Love Short Story – A LETTER
Photo credit: cohdra from morguefile.com
Like every other day,I dressed my child up and took him to the bus stop for his school bus.It is mid June but the monsoon has not started yet.The weather is really hot and humid.
I bid my child a good bye and headed towards my home.As I was opening the door,I checked the letter box just in case of some electric or telephone bills but surprisingly found a personal letter.It was enveloped in a white paper.The letter read my name.I opened it.
”Dear Apeksha,
Believe me,I did not want to write this letter to you.I did not want you to know this.But I can’t live with the truth hidden within myself,anymore.First of all promise me that you will never try to contact me after reading this letter.
You might have tried to find out why i left you suddenly.You might have made up various reasons and believed them and in course of time forgotten them..But trust me,I did not want to leave you and more when I knew it would hurt you.But I had nothing to do or else you would be hurt more. Isn’t it good to know that ‘everyone’ loves you rather than knowing ‘someone’ loves you?Your family would abandon you if they came to know about the love blooming between us.
I saw you sometime ago at the park.with a man and a child.I believe that was your child and the man was your husband.Your child is very beautiful just as you and I believe you have chosen the right man for you.You looked happy.You were smiling which made me happy too.
As far as I known you,you are responsible and think of others before yourself.You are settled now.So I have decided to tell you the truth.I left you because I loved you.Yes the truth haunts me still.But once you had told me that love is sacrifice.
Please don’t misunderstand me.But this will probably the last letter from me to you.My love goes to you and your family.Stay well and take care.
yours,
Aayuh.”’
The letter read no more.I read it once more and confirmed what I read were actually there.For all these days I believed that I had loved Aayuh and he merely left me alone.
I went inside the house and sat on the couch. I still remember the day when we met. I was eighteen and recently had a fight with my best friend. She had betrayed me. I was in low spirits. I had not got over the matter. I had to go a wedding ceremony, persuaded by my parents. I was sitting in a corner of the hall, ofcourse thinking about my best friend and how she betrayed me. Suddenly a boy came up to me and asked,”Are you Puja? Recognize me?I’m Aayuh.”
He looked very average and had quite an average height in comparison to normal Indian males.
“Sorry”,I said,”I am Apeksha. Puja is my maternal sister.”
He apologized.”Both of you cousins look alike.Hello,I am Aayuh”.He held out his right hand as a mark of a new friendship.
We became friends and he was a great company at the ceremony and kept me entertained with his charm and humorous jokes.Gradually,we became good friends.We exchanged letters often.I told him about my best friend and how she betrayed me and how I felt about it.He consoled me and told me he would not do anything like that with me.We were distant relatives but that distance seemed to overcome through the words scribbled in some papers.He was my maternal uncle’s friend’s brother’s son.
Gradually I felt,I was loved,cared and wanted.He made me feel so important.We never thought this relation to give a name or perhaps this relation was beyond words.Was it love for a friend,a brother,a companion or someone very special.Buth we both knew ,we loved each other very much.
For a few days his letter brought a hesitation.He was worried that our friendship could not last long when one day his letter stopped coming.I waited for days,months and years at the end.I sobbed silently at night.I spent so many sleepless night thinking about him when I finally realized how much I loved him and how much I wanted him by my side.I wrote letters without any reply.I went to Puja didi’s house.She said they had some quarrel with Aayuh’s family and that they don’t talk anymore.She failed to give his new address or phone number..
I made up some reasons behind his sudden disappearance and believed them.Time passed.His memory faded but I could not forget him completely.I grew up and got married one day.Now I have been married for seven years.I have a five year old child.Everything was just perfect when I received his letter again after fourteen long years.
Now,I know that the love which i had for him was mutual.I should be happy with that.But I wish he never send me this letter and I never knew it for now I can’t live with the truth hidden within myself.
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