THE TEMPEST II

Beloved seemed restless these days. She could feel something was terribly wrong. Yet, she could not figure it out. It had never happened before, she would say to herself as recalled how she would feel it. Yet, this time, it seemed to be beyond her reach. The more she tried to find it, the further it went. Each time, her quests would end up in vain and she would be further restless.

“Something, and something is there,” Beloved spoke to herself. Never had her heart, nor her inner voice had deserted her, and here she was today, desperate to find an answer. “What is it?” she spoke aloud and Pratik heard.

“What happened Beloved? What is what?” Pratik queried. He could see Beloved’s restlessness and just smiled back.

“Nothing as such Pratik,” Beloved replied with a false smile that Pratik immediately noticed. Seeing her smile Pratik immediately rose from the chair and went in front of Beloved, who was laying on a sofa.

As Pratik walked towards her, Beloved’s eyes followed him—Pratik leaving his chair, walking steadily towards her and sitting on the floor, holding her hands. Her eyes recalled the moment, time and again. While her eyes now met Pratik’s, her memory ran towards the empty chair where Pratik was sitting seconds ago. She recalled the movement—Pratik standing and the empty chair.

All of a sudden, Pratik could see that Beloved’s frightened eyes. Beloved felt she had now found her answers but deep inside, she wished she had not. Her eyes spoke of the terror and Pratik could feel her sweaty palms.

“Beloved…Beloved,” Pratik spoke but Beloved did not utter a word.

“Beloved, what happened? Beloved?” Pratik said once again but she would not reply.

“Beloved” and Pratik pronounced her name, for the first time and Beloved was taken by surprise.

“What? What did you call me?” Beloved asked.

“Beloved”, Pratik replied with a smile.

“No, before that Pratik,” Beloved queried again.

Pratik gently smiled and said the same, “Beloved.”

“I know you called me by my name Pratik” Beloved answered and as she smiled, her eyes gleamed like gems and Pratik was mesmerized, enthralled and besieged. 

Pratik smiled and asked what it was that was bothering her. “Tell me Beloved, what bothers you?”

“What bothers you?” and the words took her to the same recalling. Her eyes moistened and tears rolled down her eyes.

“Pratik,” and Beloved cried like she had never cried before. Her tears spoke of pain and sorrow that she seemed to have kept for long. Pratik stood up and sat next to his Beloved on the sofa and hugged her and whispered, “Tell me Beloved what bothers you.”

And Beloved began—

“For weeks I have been trying to find out what bothers me and I just could not, until you stood from that chair and came towards me and held my hands. Pratik, I was lost in oblivion and my memories fixed on you leaving the chair….would you ever leave me? Would you? Will you? You won’t, won’t you? I am scared Pratik. I’m just scared that I would get my answers. I’m scared” Beloved said as she sobbed.

Pratik immediately understood her concerns. He remembered his own tempest but pushed it back to answer Beloved’s.

“How could I ever leave you Beloved? I never will. Don’t you worry Beloved. I was, I am and I will be forever here for you. Never would I ever leave you Beloved because I just cannot imagine living without you. I am blessed to have you in my life Beloved. You are the greatest gift that God could have ever given me and I will always cherish you, through times and tides. I love you way too much to leave you Beloved. ” Pratik replied as he held her tight.

While tears from your loved ones hurt you to the deepest, it also tends to pacify you and realize how much the other loves you. In turn, you realize how much more you should love them, selflessly, to the fullest, and Pratik smiled.

“I love you Beloved. I would never leave you,” Pratik spoke in Beloved’s ears.

Wrapped in each other’s arms, both felt safe and thanked God for bringing them together. Like other times, both prayed and spoke the same words,

“Dear God, I love Pratik a lot. I pray that You give me the heart to love him more. I cannot live a day without him. Never take him before me.” “Dear God, I love Beloved a lot. I pray that You give me the heart to love her more. I cannot live a day without her. Never take her before me.”

Wrapped in Pratik’s arms, Beloved spoke, “Pratik,”

“Yes Beloved,” Pratik replied,

“Pratik,” Beloved spoke,

“Yes …….” Pratik spoke her name,

“I love you Pratik,” Beloved smiled as she heard her name for the second time and she held him tighter.

“I love you too Beloved,” Pratik replied.

The Tempest

The words Pratik had spoken to console his Beloved had left him restless. No matter how much he tried to push those thoughts aside, it would come back, each time with more vivid imaginations of losses. If not imaginations, his thoughts would go back to the very words he had spoken. He was revolving in an endless circle where he had professed his love to Beloved and hugged her tight in an embrace that he never wished to go. Again, his thought ran back in time…

What would he do if one day, he found Beloved wrapped in the arms of death? His heart laid still—the answer, he could never answer. Tears streamed down his eyes. What if he were to die? What would happen to Beloved? Would the memories be painful? Or would the memories become a guiding angel in her life? After all, both had promised to be there forever.

What was forever? Pratik’s inner voice queried. “Forever is until you die,” one part of his inner voice spoke. “The moment you die, your forever is gone too.” Then, another voice spoke, “Forever is forever. It is eternal, despite death. Even when we cease to exist, we will still be there, around us, around those people that we loved the most.”

“Eternal?” the Devil’s voice spoke. “Nothing is eternal. Everything ends the moment you loose your breath. Eternal is till you live. Nobody will see you after you’re gone. You are tangible and tangible things finish the moment their lives end.”

“We are tangible beings with eternal soul and memories. We will cease to exist for we cannot play with nature, but just like nature, we will always be there. We will always be there in the memories of the people whom we’ve loved. These memories will forever bestow humans with hope to move on, despite adversaries,” the Angel’s voice spoke.

