Call from an Unknown number

One day, I got a call from an Unknown number. I was in a meeting, so I couldn’t attend the call. Later as I was busy with my works, I totally forgot about the call and thought that it may be some telemarketing call. In the late evening around 7:30 PM, I left the office and when I was driving I got a call again. Usually I won’t attend the calls when I drive. So, I couldn’t attend this call too.

After a long drive, I reached home, refreshed myself and had dinner. When I entered into my room and took my mobile, I noticed that the call was from the same number. The time was almost 10PM. So I just sent a message saying “Hi, I was travelling so I couldn’t attend. Can you call me now???” to that number with the thought that if the person really wants to speak with me they will call back or if that is just a telemarketing call then no problem…

I was very tired and eventually dozed off in bed… Morning I woke up very late, so I left home in a hurry… When I reached office, I checked mails and then checked my mobile with had a notification “1 new message”… Yes, that was from the same number…

Unknown number: Hi Vikram, no problem…

I replied back…

Me: May I know who is this???

Unknown number: Really you don’t know who I am???

Me: Of course I don’t know… That’s why I’m asking you…

Unknown number: I’m very upset, catch you later…

I thought that some of my friends or cousins were playing with me from their new number… So I didn’t give it too much of importance and started to do my works… The day was filled with lot of works and I didn’t even get time to see the mobile… When I reached home and saw my mobile notification “100 new messages” from the same number, I was shocked and took it seriously… All messages were same ‘Hi, please message me’… It started to bother me and I replied back…

Me: Hey, who are you???

Unknown number: Still you didn’t identify me…

Me: Hey idiot, already I’m in tension… Don’t play with me like this…

Unknown number: Oh sorry, you take rest then… I’ll catch you later…

Me: First tell me who you are…

But then no reply and even when I made a call, but it was left unanswered… The next day morning, I woke up soon and reached office…

Unknown number: Are you alright now???

Me: Yes, please tell me who are you???

Unknown number: Guess in three chances…

Me: Hey what do you think of yourself??? I’m not in a mood to play…

Unknown number: (Silent)

Me: Hey Anand, if it’s really you I’ll not even think before killing you…

Unknown number: I’m a girl…

Me: What???

I have only very less friends in girls and none of them changed their number… I was damn sure as I was in touch with most of them daily… So I still felt that someone is playing…

Unknown number: Why this shock???

Also I had a concern that if I start believing that it’s a girl and at later point of time if I came to know that it’s any of my friends then I’ll be teased to death… My friends will broadcast the conversation to my whole group of friends… So, I was very careful as I’ve already undergone a similar kind of embarrassment few years ago…

So I didn’t reply further and made a call… As usual, the person left it unanswered…

Unknown number: I can’t attend the call now but I will talk to you soon…

Me: Okay, what is your name???

Unknown number: I told you to guess…

Me: I’m very weak in that, so you say it by yourself…

Unknown number: Okay, don’t cry…

Me: I’m not crying…

I got frustrated and sent the message with full of “XXXX”

I didn’t get any reply from that time and I was very happy… But in the corner of my heart, there was an eagerness to know who it was… No messages or call from that number for consecutive two days… I was very much relieved but at the same time I enquired all my friends about that number and even checked their mobiles and no one had that number… I was very much confused and also felt ashamed for the way I behaved to an unknown person… So, I messaged…

Me: Hi, I’m very sorry… I thought that my friends were playing… So only I got frustrated…

Unknown number: No problem…

Me: Thank God you forgave me…

Unknown number: I didn’t have any anger on you… As you got frustrated, I didn’t disturb you for sometime… That’s it…

Me: Thanks, at least tell me now… Who are you???

Unknown number: We met long back in a road…

Me: In a road???!!! Sorry, I don’t remember you…

Unknown number: But I can’t forget your help…

Me: First please tell me your name…

Unknown number: Sindhu…

Me: How did you get my number???

Unknown number: That’s secret…

Me: Okay…

Unknown number: Friends???

Me: Yeah sure, tell me when you are free… I’ll call you…

I started to imagine many things, but still I had a small doubt… So, I was waiting for her call to confirm… One day, she called me…

She: Hi…

Me: Hi…

She: How are you???

Me: I’m fine…

She: Good… Then??? At least do you believe me now???

Me: Yes, but no mimic right???

She: Hey really it’s my original voice… Why this much doubt???

