The Ring: The Token of Pain

Creative Writing Competition 2012 India
CODE	274
SETTING	Online Social Network
OBJECT	Any Jewellery – Necklace, Ring…
THEME	Infidelity

Raji was busy preparing her daughter’s favorite dish. She hadn’t been talking to her properly since Raji’s divorce. She had tried hard to keep her daughter happy. Alas!! All her efforts had failed. Her daughter sank into deep sadness. Raji knew how much her daughter loved her dad. Unfortunately, her daughter couldn’t understand that her parents didn’t love each other.

Her daughter had become withdrawn and cold. She had shut herself down from life. She had few friends. She hated going out with her mother. Facebook became her best friend. She would spend hours together on site in search of someone she could trust. Raji was worried about her daughter becoming loner.

She prayed hard to make this work. She laid out the plates on table and called her daughter for dinner.

“Sia, guess what I prepared today.” Raji said and bought the hot dish on table.

“Spaghetti…your favorite!!” raji said excitedly.

Sia sat motionlessly and stared at her spaghetti.

“You don’t have to do this for me. I am not going to be impressed. If you want me to be happy, leave me alone.” sia said and left.

Raji wanted to say something but the words didn’t come out. She sat alone disappointed.  She wanted sia to be happy. She knew that only bringing back the old times would make sia happy. That was not possible. Raji rested her head on her palms. She thought of leaving her alone for some time. Time would heal sia. She hoped that it shouldn’t take long.

Facebook had become Sia’s life. Virtual friends became her real friends. Her cybernetic life took over her real life.  She lie on her stomach and looked desperately at laptop screen.  She was looking at pictures uploaded by friends.

“How happy they look?” she wondered.

She wanted to be happy like them. She knew it was impossible for her to be happy. Her object of happiness was taken away. She hated her mum for that. She felt her mum never understood anyone’s emotion. If she only knew that she couldn’t stay without dad, she wouldn’t leave him.

It was already two in the morning. Sia was not able to sleep. Her stomach continuously grumbled. She was hungry.

“I should have eaten my dinner” she thought.

She couldn’t control her hunger any longer. She tiptoed to kitchen. She opened the fridge. She took out the bowl of spaghetti. She ate it soon. She slowly kept the bowl on sink. Later she slowly walked to her room. She didn’t notice raji secretly watching her from corner of bedroom door.

“ I knew sia cannot sleep without empty stomach. At least she ate something” she thought and went back to bed.

Next day was like routine for sia. She would go to school and sit in class quietly. No one would bother her. She would be in her own world. She would then come back home.  She was never like this. She was center of attention wherever she went. She had been leading happy life for 12 years.  She was bright student. She had many friends who adored her.

But past four years, tension increased between her parents. This impacted her badly. She thought it would get over soon. However , nothing changed . It only increased and ended in divorce.  Sia couldn’t handle her parent’s separation well. She became less focused on her life.  She started distancing from her friends.  Life became dull and plain to her.

She came home. She had her lunch halfheartedly. She went to her room and did things in robotic fashion. Later she was busy with facebook. She checked some notifications and messages. She had got some friend request. Some she plainly ignored. There was one which looked very interesting. It was sent by a guy named Karan. She opened his profile.

Karan was indeed smart. He shared same interest as her. She instantly approved his request. She checked out some of his photos. She pressed like option on one of the picture and commented as looking smart. She was above to close the application. Suddenly the chat box popped saying ‘hi’. It was karan. She replied back. They soon started chatting about themselves and life.  She liked him immediately. His views and opinions were similar like hers.

Within months, he became her close friends. She shared everything with him. She loved his advices and the way he treated her. She started loving her life. She couldn’t wait to talk to him. He had become something special for her. After six months, her friendship with Karan became deep. She had some feelings for him. She wanted to take this friendship to next level. But she felt unsure about his feelings for her.  She didn’t know whether it would be okay to share her feelings with him. She shared everything with him. She decided to tell him. However, she couldn’t brave herself in telling him.

One fine day when she was chatting with karan, she blurted out her feelings.  He didn’t reply for some time.  She sensed that he would be laughing at her or shocked about she feels about him. She knew she had lost him. Loneliness engulfed her again. She was about to close her account. He messaged her saying that he loved her. He was scared what she may think and hence never proposed her. He feared that she may leave him because of age gap. Now all of his fears had gone. He loved her more after knowing how much she loved him. She was overjoyed by her reply.  She felt her heart sing and dance. In this moment , she wanted to see him and embrace him.