As the tempest soared and calmed, Pratik continued to stare at something his eyes could not catch from the windows. His breathing was heavy but his eyes were lost—to those very imaginations where the Devil and the Angel were fighting to win over. As he stared to the peculiar landscape trying to find the answers, the voices spoke again.

“The rule of nature is not eternal. It is about ceasing to exist after it has lost. Only the fittest survive. Once you die, you will never know if you will be ever remembered. Neither can you be sure that you will remember your Beloved when she is gone,” the Devil’s voice spoke.

Pratik was immobile but his eyes were now moistened. His heart thumped like it had never before. He longed for an answer where this would all end.

“No Pratik. Every one of us will be remembered, just as you told your Beloved. We live n memories, forever. Yes, no matter how much we wish, we can never meddle with Nature and death is inevitable. But memories live forever. These memories will always push others to go forward. These memories reside in Love and give others Hope. Your Love is your Beloved and she is your Hope. Even when you’re gone, you will always be in her heart and soul. Forever.”

Just when the Devil’s voice was about to speak, from the depth of his heart, a soothing voice came. It was his Beloved’s, and she spoke a lyrical hymn that dispelled all the other voices. In her hymn, Beloved spoke;  

“Take my hand and take me to the stars, to the moon,

To the place where butterflies emerge from cocoon,

Enchant me with the beauty of your favorite lagoon,

Don’t let a second though cross your mind, make it soon

Make me smile and fill my pains,

Engrave my soul as yours, be in my veins,

Till the flowers blossom and thunder brings rain,

Take a vow to hold me tight, let my beats remain

Love me all and do it with our heart,

Make love to me all night long till I fall apart,

Show me how to break the rules and give a new start,

Keep my heart safe, atop your priority chart”

As Beloved’s voice stopped, Pratik was pacified and sanctified. No words could ever console him as the words from his Beloved. Finally the landscape was clearer. He saw buildings and mountains and the clear blue sky of the October sun. He made a vow to love her, more, and more. 

He did not know if heaven really existed, but he knew, heaven was in his Beloved’s lap. God was there when his Beloved touched his head and smiled and kissed his forehead and blessed his soul. Heaven was when he would die on Beloved’s laps. Heaven was his Beloved. Then, he whispered, “I love you Beloved and I wish to die on your lap and arms.”

Across the distance, Beloved felt something chilling. It was something that she had never heard before. “I hope you are fine Pratik. I love you” Beloved spoke.

Pratik smiled and walked away from the window. Just as clouds were about to hover at the clear blue sky, wind blew it. 

Tears in Heaven

Once, it so happened that Beloved, the epitome of love and happiness was tearful. Death, a hurtful truth had wrapped its arms around somebody who was very close to her life. Her eyes that gleamed hope and joy was moistened with never ending tears. She endlessly cried, refraining both food and water.

Today, Pratik was witness to grief that no words could ever explain. Wrapped in Pratik’s arms, he would try to console his Beloved that death was inevitable. He chocked as he fought to find words that would help Beloved to end the painful tears—both to her and to Pratik. With every word Pratik spoke, Beloved broke down into tears, and seeing her tears, his eyes too filled with tears…yet he had to be stronger. Once in a while, he would take his hands up to his eyes and wipe those tears that were about to fall…then, he would once again hold Beloved tight and try to console her. Yet, each time, he was fighting a losing battle. With every word he spoke, his eyes too moistened and he chocked; again; one again; and again and again. 

Beloved cried like she had never cried before. And in tears, she whispered, fighting as much for words as to stop the falling tears. She wiped her tears and whispered as she choked, “Nothing, and nothing in this world can be considered to last long. Love, friendship, kinship, this that…we all are held together by a breakable thread tied with hopes of longevity which might be cut short at any point of time.” And she cried.

What Beloved had spoken was eternal truth. Indeed, in the end, no matter how much one wished, nothing would last forever. The length would depend on the years that each individual lives lived and shared.  And Beloved was true. Every relation that human beings shares in their journey called life was held by a breakable thread. Indeed, even when one wished that these relationships would continue forever, they were so frail that they could be cut short at any point of time. 

Pratik fought with words and whispered, as his Beloved again sobbed. “I know Beloved. Nothing will ever stay forever. We are all on bound to die. But do you know something?” As Pratik spoke, he tried to raise Beloved’s head that rested on his shoulder so that he could see her. Beloved refrained and rested her head on his shoulders again.   “Do you know something Beloved?” Pratik queried again and sobbingly, Beloved replied “What?”

“Memories Beloved. Memories that will stay with us forever because we have shared so much of our life’s journey. This stays with us for the rest of our lives. And Beloved, this is so strong that nobody can neither steal nor break. It is what you and the other person share…and do you know that you share these memories forever Beloved? Forever and always. It will stay with you…regardless of the distances you cover and uncover. It stays with you giving you joy and hopes for the rest of your life.”

Somehow, these words finally seemed to hold back further tears from Beloved, and he sighed a relief. Pratik’s heart thumped in joy…but also in some pain in the depths of his heart that he did not want Beloved to know. These were questions whose answers, Pratik never longed to answer.

“I love you Beloved,” Pratik spoke and he swallowed the words as he choked. Then, Beloved slowly rose her head and just when she was about to look him at his face, Pratik wiped his tears.

Their eyes met—Beloved’s looked pacified somehow but Pratik’s eyes were tearful. Yet, he smiled and whispered, “I love you Beloved” and wrapped himself in her arms which he never wished to let go. “I love you too Pratik,” Beloved spoke.

From behind, Pratik wiped his tears that he had withheld for so long. His eyes drifted to the very questions that he never longed to answer and his heart beat.