Short Story

The sun will rise again

by Sanjeewa Ranaweera

Sajith sat on the beach staring at his mobile phone.

"It's your problem. You deal with it."

It was the last text message he had received from Maleesha.

Sajith felt an unusual heaviness within his chest. His mind was searching for thoughts while his eyes did not see the beauty of the reddish evening sky. He slowly stood up and dropped the mobile phone into his trouser pocket.

"Ayya, are you leaving now? Could you please look after my dog for a short while?"

A teenage boy disturbed the emptiness that had gripped Sajith. After a momentary hesitation, he gave a nod with a faint smile. The boy beamed with delight and soon joined the children who were playing cricket on the beach.

Sajith held on to the dog's lead while the dog calmly seated itself as if it was keen on watching a game of 'Beach Cricket'.

Funeral

"Aachchi Amma passed away"

There was a quaver in his father's voice. And he immediately left for Galle to attend his grandmother's funeral.

His mobile phone rang continuously and the name, 'Maleesha' appeared on its screen. Even though Sajith wanted to hear her gentle voice, he didn't dare to pick up the phone as he was driving at breakneck speed.

However, the moment he exited the Southern Expressway he rang her. "Sajith, I need your help. I don't think I'll be able to meet the deadline. Please, help me."

Maleesha was a newcomer to the firm, wherein Sajith had been working for years. They first met each other at the workplace, but soon afterwards they chose to have their conversations outside. They often went out to lunch and spent hours together chatting about their experiences, insecurities and ambitions. Maleesha had had a painful past and Sajith was going through a rough patch. He found solace in her company and even started to believe that her words had a magical, soothing effect.

But, this time, her words conveyed a feeling of helplessness.

"Don't worry, Maleesha. I'll do something" "Will you be able to come? I mean, you will have to stay there until the funeral is over. Then it'll be too late!"

She spoke in a pleading tone of voice.

"Don't worry, Maleesha. I'll make some arrangement."

Darkness had descended when Sajith reached the funeral. His grandmother lay motionless, her eyes closed. It wasn't many moons ago that she turned 85. Her kinsfolk made sure to make her 85th unforgettable laughter.

"She lived aloud and died silently."

Sajith's father's voice sank to a whisper. Yet, he managed to stick to his stoic attitude.

"I cannot stay until the funeral is over. Something urgent has cropped up!" Sajith could not ignore the sudden change in his father's mood. But he overcame his guilty conscience by believing that he had an overriding duty to help Maleesha. "After all, what are friends for?" he thought.

He left for Colombo at the break of dawn.

"I don't know how to thank you, Sajith" Maleesha said, making eye contact with him. He winked with a smile.

birthday a special one. And that was the last time Sajith heard her

The boy took his stance and was ready to face a Lasith Malinga look-alike. Yes, he sported a similar outlandish hairstyle.

But, maybe he had not taken his hairstyle seriously that his bowling was amusingly wayward. Nevertheless, the boy displayed some fine batting strokes and his dog became a cheering spectator with its continuous bow-wow!

Nasty fall

A few moments later, the boy had a nasty fall and hurt his left leg (The running between the wickets was not an easy task on the beach). The dog broke away from Sajith's grip and ran towards its master like a streak of lightning. And it gave a pathetic whimper as the boy screamed in pain. The dog even tenderly licked his injured leg as if that would ease his pain.

"I'm okay, Timmy", the boy consoled his worried companion.

Sajith, finally, heaved a sigh of relief and looked at the fiery sunset for a moment.

The sun was just about to sink to the depths of the ocean. And he knew that the sun will rise again.

He left the beach with a newly found freedom. And he didn't forget to send a reply to his erstwhile sweetheart, Maleesha.

"Go to hell."

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