She got up from the bed and stood in front of
her full length mirror, she had been crying for days her tears had dried up now
but she wept on anyways. She starred mutely at her reflection; pale as paper,
eyes all swollen up and blood red, hair all messed up like clothes. She hadn’t
bothered eating either; the pain was too much for that. She wanted to break the
mirror but then she recalled what she used to say whenever she heard people
doing that, 'what do they get out of breaking all their precious stuff?'
Satisfaction, she got the answer. She wouldn’t
break something ever, but she went ahead and did it anyways, breaking the
mirror to pieces. And it felt way better than sobbing it all out. So she went
to the kitchen and took out the old crockery set she was meaning to give to the
charity, smashing it seemed so much more reasonable now. One by one she
shattered the plates by throwing them against the floor or the wall. Her arm
cut twice but she couldn’t care less, she wailed loudly and helplessly the
tears floating in her eyes, blurring her vision. Suddenly the air felt so musky
and dirty she took her throbbing outside where she somehow crashed right on the
main street.
When she woke up all she saw was white; White
walls, white sheets, and white floors. It took her a moment to realize that it
was a hospital room. She felt drowsy and
far from reality but as soon as the door opened she felt as if every color in
the world had exploded turning that white room into heavens. Like a box of
paint had been opened and thrown violently around, only it looked beautiful;
every color so distinct and bright.
Laying there all rosy and pale she smiled to
herself as she looked into the eyes of a complete stranger who looked like an
old friend, for she had fallen in love with him at the very first sight. He
looked back at her confused and then came over and sat in the chair lying close
to the bed.
'Hi, you…um fell in front of my car so I brought
you here. They say you are better now, you are! Aren’t you?' he looked at her
gently 'I know! The stupor will wear off; it's because of the meds.'
He seemed to have read her mind. He spoke too
much, speaking on and asking her questions she couldn’t answer. She used to be
that way. She was such. She spoke a lot, too much and at times it would cause
her so much trouble. She had a wild take on life, nothing quite like anyone,
always speaking her mind, doing things no one else would. Yet, in front of this
completely beautiful stranger she couldn’t say a word; she could but she
wouldn’t. She didn’t want to scare him off; she just wanted to hear the voice
that brought her tranquility all so unexpectedly. Maybe she had lost her voice.
When he got up to leave bidding her a good bye she shook her head quickly and
held on to his hand without meaning to.
'Don’t worry! Um… I will call someone over to
keep company.' He said then he got on to the phone whispering to someone.
He left her with that girl who at first she had
mistook to be his girlfriend but who was actually his sister. With her, she
found, she could talk and speak freely but as soon as he came back into the
view she surely lost her voice. She reacted late due to all the medicines, but
she responded by shaking her head, nodding or smiling with him. She could
listen to him forever. She noted that he spoke meaningfully between sentences,
he'd be talking of something so distinct and somewhere in the middle he'd
compliment her or he'd say some words of great inspiration and meaning and she
couldn’t react before he'd be too far off telling her something completely
different. He opened up his life for her, telling her stories from his past and
events that he hoped would take place in the future. He was careful of what he
said and did, for him life was all about keeping his closest possessions safe
and acquiring all that was within his potential. If he wanted something he'd
surely get it.
He was so much unlike her still so appealing. During
all these chats she'd sit locked in the trance of his voice, eyes and smile
barely registering anything else. She
knew he had heard her talk to his sister, she once saw him standing by the door
while she spoke rapidly like she did until she saw him and then it was the
colors bursting all over again and her speechlessness. In all her life she
hadn’t been as wordless as he made her. So different.
She was finally out of the hospital and he was
dropping her home. They were in the car and the rain had left all the windows
fogged up yet it didn’t exasperate him, he drove as calmly as ever, whereas, if
it had been her she would have been cursing and complaining. Not now though,
she quietly drew on the fogged up window while listening to his voice. He was
telling her of some recent dealers he had managed to get into a big agreement.
'… I could see all the profit but my fat boss
couldn’t. But I get what I know is mine, just like you, so I got them right
back and made an agreement with them. And you'll see the profit that will bring
us in less time, the economic values will rise and the demand will too…'
She abruptly sat straight in her seat for a
minute then pinching herself she looked at him questioningly. And that’s when
he looked right back at her, smiled and said
'You
are, aren’t you? Mine to keep. Forever' and all the colors exploded all over
again.
Momina.
