“Watch out!” he screamed, grabbed the steering wheel and BAM!; we crashed into the wall. Smoke…People…crowd…voices…screams…surrounded me but somehow my mind just focused on one thing. I opened the door, “No! You stay here.” But I hardly heeded to it. I was pushing people out of my way as I ran in the opposite direction of the crowd, towards the middle of the road. After what seemed like an eternity I reached there. The mangled smell of blood and dirt filled my nostril and there lay a man of 80-90 yrs. of age with blood gushing out of his head. My knees shook and I sank lower and even lower to the ground. Beside him was a single lone red rose with the tag “To My Beloved.” I picked it up and that very instant I felt some one tugging me. Shell shocked I let myself be led away. I was horrified at what I’d just done. I took some one’s life. Someone’s grandpa, someone’s father and worst someone’s BELOVED. I had insisted on driving myself today and thus my best mate sat beside me when we rather I brought about someone’s death. Off- course, both our dads being influential businessmen, we got away from any trouble even though we were just 15 yrs. old i.e. without license. Also the inspector informed that the man who died used to live in an old age home with no family to look after him. I could not sleep for weeks; the nightmares of that old man haunted me. I just looked at the rose which I’d preserved and wondered for whom it might have been.
As a part of my remorse; I started visiting the near by Women’s old age home.
One afternoon as I sat in the sunny backyard, talking to an old lady about love; her eyes suddenly came alive. She went in; brought a book and gave it to me. Curiosity took the best of me and I opened it. Preserved after each page was a single lone red rose with a tag “To My Beloved”; she told me that her husband used to give it to her on their anniversary every year and even after being separated in different old age homes the rose came without fail. I asked, in a small voice, her if she received it this year. She smiled lovingly at me, with moist eyes said – “He’s waiting for me up there. He went this year to book a seat for me in heaven; you know na how everyone wants to end in there instead of hell.” She joked. I could not control myself and wept bitterly; telling her it was I who took her love away; that I was the wicked queen of their fairytale love story. She let me cry till I had no tears left then whispered in my ear “You know he would have never held it against you, baby”
I kept apologizing all the while each time she smiled and told me “We both forgive you.”
Ever since that day I send her a single lone red rose on 25th Jan with the tag “To My Beloved.”
Once sitting with her, watching the stars she looked at me and said “Samriddhi… you always said that love doesn’t exist but see true love does exist in this ‘not-a-fairytale’ life.”
“Yea! And so does the wicked queen.” I murmured. She didn’t hear me ; she was busy looking up at her love who from sky smiled at her.
