looked out. Through the window he could see the sky changing its colour to a shade of turquoise blue with scattered clouds of pale pink and red. And in the next instant, a small portion of the freshly bathed morning-sun could be seen.
