The Wait

They sat at the waterfront, the spray from the sea splashing into their feet, as their eyes stared deep into the horizon. Silence had glazed them since they had arrived, till she slowly took his hand into hers and with the held hands, she punched the silence away.

“There isn’t any other option, is there?”

“How many times do I tell you Tanisha?”

“Hmm…”

“Even I don’t want to leave you here alone, but then it will put my whole career, my whole life, at risk.”

“Yeah…”

“We are friends from childhood, aren’t we? We are and will forever remain friends, and you shall always hold a special place in my heart. We began the same way, didn’t we? Just talking casually, and the next day we were together.”

“But we knew each other well enough already!”

“We hadn’t talked for around half a decade in between if you remember.”

“But this is different…all of a sudden…just like that…I don’t know…”

The images slowly cleared, as the rain cleansed his face and he looked towards the skies, cherishing the blessings. It was a long time, 4 long years, the time he had taken to reenter back into this labyrinth of life, and now he wouldn’t be shunted away; nothing could stop him now.

The wait is unending in this long journey,

It’s not just a walk, for you, for me, for anyone,

Its special, its different, its unique, its important,

Life is about the ladder, and all that matters is the climb.

Her tears had fallen freely when he left, that day, that week, that month. He was there for a moment, and the next, he was gone. It was like he had vanished off the face of the earth, completely, leaving her alone in the maze of this world. She had waited, four long years, for him to appear at her doorstep, his face beaming the smile he usually sported. And still she waited.

Then one morning, the letter came. He was calling her, back to the place from where they had begun their journey together, and her heart raced, and her smile returned.

With the same smile plastered on her face, she walked towards him. There he was, standing precariously at the edge, his eyes held intently at the horizon. He turned as she reached him, his eyes dancing with happiness, yet holding some sorrow in them. Her heart melted and she held onto him, and his arms slowly circled around her, closing the distance between them.

The wait seems over, though it remains a perception,

Life seems so happy, as though you have it all,

But you have nothing; it still hangs there, dangerously,

Waiting to be saved, or thrown away,

Life is in the end about making the hard choices.

He pulled himself away from the hug, and gazed into her eyes. She noticed that the underlying sorrow was now in the foreground, and she slowly took his hand into her and asked, “How are you?”

“I need to tell you something.”

“I asked you something Abhijeet.”

“It doesn’t matter how I am, okay? What I’m going to tell you now, is.”

“I waited so long to meet you; 4 years, 4 long years, and now you tell me that it doesn’t matter?”

“It’s the last time we’re meeting, so it doesn’t. That’s why I called you here. I just wanted to tell you to stop waiting for me, and just keep moving in the vehicle of life.”

“What…”

Her voice slowly trailed off into the approaching darkness, and the only sound that resonated was the soft drip of the rain on the asphalt.

“I can’t tell you why, and I won’t explain or listen to you.”

To himself, he continued, “Just because I’m scared that it will destroy my will to make this decision.”

“I’m sorry Tanisha, but I need to go. I wish I could be with you, but I can’t. But now, the wait is over. For both of us.”

With those words, he walked away, as Tanisha sank to the bench. A torrent began from her eyes, as the sky joined her, but she didn’t look behind, as he vanished into the distance, breathing heavily from the side effects of his medication, which would just make his remaining time easier.

We can’t decide always how life should go,

There are the ups and downs, and the road twists too,

There are the big matters and the small stuff as well,

But it’s about how we fare from the start, to the very end.