Her dress rustled along the flight of stairs. She scurried down, glancing at both her sides for brief moments, and then looking down again. Her heart thudding violently against her ribs, her breath caught in her throat. She looked back to the wide expanse of the high-way that she was climbing down from, the lights seemed to be dwindling with each step, the clock ticking with the pace of vehicles, some time lost with their exhaust fumes. The familiar tinge of river breeze hit her face, she was almost there. She looked down and continued to climb down the forlorn stairs that lead to the river bed.
She took off her heels before stepping down from the last pair of stairs. Her feet dug into the cool sand, they left smudged impressions as unsure as her steps were. She could see his silhouette, his frame quite prominent against the dark moonless sky, the simmering water beyond blurring his edges. He was one with the horizon,
She took off her heels before stepping down from the last pair of stairs. Her feet dug into the cool sand, they left smudged impressions as unsure as her steps were. She could see his silhouette, his frame quite prominent against the dark moonless sky, the simmering water beyond blurring his edges. He was one with the horizon,
where the charcoal sky met the blue waters, where her eyes edged to peek into beyond, which steps away with every step forward of her. She stood there still, wishing to melt away into the still night that fell upon them.
He turned around, his dark eye-lashes mirroring the sky behind him, his eyes almost the shade of the water, he looked away again but waiting for her to join him at the edge of the water. As if being summoned by a beckoning halo, as strong a tug as some magnetic pull, she felt herself walking towards him. She stopped shortly behind him. This was the best part of her day. It's been like this for a while. After sprinting with the revolving world around her everyday, she runs away from it every night, abandoning it, to take a breath, to stand and stare. To look at her world, to live in it.
It was astonishing how it all bewitched her, transfixed her but never touched her. It was like she was in this bubble. The ripple of the water, it caressing the boulders, the dull roar of vehicles somewhere far off, the stifled moan of the winds and him. All of it she could see and hear. But muffled. Like there were forces that worked towards keeping her away from all of it. A veil that she could never shake off. Not voluntarily. It happened when it had to. She stood there like always, inhaling deep, closing her eyes.
A sudden chill caught her. It was too sharp, not like everything else she felt, subdued. She opened her eyes to close them again. This was happening again. The part which she did not like at all. The sight before her was too brilliant for her eyes to take them. She opened them again. Everything around her illuminated with a new light, every color intensified, all sounds distinct. The bubble had burst again. Everything was the same as it felt from inside, everything but him. He was not there. He was gone.
She stood there. Her shoulders drooping. Suddenly all the weight tumbling around her, crashing against her. She took a deep breath and started walking towards the stairs again. Time to embrace the world again. She reached the stairs and looked back at the edge of the water again. Was he there? Or was it the horizon, where both the worlds meet?
He turned around, his dark eye-lashes mirroring the sky behind him, his eyes almost the shade of the water, he looked away again but waiting for her to join him at the edge of the water. As if being summoned by a beckoning halo, as strong a tug as some magnetic pull, she felt herself walking towards him. She stopped shortly behind him. This was the best part of her day. It's been like this for a while. After sprinting with the revolving world around her everyday, she runs away from it every night, abandoning it, to take a breath, to stand and stare. To look at her world, to live in it.
It was astonishing how it all bewitched her, transfixed her but never touched her. It was like she was in this bubble. The ripple of the water, it caressing the boulders, the dull roar of vehicles somewhere far off, the stifled moan of the winds and him. All of it she could see and hear. But muffled. Like there were forces that worked towards keeping her away from all of it. A veil that she could never shake off. Not voluntarily. It happened when it had to. She stood there like always, inhaling deep, closing her eyes.
A sudden chill caught her. It was too sharp, not like everything else she felt, subdued. She opened her eyes to close them again. This was happening again. The part which she did not like at all. The sight before her was too brilliant for her eyes to take them. She opened them again. Everything around her illuminated with a new light, every color intensified, all sounds distinct. The bubble had burst again. Everything was the same as it felt from inside, everything but him. He was not there. He was gone.
She stood there. Her shoulders drooping. Suddenly all the weight tumbling around her, crashing against her. She took a deep breath and started walking towards the stairs again. Time to embrace the world again. She reached the stairs and looked back at the edge of the water again. Was he there? Or was it the horizon, where both the worlds meet?
The picture you paint is beautiful, breath taking is the way you introduce her to us. The beginning with impatience, the anticipation of entering the other world,a world where she exists in her true self, in which she escapes into and finds peace, a feeling of being belonged to.
ReplyDeleteThose wonderful moments lived within oneself, imagined only to be woken back to reality, finding back the loneliness and realizing the absence of that one person who meant nothing less than a world to her. The way it ends is a sudden sorrow, a dejection expressing loss yet again, but with a hope, an unending hope to go back to that world again...
This piece is alive, I could see her, feel her, the part where she is bewitched just by his presence, just the silhouette is amazingly written.
Touching, really touching. Loved reading it.
Keep up the great work Labani! :)
"There exists a world"
ReplyDeleteWe don't live there, yet we belong there.
Bare emotions, rich longing, and patient surrender. All too clear. As clear as the beauty you have conveyed...the beauty which is beyond the "veil".
As always, you have worked very well on developing the setting and again saying more with fewer words. I find the words sparse this time (not in a negative way) but then reading them leaves a certain tingling after taste or afterglow for the readers. It is like descending into the depths of one's own subconscious, drinking deep from it, and then to turn back and walk out again, refreshed, rejuvenated maybe, but always craving for more.
No matter how much you drink of it, it is never enough. "He" here symbolizes a lot of things, dreams, desires, love, loss, death, among various others. "She", I would say, is lucky enough to have momentary glimpses of him. In our daily races, we often change the "He" in our lives. Or else we are forced to go for a different "He". But then, of course, we must come back to "Him", for "He" is the only one in our life. "He" is the one who keeps us going, keeps the hopes and the dreams alive, while keeping us "sane", so as to say.
But then, not dwelling a lot on the symbolism in this written piece, there is a lot unsaid (as always). Who was "He"? Did he leave her or does he longer exist? Did he exist in the first place? Or is it a case of unrequited love? Or maybe it is way beyond the meager bindings of love. And again, what does she want? Why could she not get what she wanted? What does she do now? How does she cope up with it (apart from what you have said in this piece)? What could she have done? What are her thoughts (before the bubble bursts and after the bubble bursts)? And so on and so on.
You leave your readers with a beautiful landscape, an elusive portrait, and with questions enough to ponder and wonder. You have stuff for a novel locked up in your mind, I am sure.
A wonderful read (as always). Almost makes me wonder...Who is "She"?