Love blossomed within a year. They became more closer than before. It was one hour before her birthday. He had big surprise planned for her.

“Happy birthday, beautiful. I have surprise for you” he wished her.

“ Thanks! What surprise” she asked inquisitively.

“ I am …in your town “ he said.

“What!!” she couldn’t believe what she heard.

“ I am in your town, baby. I came all over from Delhi to surprise you. I wanted to celebrate your birthday with you” he said.

“Oh my gosh! You are here. I can’t believe it. Awww!!! I love you so much” she cried.

Next morning, raji surprised her with new brand iphone. Sia did not accept it. She simply said,

“I don’t need iphone or anything from you. Just leave me alone. How many times should I tell you.”

She banged the door and barged out of the house.  She went to school. By then, she had cleared her head.  She couldn’t control her excitement of meeting him.

The school got over. She was waiting for him outside the gate. After an hour, he came with flowers and present. She was very happy to see him. She hugged him tightly. He then took her to her favorite food. They sat comfortably facing each other. They spoke long. They ordered a cake and cut it. Later, he took out something from his pocket. It was a box. He opened it and took out white gold ring.

“I always wanted to give this to someone special. Now I found that ‘someone special’. I want you to have it” he said.

Sia looked awkwardly at it.

“ I can’t take this. It’s very expensive. No, karan. I don’t like expensive gifts “ she said nervously.

“ Please!! Please accept it as my token of love” he pleaded.

She couldn’t say no and took it. He held her hands with love and gratitude.

At that moment, raji had entered the restaurant. She wanted to take her daughter’s favorite food for parcel. She thought she could surprise her daughter with this. She knew she wouldn’t accept any of her presents. She took the parcel. She was about to leave when she saw her daughter holding hands with stranger. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

“ What is she doing here?  Who is that stranger? “ she wondered.

She wanted to talk to her daughter now.  She wanted to question her about what she was doing. Then she decided against talking to her now. She understood it was better to leave. She knew that sia would misunderstand her for spying on her. She quickly left without making her presence apparent to her daughter.

At home, sia was happy. She replayed all things happened in the day in her mind. She had most wonderful birthday ever. She thanked karan from her heart.  She looked at shining ring on her finger. It was beautiful. She would always wear it. It would remind her about him. She was dreaming about him while she was on bed. She at last knew she had someone so adorable and loving in her life. He was wonderful gift by god.

Raji was thinking about what she saw in the restaurant. She couldn’t see her daughter with some guy. She was scared about her daughter.

“Sia is still seventeen. She has whole life ahead of her. She is spoiling her life. I always wanted her to achieve something in life. No ! I have to stop her. But how?,” she thought.

She had no choice. She couldn’t talk to sia as sia hated the sight of her.  She couldn’t punish her. How would she punish when she hasn’t yet forgiven her?  She had to come up some way. The guy!! She couldn’t forget the guy with sia. She thought about him. She had seen him somewhere. He looked familiar.

It was already four am. Her eyes became tired and thus she closed her eyes. She woke up with sudden movement knowing who that guy was.

“Oh god! He is anita’s husband.”

Anita was raji’s distant cousin’s daughter. Raji hadn’t taken sia to wedding. She was having her boards during that time. So she had left her in care of her husband. It was arranged marriage. The wedding was grand as anita was only daughter.

“ Oh poor anita” she thought.

Days passed. Raji lost her peace. She couldn’t bear her dear ones suffering. She wanted to help them without knowing how. She knew she couldn’t approach both of them. How would they believe her?  She thought hard and finally got a plan. She decided to take sia with her to meet anita. Her plan would start working at anita’s place. She called anita and told her about visiting her house.

At dinner, she said , “We are going to anita’s house tomorrow. So be ready by 2 o clock.”

“ I am not coming” sia said.

“I didn’t ask your opinion. You are coming with me. It’s final.” Raji ordered.

“ You can’t force me” sia answered back.

“ This is my house. You have to follow my rules. You are coming. If you aren’t ready by time, I will cut off internet” raji said with rising temper.

“ Ok fine!” sia quipped and  left.

Next day afternoon, sia was ready on time. Raji took half day leave from office. They reached anita’s within two hours. At the door, they were greeted by anita with smiling face. Anita house was a medium sized 2BHK apartment. It was clean and nicely furnished. Anita offered them some tea and snacks. Anita saw ring on Sia’s finger.

