Soulmates

She wrapped her arms close to his waist, digging her ashen face further into his hunched back, as he revved up the engine of his sports bike noisily and sped through the winding, up-hill roads. The cool wind lashed against her face and blew her hair away in a fiery motion, dancing wildly to her racing heart-beats. She loved him for this. She hated him for this.

He was as reckless as the wind while she was the epitome of calmness. No one made her laugh as hard as he did and she loved him for this. His don’t-care-a-damn-attitude, taking risk at the drop of a hat, living life dangerously, yet making the most of every moment, left her in awe, and in fear. He made every moment she spent with him come alive and she never felt as vibrant as she did in his company. Yet, she knew, he was not the committing kind and he’d never settle down for marriage and kids.

The view atop the hill was breath-taking. Silken, white sheets covered the bare, wet peaks seductively, while the naughty breeze gently pushed the covers away. The graceful mountains surrendered to the gentle showers of rain, their love, making bringing every blossom to life; the greens became greener, the browns becoming darker. The soft mud that lay beneath their feet, sprinkled wet, sent out a lilting earthy fragrance that tickled the two’s senses.

“I love you” he declared simply, taking her rain-drenched face that quivered with suppressed emotions, in his palms.

“Don’t give me false hopes. It’s not meant to be” She shook as words came out in whispered pain, flooding her eyes, drenching her face all over again.

“Trust me. We can do this. It’ll be fine. I’ll never let you down” He pleaded. He went down on his knees, took a blade of grass, twisted it into a ring, slipped it into her finger and spoke with solemn sincere eyes.

“Marry me. Grow old along with me the best is yet to be.”

She laughed at her incorrigible man.

“Yes” she said, even as the heart twisted at the thought of their future; an amalgamation of two diverse, complex and intense souls.

It was the most beautiful twenty years of her life. They fought, they cried, they laughed, they lived every moment. Together they survived the storms, embraced the rains and rejoiced the sun-streaked seasons in their life. He was true to his word and she never had to regret her decision.

The best one she had ever taken, she thought, creased lines on her forehead deepening, fresh tears stinging her sorrowful eyes as she knelt down at his tomb on his second death anniversary. 

Image courtesy of Janssenfrank and taken from Wiki Commons Quote:

Grow old along with me the best is yet to be.

Robert Browning

Word count: 450

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A fiction less than 500 words written for Light and Shade Challenge, combining the photo prompt and the quote above.

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The Answer- Light and Shade Challenge

Sharanya set the loud alarm on ‘snooze’ multiple times until the warm white rays penetrated directly into her room through the translucent drapes, forcing her out of her tired slumber. Was it 7’o clock already? She got up with a start. It was an hour and a half later than she normally woke up, yet she felt like she had hardly slept. She glanced over at her side and saw her toddler sleeping peacefully. A quick peck on his soft cheeks and she swung off the bed and strode to the kitchen, mechanically beginning her day.

She scanned the refrigerator for the day’s menu as she kept the milk was kept to boil. Sharanya took in the cool air, lost in thoughts, numb. She lost count of the time until she heard a strong hiss behind her. She swirled quickly, but not in time, and the stove and counter got filled with large patches of white, sticky liquid. Today was certainly not her day, she cursed under her breath.

Sharanya began to fear the state of her mind that had recently begun to resemble a circuit with all the connections crisscrossing each other. The thoughts were far too many and they seemed garbled even to her. A career woman before she had Aarav, Sharanya had willingly given it all up to be with her son. Dhruv, her husband had stood by her and she thought she had had it all. Until of course the motherhood and all the care-giving slowly began to eat into her life, cutting her off from the social circle she’d thrived on earlier. Every now and then she was consumed with ‘what am I doing in life?’ or ‘is this all to life?’ Her mommy guilt would then, almost immediately, corrode her soul for belittling motherhood and its vagaries. Sure, she liked being a mother but she was losing herself in the process.

“Thoughts of self-doubt or self-pity are like invisible monsters. Don’t give them any space in your head” Sharanya, who held a master in clinical psychology, would often tell her patients who came to her counseling sessions. Sharanya let out a hollow laugh at the irony as she remembered it now. She had fought others’ monsters all her life but strangely could not prevent her own thoughts from turning into a giant monster. She had to think of a way to come out of the self-obstructing maze that she’d seemed to build around her.

Just then, Dhruv’s voice broke her thoughts “Say, why don’t we do a take-away today? It’s been quite a while and you’d get a break too!"

"And, I've been reading your blog for some time now. I didn't know you wrote so well! Quite a fan-following there! huh?” 

He smiled at her and was relieved to see her eyes smile for the first time in many months.

“She had always liked playing with words and her blog had become a refuge in recent times where she could give a sense of direction to her wild thoughts. Perhaps, writing was the answer?” Sharanya wondered. She had to give herself a chance to find that out. She decided.

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The word limit was 500 words or less. I overshot the limit by about 25 words :-)

Written in response to the Light and Shade Challenge. You have an option to choose one out of the two prompts or even combine them. I chose to combine the two:

Photo prompt:

Image courtesy of messi and taken from the Wiki Commons

And/or

The quote: 

Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

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The Wildlife Enthusiast- Light and Shade Challenge

I had always been fascinated with the animal and bird kingdom and devoured every trivia about them as a child, and stored the information in air-tight compartments in my memory. In the company of the (few) like-minded, these would be fished out duly and proudly presented during passionate discussions about the Beluga whales, African pythons or Bald eagles.

My ambitious friends, eventually, diverged out to bustling cities in pursuit of their own passions and dreams, leaving me alone in our childhood town, where pristine-white specks of fluffy clouds still dotted the clear blue skies that formed the canopy over the vast expanse of sun-soaked green and brown fields. My mind and heart were in constant conflict regarding my choice of profession and I could not decide whether to run after my passion and become a wild-life enthusiast, living the life of a nomad in the exciting forests and deep-seas or take up a more stable profession and live the expectations of my parents.

Photo prompt: Image courtesy of J-H Janssen taken from Wiki Commons

I settled for a job as a librarian-cum-manager in the only library we had for the entire town that housed about a 100 thousand people, including school and college-going students. The pay was meager but sufficient for my modest needs. The bonus was the access to the ocean of books and the solitude needed to dive and drown into the yellow, dog-eared pages on any topic under the sun. My picks were mostly books on photography, documentary making and of course anything that talked about the winged and four- legged creatures.

Living in the countryside meant a lot of family time and free-time to pursue hobbies. Where I lacked to give my family the creature comforts and luxury, I made it up by spending quality time, bonding with my better half and our four year old son. They glow of happiness on my wife’s face each time I made her breakfast on Sundays, or the depth of knowledge I could add to the infinite questions my son posed, filled my life with gratitude and contentment. I had saved up judiciously over the past several years and gifted myself a DSLR and spent precious time learning the nuances, and honing my skills in the picturesque local surroundings.  

They say, “When you wish with your whole heart, the universe conspires to let it come true”. Little did I know that my chance entry in a local photography and short video contest would open the doors to realizing my childhood dream; I bagged the first prize that offered a course in wildlife photography with one of the top universities in the state and a chance to work with the BBC wildlife professionals. I finally had a story to tell my son as he grew up: of a boy who never let his dreams die. It took a little detour, some compromises and a lot of courage in the heart but the flame was kept alive, that eventually was to become a raging inferno of proud accomplishments and fame.

Word Count: 499

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Written in response to the photo prompt for the Light and Shade Challenge, 1st September 2014.

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