Short story: Parting is Painful...
I look at the reddish sun set. It is shining in the distant horizon.
The whole sky is red. The sea is swallowing up the sun. I sat on a rock
close to me. I take off my shoes and again I look at the horizon, then I
look at the sea. The sea is an unbelievable, mysterious place. It takes
our mind away from all the burdens. The waves are moving up and down.
The deep blue sea gives me a vague memory. But still I linger in that
thought.
I was working in office when I heard about my mother's accident. It
gave me a terrible shock. Mother meant my strength. She's the only
person I ever loved in my whole life. I rushed to see her. My heart
began to beat fast. My eyes were moist. I went to the hospital. Every
second my heart began to beat faster and faster. I was at the ICU.
Nurse
After a little while a nurse came out. I held her hand, but I was
speechless. I was dumbfounded! The nurse told me. "Mother is fine, she
will be alright." These were the only words I wanted to hear.
After a few days, she was brought out of the ICU I went close to her.
I felt her warm breath on my face when I kissed her forehead.
Everyday I went to see my mother. She was well now, that gave me a
feeling of triumph.
One day a nurse who treated my mother gave me some medical reports to
keep in the room opposite my mother's. After visiting my mother, I went
to the opposite room.
Badly injured
The door was closed. First I knocked and there was no answer. Then I
opened it. I went in. There was a patient in with a lot of medical
appliances around him. He was badly injured. His body was covered with
bandages. I was shocked and sorry for him...as he lay down in the bed.
How he must be suffering the pain in? After a little while I came
back to the real situation. I went near the table beside him and kept
the medical reports on the table. I didn't want to make any noise as I
would make him up.
But unfortunately my blouse was caught by a nail of the beside table
and creaked a disturbance. I glanced at the patient. He slowly opened
his eyes and tried to look at what was happening around him. I was
frightened. He was trying to raise his head. I went near him. I looked
at him.
He was surprised to see me. It might be because no one else would
have come to see him, I did not know. I looked at his radiant eyes. His
eyes were deep in thought but with no feelings. I wanted to see more,
but he looked away. I thought he understood that I could not understand
his thought. I excused myself him and came out. MTF
This unexpected incident gave me a strange feeling that changed my
life. I never looked at a person like this. I wanted to know more about
him. So I thought of visiting him on the next day.
The next day after visiting mother, I went to see him....As I entered
a nurse was trying his best, though it was difficult, to attend to his
needs. First I was a little bit scared to go near him. Then he looked at
me. i smiled with him. He also tried to show his feelings towards me,
but only his lips were moving.
Looked
I went near him, and looked at him closely. The nurse was surprised.
But he didn't tell anything to me. I wanted to help him. A voice inside
me said that I should do something good to him, to get through all these
troubles. I didn't know what kind of feeling this was. But all I felt
was that I needed to help him.
Day by day we g ot attached to each other. I could read his feelings
easily. Though he couldn't talk. I talked with him. He answered me with
his dark eyes. I loved his eyes, like the deep blue sea. I thought I
could look upon his feelings. Through his dark eyes, I saw the pain and
sorrow inside him.
As months passed by he and I became very close friends. Little by
little he could talk. But not properly. Like a little child.
Amazed
Doctors were amazed. They never thought he could speak again. I was
surprised. I was happy. I helped him to stand up and taught him to
attend to himself, which took a very long time.
Sometime, I was upset thinking of what I was doing? I didn't know
anything about him, but now I was close to him. I needed to know more
about him. So I asked the nurse. She told me that he was an army
officer. He was injured in a bomb blast. He didn't have any relations on
this earth to help him.
That's why God had led me there. I'd helped him. I promised myself to
cure him as much as I could. Day by day he started to talk and smile. He
smiled with his eyes and not with his lips. Very soon he walked. Now, he
can go to the bathroom without anyone's help.
This gave me a deep sense of satisfaction. I can feel him. I thought
this was some kind of affection like one between a teacher and a student
or mother and her baby. But soon I realised it was not that kind of an
affection. This feeling was very strong and strange. Something I never
felt before in my whole life.
Meanwhile, my mother's condition was not as good as we thought. She
needed more medical care and love. So I had to take her to India for
medical treatment. I felt guilty that I didn't take enough care of my
mother. But I took care of a stranger.
Now it was time to take care of my dear mother.
We got ready to go to India. On the last day, I went to see him. He
knew, I was leaving. I was between two lives. One was my loving mother,
and the other was the stranger whom I met. I had to choose between the
two and I opted for my mother. I explained this to him, but he didn't
speak. I saw his eyes filled with sad tears. He held my hands and begged
with his sad eyes "Please do not go...." I was sad, he said he loved me
very much!
I was shocked how did he understand this? I looked at him and said,
"MY dear friend, Good Bye....!" I turned. My heart was full of pain and
I wanted to turn back and see him again. But I didn't because I knew, if
I did it, no force on earth could stop me from marrying him....
By Anushka Chathurangi Galappathy, 12, Art (2008
A/L), St. Mary's Convent, Matara |