Chapter 46
“From how many years do you know me?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Eighteen!”
My breath caught in my throat as I processed his words.
Eighteen years!
He has known me for the last eighteen years!
How!
And why don’t I know about him?
My eyes narrowed at him as my mind went back to my childhood where I must have met him. But all I could feel is darkness and emptiness with which my childhood is filled.
How could he know me for so long when my childhood memories felt like they were missing? It was like trying to piece together a puzzle with half the pieces gone.
“Don’t you remember me, Dove?” His voice was barely audible but his words reached my ear crystal clear.
Why it feels like everything is related to me yet I don’t know anything.
“I- I don’t!” I was so stunned that it became difficult for me to say those two words.
He sighed, a hint of resignation in his expression, as if he had expected my response. He gulped before telling me about the day we first met.
“It was a sunny afternoon. I was just a small kid, sitting alone on a bench in the park, burdened by the expectations of my parents, suffocating me with the burden of perfection”
Blinking, I looked up at him. Listening to him intently,
“They wanted me to be the best in all the areas but no matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to fall short.”
His shoulders slumped down.
“Like every year they were expecting me to score the highest marks and I ended up getting second rank in my class. “After getting the result, I became so afraid of facing them that I couldn’t bring myself to go back home, he continued, his voice tinged with regret. “Instead, I found a secluded area in a random park and sat there, drowning in a sea of uncertainty when you appeared.”
His eyes started shining as he mentioned about me.
“You were just a child yourself, barely eight years old, yet your presence was like a ray of sunshine piercing through the darkness.
He chuckled, a bitter sweet smile spreading across his lips.
“I was sitting on the bench with my head down, pondering over the ways to confront my parents. This is when you came and chirped in your sweet voice”
My eyes still trying to remember that day. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu as I
moved in between his, my, listened to his words. It was as if fragments of memories were trying to resurface, weaving a tapestry of familiarity and confusion in my mind.
“Did I know you back then? Lasked.
simply placed your palin on my shoulder which made me look up”
He smiled as if reliving that day.
“There was a broad smile on your lips,” he continued, his voice filled with warmth. “It instantly made me forget all my problems. Your face was shining brighter than the sun, and your eyes seemed like two stars. I found myself getting lost in them, and it was the first time something like that had ever happened to me.”
I gulped, still unable to remember that day fully.
“You asked me what was wrong” he continued, his gaze softening as he recalled the memory “At first I didn’t reply to you because I was still lost in your face. But you were too determined to let go. You sat beside me and asked the same question once again. I barely had any friends because most of the students were aware of my status, and they were afraid to come close. The few who did befriend me often had ulterior motives You were the first person who genuinely asked for my pain without expecting anything in return”
He took a small step forward reducing the gap between us.
“You were the first person to whom I opened up. I myself was surprised the way I told you about my parents and my reason of being sad.”
He chuckled
“And though you were small, younger than me but still you spoke with a wisdom far beyond your years. You told me that the reason for my sadness paled in comparison to the challenges that life would inevitably throw my way. You urged me not to hide or run away from my problems, but to face them bravely. And even though we were meeting for the first time still you had beleive in me. You told me that I wasn’t a coward, and that I needed to stand up for myself”
A warm smile once again spread on his lips.
He blinked.
“And then, you did something that I’ll never forget,” he said, his voice filled with emotion. “You reached into your bag and pulled out your favorite soft toy a dove. You handed it to me without hesitation. You forgot me after giving that dove but I didn’t because it was a common act of sympathy for you but not for me. It was the first time that someone had looked for my sorrow,”
Tears glistened in his eyes as he spoke, and I found myself blinking back tears of my own.
“I didn’t know your name and I even forgot to ask you‘ he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. “So I started calling you Dove. For me you were always as pure as the white colour of the dove. I kept that dove with me all the time. I used to talk with it and share my problems. It had your scent and it felt like you were with me”
He chuckled and a warmth passed through my heart. I didn’t know that a small dove could hold so much importance to him. My heart flushed when the words of grandma repeated in my head. She told me the way he wanted dove on everything without caring that his friends were making fun of him.
“Your words filled me up with the confidence and I gained the required courage to face my parents. I believe that was the last day I ever feared my parents. Your last line always rang in my head whenever I had any problem in my life. It helps me to overcome all the hurdles throughout.”
A long silence followed his words.
“What happened after that? I mean did we meet again?” I asked him
He shook his head
“You left a very deep impression over me and it became almost impossible for me to forget you. I was trying to look forward for the ways to find you out when I once again saw you at my own school. I tried to approach you multiple times but I never
14:35 Sat, Apr
Chapter 46
got the chance and just like that it came the time of final exams. I focused on my studies and was able to secure first rank. I was so happy and wanted to share the news with you. That day I was determined to share happiness with you because it was because of you I was able to do that”
He paused.
“And then?” I asked him, equally curious
“And then I got to know that your parents have died, you have started living with your uncle and aunt and your home has also changed. Before I could reach out to you something really bad and dark happened in my own family which forced my parents to make the decision of sending me to a boarding school. I asked them not to do that but they didn’t listen. My stepmother who never loved me convinced my father to send me away. I was forced and once again left alone. I was never able to make any friends because in every other person I was searching for your purity.”
I gulped as I could hear the honesty in his voice.
“This developed the feeling of resentment inside me for my parents. When I came back on vacation, I tried to search for you but couldn’t find you. And then after around five years I saw you on a road, helping an old lady in crossing the road. Though you changed a lot but your innocent eyes and pure face assured me that it was you. I wanted to approach you but before I could reach you out, your aunt dragged you away. I didn’t like the way she held you. I followed you and that day I got the address of your home”
I was a bit shocked because I was stalked and I didn’t know about it.
“The school opened and I was once again sent to a different city. I was waiting for me to turn 18 so that I could do whatever I wanted and leave my parents just a week the way they left me when I needed them the most.
He drew a deep breath trying to control his rage.
“The next year when I came back to home it was night but time couldn’t stop me from going to your home. Sneaking out, I reached the place where you used to stay. I was looking for the ways I could enter the house when I heard painful feminine voice coming from a attached room. My feet took me there and I was shocked to find you crying insie, lying barely concious on the floor!”
… I remember that night…..
To be continued…)
