Short story #2: Beyond forever

April 24. Rhea stared at herself in the mirror. White wedding gown, a dainty smile on the lips, and a bunch of flowers in her hand; she found it hard to believe what she saw. She never thought she would live to see this day. She didn’t think she would be getting married. After a year of fighting cancer, she had come to accept that her life would be shorter than she wanted. Her dreams shrunk, her fond memories grew wider and she loved people a lot more now. And as she stepped out to join her to-be-husband Joy in the aisle, with her father by her side, she looked up, trying to blink away tears. In her efforts not to cry, she darted her eyes everywhere and she saw this young couple who were seated at the rear end of the nave. She smiled, because they reminded her of the happy days of her and Joy, memories that seemed light years away. This man had won her heart two years ago. He loved her like a Goddess and he made her laugh even at times when she had lost hope in life. She rightly called him ‘the man beyond her dreams’ as he used to sit with her by the hospital bed, holding her hands and smiling at her. He was the biggest source of her strength for he never let her cry, even when she went through pain and agony. He knew she wasn’t going to live long, yet he wanted to marry her. He persuaded her and her family into this wedding. Her family was overwhelmed, and she felt luckier with each passing day. And now as she walked towards the chancel, she slightly looked out of the decorated windows to the see the couple sit on the bench, the guy pulling his girl closer. They seemed so much in love and Rhea wished she had a longer life to make happier memories with Joy. In a few minutes, they were pronounced husband and wife. As Rhea’s mom hugged her and cried, Joy looked at Rhea, smiling with more than one emotion involved, silently thinking, ‘I won’t let you go’. That evening, St.Marks Cathedral saw one of the noblest weddings.

November 24. He looked far away, lost in thoughts, oblivious to the fact that he was staring at a girl who was buying some flowers at the stall.  He shifted his gaze to the little two-year-old in her short white gown run around, with her slightly-bigger brother trying to slow her down. He looked up at the birds rushing home and the traffic getting noisier on the roads. The dusk had fallen and Joy was sitting just outside Infant Jesus Church that he visited every Sunday -until six weeks ago. He looked around, yet not seeing anything, lost in places unknown, and trying to understand how things had changed in life. He threw the cigarette butt down and put it out, vowing to himself that he shouldn’t be smoking so many. It was his tenth for the day. ‘She would get angry with me for this’, he thought as he shook his head quietly. He so wanted to rush back home, to his lone apartment, where he could seek comfort in the vacuum-like silence and be absorbed in more thoughts. He hadn’t been to work for the last 41 days nor had he been out of his house in those weeks.

Still deep in thoughts, he made his way inside through the porch. He lit two candles and as he tried to close his eyes and pray, he felt his hands tremble. He couldn’t believe that he trusted God again, just 42 days after he lost trust in everything in this world. After the day that took away his love from him. As the melted drops of wax dripped down from the candles, he also realized his cheeks weren’t dry anymore.  As he tried hard to talk to God, he couldn’t brush away the images of the happy two and a half years they shared. He always knew he would be this someday, he kept hoping against it, hoping for miracles.

As he started driving back home, a lot of thoughts poured in his semi-absent mind. He was happy that the two and the half years that he had spent with Rhea had been the most meaningful years of his life. The happiest ones indeed – something he knew he would never have again. But he was proud of his love, his unconditional love for his Rhea. His Rhea. He still loved her and he always thought that she lived in a safe place now, and he could always go all the way to meet her someday. As he waited for the signal to turn green, a little boy (about 8 years old) knocked on his window. The lad was selling kites. Joy was rolling the window down, when he heard a loud screech and he turned to look at a sedan stop an inch away from a little stray pup. The lad selling kites jumped to the other side of the road to pick the pup up. As he carried the tiny pup to the pavement, something made Joy halt the car to the side of the road and run to them. He smiled at the little lad, patting him on his back and few minutes later, Joy put the pup in his front seat like a baby and took him home. Both of them had found some love that evening. Everyone needs love, after all.

Joy was sure of this - Love stretches beyond forever. And forever does not have boundaries, even if it means worlds apart. 

Short story #1: When it rained..

The evening sun lit up the west. Rays of the sun infringed the clouds and shone, oblivious to the impending thunderstorm.

‘Take the left after 200 meters’, Shreya repeated after the voice of the GPS navigator. Alan drove amidst a hundred cars and they finally got past the traffic in M.G.Road. They reached the St.Marks Cathedral and the hustle-bustle of the city faded, as if the place could absorb the sounds and emit peace. As Alan parked his motorbike, Shreya turned around to see a lot of guests arriving dressed.

‘Oh, a wedding! There’s a wedding happening here. Are you sure we can go in to pray? I mean, I haven’t really been to many churches, I don’t know if -’, Shreya asked innocently. Alan laughed out loud and said, ‘Of course. The church is for everyone. We are lucky, we might witness a wedding. Let us go’, as he put his arms over her shoulder and they walked towards the Cathedral.

They have known each other for a few months now. They shared a great bond, a humble relationship with true affection for each other. It was a friendship that began almost overnight like Jack’s beanstalk and grew stronger and deeper each day and night, over a lot of ‘whatsapp’ messages that kept them both smiling throughout the day, a few late night calls (aren't conversations at this time more honest and deep?) and a few silent hugs when they met. Alan, kindhearted and shy, was a man of few words, but his laughter and infectious warm smile coupled with his sweet gestures, made him a guy that any girl would want. And true to this name, he was a handsome lad, over 6 feet tall with a well-built frame. He was a simple guy who had humble goals for life and hoped to marry an innocent village belle someday. He was too vulnerable to fall in love, Shreya believed about him. She loved the way he smiled always, like a teen that has got his first crush on someone and she called him a baby just to annoy him. And Alan always looked at Shreya like she was a fairy from a childhood fable. His eyes would bore deep into hers (silently wishing he could kiss her forehead) and she could only trust him more every time he did that.

They walked in to the hall decorated with white lilac and satin drapes. Shreya looked around at the wedding décor, amazed. As they sat down in the rear end of the aisle, she whispered to him, ‘Wow. Looks like we walked into a Hollywood wedding’, for she hasn't been to a Christian wedding before. He smiled and started praying, and she followed. After a quiet five minutes, they left. The wedding hall was getting busier and it was a great sight to see people so merry, gushing over the to-be-married couple who were making their way to the dais. Alan and Shreya walked to sit on a lonely bench outside the church.

They were in undisturbed deep thoughts. ‘May be, falling in love and marrying isn't very complicated as I always dreaded’, Shreya almost wondered aloud. Alan pulled her a little closer, as if he could hear what she was thinking. She rested her head on his tall shoulders and it made Alan smile. ‘Alan. Weddings are beautiful, aren't they? I mean, look at this wedding. Right now, two lives are changing forever. The journeys of two lives are becoming one’. Alan wished he could tell her about the million times he dreamed of marrying her. He just took her hands in his and after a few seconds which seemed like an eternity, he took her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. She looked at him startled, feeling goose bumps rising. She looked down and gave a shy smile. Oh, it felt so right. In fact, nothing else in the world felt as right as this, she thought. She had a tear in her eye and he embraced her in a hug that lasted 60 seconds. That was all they wanted at that minute. They walked back, hand in hand, looking up at the first droplets of rain hitting them.

And in that Holy Place that evening, four lives had changed. And some stories do not need too many words.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love – 1 Corinthians 13:13.