This short story is participating in Write Story from Picture India 2012 – Short Story Writing Competition.
WSPI-2012-02
Photo credit: Nevit Dilmen
It’s already half past eight and there’s an important meeting at 9am today. Rushing to work after all the morning chores of getting the kids ready for school, preparing breakfast, packing lunch for the family. Eyes popping on the watch and out of the car window checking for the traffic and praying to make it on time for the meeting.
Its 8:55 and I reach the office, rushing through the lift, put my huge luggage of laptop, lunch boxes, pick up book and pen and rush to the meeting room… Alas, relieved at last I am on time and some are yet to join… Meeting goes on and we all come back with work to do… day passes by… lunch time has long passed and I see the clock on my laptop and it’s already 3pm… .take a small break, check if the kids are home… and having quick lunch and now getting all the work done to rush back home on time.. Its half past five and I quickly get all my things together and rush to the car… I am in the car thinking of the day passed by and think it’s an Irony… day is a circle… Times have changed now, earlier it was ‘Circle of Life” and here I am at the end of the day doing the same things I had done in the morning… but now the hurrying is to get back home…
Suddenly the phone rings and it’s an unknown number, little sceptical on whether to take the call or just let the phone ring. But then I decide to take the call and I hear a voice from the other side….
”Helloo”…
“Halloos….” I say Hello very faintly and ask who this is, whom do you want? The voice on the other side says;
“You don’t remember me, that’s bad”…
I say “Sorry… due to the traffic I am not able to hear you clearly”
… but actually I was lying, I didn’t want to hurt that person by telling I don’t know – who you are.. The happy and excited voice on the other side continues
“Hey… I am ‘Aahana’… I got your number today while I was searching for you on the web, the big wide network that connects people….”
Then I remember and I immediately jumped on my feet, “ ‘Aahanaaaa’… such a pleasant surprise… I cannot believe its you after so many years…”
We generally chit chat on where life is taken us… and then I am home… I promise to call her back and meet up and then hang the phone… I was very happy even at home… kids started to ask;
“Mama, you had a good day today, you are so happy?”
I say – “today I spoke to my long lost friend and that’s why I am very excited…”
Evening passes by with all the chores and put kids to sleep… and then I go to bed…. Night is dark and my mind goes back to the time Aahana and me were little girls… she was my childhood friend, we were in the same neighbourhood in a little town… life wasn’t busy then even for our parents… we used to go to different schools but come back home and wait to meet and play with each other.. We had so much time then… we used to go for walks around the beach and then sit and play with the sands, make sand houses and talk of all the things in the world… some of which would not make any sense at all when I think now… I always dreamed of achievement in careers and dreamt of career and family… but Aahana was very content with her life and she dreamt of a simple life… I remember telling her – that I one day want to be a CEO or VP of a company and I am being awarded the highest award and my family is sitting and watching this… you (Aahana) will also be there.. But Aahana says, you will not have time for me then, I say,
“No, that’s not true – you will always be close to me… and will be part of my life forever”.
My eyes are filled with tears as I am thinking now, how true Aahana was… I have achieved everything but where was Aahana in my life… we finished school, went to college and still we used to meet… until I moved to another city for higher studies… we were still in touch through phones, mails… but as life got busy.. . Aahana was left behind… then one day I get a phone from her that she has lost her mother… but I had an interview the same day… I just console her on the phone and did not visit her… she invited me for the marriage but I was busy making my career… she made it a point for me to be present in all major events of her life… I had not invited her for my marriage too, since it all happened in a hurry and then kids… life was like a cycle for me… event after events… no time for feelings, friends and sometimes family too.. It was past midnight and I was thinking, how fulfilled Aahana was… when I spoke to her today… did I also sound the same??. no…No… I don’t think so… my mind is always cluttered and stressed with TO-DO list… I started to think, is the life I wanted??? where am I today??? I don’t want be in the threshold of my life thinking where my days went by….. My childhood and growing up days… where was it now, where was the happiness and contentment of life… are my kids happy today with me stressed out all the time, is my husband happy today.. I want to sit on the beach with my husband and kids and play sand houses again… I want to watch the waves coming and feel the water on my feet as I felt with Aahana…. I decided… I will still work… but priorities will change… my family comes first and then work… It was already 5am in the morning and I though, I just needed on phone call to awaken me… I immediately take the phone and call Aahana… she was shocked to receive my call so early in the morning… All I said was,
‘Thank you Aahana for reminding me the “Bygone days”… thank you….”
Another day started, but I wasn’t rushing through the morning like other days yelling and shouting and running, I was so much at peace today…
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