“Beautiful ring! It looks same as my engagement ring” she said.

“Ah thanks. My friend gifted me” sia replied.

“Your friend has a nice choice” anita said.

Both ladies engaged in their conversation about rings to everything else. Sia felt left out. She then got up and wandered around the house. She saw kitchen and bedroom. It was nicely arranged. When she was on end of room, something caught her eye. Photos- She saw marriage photo of anita with her husband placed on the shelf.  Her husband looked very familiar. He looked same as karan. There was also picture of anita. She looked carefully at it.  In picture, anita had same ring on her finger. Next to photos , there were some certificates in name of Karan Sharma. Sia was shocked.

“No , it can’t be true” she told.

She ran towards where anita and her mum were sitting.

“Can I ask you something? Where does your husband work , didi?” she asked.

“ He works as assistant manager in Xylys Software Company.  Why do you ask?” anita replies.

“No just like that. Does he know anyone by karan Sharma?” sia asks.

“ Huh! No . He is the only karan Sharma as per my knowledge. The company is very small , you know, started by one of his seniors in college. So I don’t think there is two karan Sharma. My husband is very popular among everyone in company and I know all his colleagues well. “ anita said.

“Oh! My friend might have had wrong information about where her brother works. I will go outside. I need to talk to someone. Poor signal you see.” Sia said

Sia became dumfounded by hearing all this. She couldn’t believe about what anita has just said.

“ It can’t be. Anita didi is right. There can’t be two karans in office. Whatever she described about her husband is true. Karan is anita’s husband. I am just his time pass. How could I believe him?” she cried.

Something touched her shoulder. She looked back. It was her mum.

“ Don’t blame yourself, sweety. That guy is to blame. He cheated not only you but his wife too. So he should be wronged , not you. So stop crying. What happened is happened. You can’t change it, can you?” raji said calmly.

“ I knew everything about you and karan. I had seen you guys in restaurant. I wanted to stop you. But I didn’t know how? I couldn’t stop you because you wouldn’t trust me.” she added.

“ I don’t understand, ma. “ sia said.

Raji then narrated how she suspected karan and got to know who he was. Sia was heartbroken. She cried uncontrollably. Raji consoled her and took her inside.

“Anita, I want to tell you something. Before that, I want to show you something. Can I borrow your PC or laptop? “ raji asked.

Anita looked confused and took them to other bedroom where PC was kept. She asked sia to switch on computer and open the facebook page. Sia did as she was told. Sia showed all the photos of her and karan.  Anita was shocked to see her husband in pictures. He was holding sia the way he holds her. Her eyes were moist. She didn’t know what to do- whether to trust what she had seen.

Later sia narrated her every detail of how she met karan and how she fell in love. She also showed her ring he presented her for birthday. Anita had seen her ring. She had complimented her about the ring. It was the same ring she had lost two weeks before. When she had told karan about lost ring, he scolded her for misplacing and didn’t talk to her for a week. It was him the whole time. He had stolen the ring. He had made me feel miserable the whole time while it was his mistake. She repented of marrying a cheater .

“Anita, it is not yours or your family’s mistake. It has become difficult for us to judge people. You should see the positive side. You got to know about your husband at least now. It is not late. I know your two years have been ruined. But your two years cannot be bought back. What you can do is – to change your future? Don’t repent on what has happened. Think what can be done in future. ” raji advised.

Two weeks had passed. Karan was now staying alone. His wife left him with note and the ring. He was surprised to see the ring. He had given in to sia. When he read the note, he understood that his wife knew about what he had done. He couldn’t bring her back. He had lost her. He knew it was all mistake. Every day showed him how wrong was. He had played and broke so many hearts. Now he understood the pain of hearts. The ring now became token of his misery. He had played with anita and sia’s heart with that ring. Now that ring played with his emotion showing him all sins he made.

Raji and sia became close again. The relationship between them healed. Sia was changed girl now. She had moved on with her life. Raji became sia’s close confidant. It was weekend. Raji had said she was going to surprise sia. Raji took sia directly from school.

“Mum, what’s the surprise? “ sia asked.

“ It won’t be surprise if I tell you. Wait for five minutes” raji said.

Within five minutes, sia couldn’t believe her eyes.  They had reached their old house within five minutes. It was her dad standing near the gate. She opened the door of the car. She ran past to her dad. Her mom stood back of her. She turned back to say thanks to her mom. Raji was happy that old sia was back.

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