C:
Josie smiled at Iype from her picture on the wall. The pain
was almost unbearable.
Till Death do us part, they had promised each other in the
little village church. Rains had just washed the entire village clean. Josie
was beautiful in her white sari, her long black hair in a thick braid, cradled
her waist. A gust of breeze in the church had picked up the scent from the
jasmine flowers in her hair and Iype had felt drunk
That was fifty years ago. And now she was gone. Ashes to
ashes, dust to dust, the pastor had said.
Every nook of the house reminded him of her. Pain ballooned up from his stomach and threatened to burst
his head open with its power.
Then he remembered the letters. The love letters. She had written
every week for the two years that he had to work in Calcutta. She had stayed back to care for the
kids and his parents. But she wrote.
On pink paper with blue ink.
The paper must still smell of her.He had packed them in a box.
Maybe I put it in the attic.
Josie, this memory of mine is getting wearisome.
Iype climbed the rickety ladder as hurriedly as he could, up to
the attic where all old memories were stored. It took him an hour to find it,
pushing aside dusty boxes and looking under odd pieces of furniture. The little box had gathered dirt over the years, and the painted leaves on the lid had faded into the wood grains.
With shaking hands he wiped it clean and almost
trembled in anticipation. Josie’s words of love on pink paper summoned him.
His breath grew shallow and a smile started to rise through the wrinkles in his
cheeks. His heart beat faster. And he sat down in anticipation.
Then his glance ran over to the gaping hole in a corner of
the box where the mice had attacked. His fumbling fingers pried open the box and
Iype lay his eyes on the faded pink love notes chewed into a
heap of shredded dust.
C is for Chagrin
"Unbelievable! Don't do this to me!" - is what I felt. Yes, chagrin is the only way to describe the feeling.
ReplyDeleteSangi, you're awesome, girl!
I love this. You are an awesome writer. Really.
ReplyDelete<3
Cool piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to your challenge run…
--Damyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2012
Twitter: @AprilA2Z
#atozchallenge
This would kill me.
ReplyDeleteNicely worded..
ReplyDeleteI could just feel Ipe's agony right now !!
ReplyDelete