I explained the reasons for my doubt and within few minutes of our talk, I was able to understand her… From then on, we started to speak daily over phone and chat regularly over IM… Day by day, she became close to my heart and I saved her number in the name of “GF”…

She was very innocent, very kind, very caring and very affectionate. I totally got impressed and almost fell in love without even seeing her. But as every guy wish to see his girl, I also wanted to see her… Hence, I messaged her with lot of hesitations and asked,

Me: Please don’t get me wrong but can I get your photo???

She: Why do you ask for it suddenly???

Me: Just want to see you, nothing else…

She: Won’t you talk to me if I’m not good-looking???

Me: Hey it’s not like that…

She: Then???

Me: Just wanna see you…

She: Get lost Vikram… At last you too proved that guys will give preference only to the appearance… Don’t talk to me…

I tried reaching her through phone many times, but failed… I was very much worried and didn’t know what to do…

After two days,

She: (Blank message)

Me: I’m very sorry…

She: Sorry…

Me: For???

She: I scolded you a lot though your expectation is correct… It’s natural but I guess I over-reacted…

Me: No it’s my fault only…

She: Okay forget it…

Me: Then… Photo???

She: Idiot…

Me: (Sent blushing smiley)

She: Okay check your mail, I have sent you the pic…

Immediately I logged in… She was very cute and pretty…

Me: Hey, you are damn cute…

She: Enough don’t blush…

The very next day was her birthday… So, I decided to surprise her… After a long struggle, I found her address through my friend who worked in telephone office… Luckily, it was in her name…

On her birthday without informing her, I went to her house… An old lady opened the door and an old man stood few feet away behind her and enquired me… After I told them that I came to meet Sindhu, they took me to a room at the corner of the hallway… There….. She posed with a cute smile and carried a naive look in a photo hanged over the wall with a candle lit in front of her…

I threw a puzzled look to her parents, they explained me everything as that happened… Yes, now only I remembered…As she said earlier, I met her in road only with face full of blood….

At that moment, I felt being carried away miles back, to the day one when I met her… I was able to see only the faded part of my memories but still I clearly saw her face covered with blood… Suddenly, my body jolted out of fear and I was already sweating here and there all over my body and I came running out of that room… Only then I remembered to take breath but still I was suffocating to death… When all the unanswered questions that was running through the thick and thin of my nerve starting killing me slowly, I decided to leave the place…

That’s when I saw the two old faces that followed me with a puzzled look for a second and then the old lady went in back to her room again asking me to wait… The old man who was standing with me kept glaring at me blinking his eyes often but his glare seemed to carry thousands of meanings for it which I couldn’t interpret… After a couple of minutes, she came back with an envelope in hand and handed over to me…

I got that cover with my shaky-hands and rushed back to my bike without turning back even once and without informing them that I’m leaving… I quickly kick-started and drove back to my house… On my way, her face kept coming back to me even while I didn’t make any effort to remember her… I literally ran to my room to avoid her, slammed the door and slid down behind the door… But her thoughts haunted me…

I was on the way to my office via one of the calm roads of the city early in the morning and suddenly heard a loud noise… The truck which overtook me had hit the bike that was going in front of me and the girl who was riding that bike fell aside… Before I got down from my bike, she lost huge amount of blood… She was gasping for breath when I went near her and she slowly looked at me… Immediately, without wasting time I informed ambulance and gave her the first aid with the kit I was having…

Later when the ambulance arrived, I went with her in the ambulance as she was holding my hands and I didn’t want let her hands go… On the way, I saw how desperate she was to live… At that moment, I understood what’s life… When there are people on earth who always complaint how complicated life is and even decide to throw it away, there are also people like her who knows the value of life, how pretty it is and wants to live it desperately… I admitted her, informed her parents with the number in her mobile and left the hospital…

Tears started flowing down my cheeks and I was gasping for breath… Then I realized that I was still holding something in my hands… I slowly opened the letter that the old couple gave me and it read,

“Thank you so much. It’s only because of you that I’m blessed to see and talk with my parents for one last time. I’ll never forget you even after my life and I wish you a wonderful life ahead. Drive safe.”

When I just ended up reading the letter, I got a call… My hands were trembling with fear and I slowly reached for my phone in my pockets and attended the call…

She: Hey idiot, won’t you even wish for my birthday???

-The End for a New Beginning-

–END–