It was pitch dark. The river rippled slowly beside the dusky avenues and the by-lanes of the town. Its humming buzz was the only audible resonance that night. And then began the conversation that was long ignored and kept away.
“Let’s start it all over again”…she exclaimed.
“After all that had happened, do you really want me to do so?” .. My voice chocked.
She put her left hand across mine. “Why not?”
“Because, I have moved away”. . I sighed.
She looked towards the dark blunt hue of of my eyes and caressed them gently with the faint breeze rising from the adjacent river. “You were never mine. You were never meant to be so! The world outside is so huge and enormous; your attachments with them were sure to overwhelm . There is no question of moving away my love! Its just moving on! Let’s cuddle for the last time and bundle our lives with the flow!”
I stared. “How come you were aware of everything, and still not carried on? Why are you holding my hands even now like a toddler grasping his innocence tightly till he succumbs in this fretful environment? And Oh! I was such a fool throughout! I always carried the burden of being selfish to you!”
She smiled!- “I knew everything from the very moment you hugged me and kissed on my lips on that hour of darkness!”
-“How come?” I wondered!
-“Because, you were closest to me on that blissful night! Your nerves, your breaths were in complete harmony with mine. Do you remember? I am sure, you don’t! Because, your hug was not contemplating, it was skin deep! My tears embraced your shoulders back then! I measured the distance within that displacement!,You were meant to be for all, except mine. Still I clutched you throughout; as I had no route to disperse!”
-“Still you loved and enfolded? I will walk away; you knew, but kept on grinning, enforcing?”
-“Yes, I crushed, dejected, disconsolate! But my share of affection towards you overpowered me. I felt so passionate, simultaneously, so calm, that I had no other option other than accepting you! this eternal bonding helped me to accept myself!” She looked satisfied!
-“Can we start all over again? Is it too late now? I had enough of these hustles and bustles. You know, I have traveled a lot. Now, the rest is all that I am looking forward to! Will you bring me solace?” My eyes glittered like the sparking of phosphorus trapped within the sea waves.
-“Its never too late to introspect; to look within oneself!” She glued deep within my eyes.
This time I hold her firmly. I cannot lose her once again in the oblivion.
She, my reflection in the wooden mirror across embosomed and giggled like the confused popples in the marina!
–END–
Parijat Banerjee
