The Sunday That Never Came
Short story- Mrs Brian and her never-ending reminiscences…
“ Where’s my pack of cookies ? ” the fifty year old spoke aloud. The new guy at the grocery store grabbed the pack from her basket erratically and handed over it to the lady. He was gazing at the grey haired woman all perplexed whilst indistinct giggles from among the rest of the staff in the store could be heard.
“What’s wrong with her ?” The new guy inquired after she left.
“ Well Jameson, if you get to know, tell us too. It has become one of our everyday projects to resolve the mystery. ” Daniel chuckled. “ She has been living across the street for two weeks now. That too all by herself. Surrounded just by reveries. Her weird gestures and behaviour has been the talk of the town lately” he added.
On her way down the street, Mrs Brian walked through the gusty wind and the stormy breeze with nothing but relish . Her eyes reflected an innocent spark like that of a child. Her face shone with delight as she smiled ear to ear. She has been fond of such weather since forever. “Ronald loves rain too. He said he’ll be here by Sunday” she muttered to herself, as people with their umbrellas watched her in a daze.
Soon after this, the old lady reached home, all drenched in water. Apparently, the heavy downpour outside couldn’t make much of a difference to her. Her broad childlike smile made the loud thunderstorm seem like it never existed. Immediately, she ran up to the cupboard and took out a half- knitted sweater. “ I’ll have to knock it off before Sunday! ” she exclaimed.
Two days later , on Saturday evening, while sitting in her backyard and sneezing continuously, Mrs Brian kept talking to herself. All she did was babble. Sometimes she pretended to be in some hypothetical scenarios, while the other times she created some nonexistent people to talk to. Today, her house looked tidier than ever. Everything was well arranged, ordered and uncluttered. Every corner was clean. Fresh vegetables and other eatables could be spotted in the kitchen. Indeed, she was waiting for Sunday.
“ We must hangout together more often. This was so much fun!” Daniel uttered gleefully. “ Yeah, but next time I’m not following your advice on how to deal with kids. You almost got me fired today !” Jameson raged in a playful tone. Just when the two of them got the giggles, something caught their eye.
“Is it her house?” Jameson asked.
“Yes" Daniel replied.
Both of them broke into the house after some strenuous efforts. In a moment, they hurried to the kitchen and turned the stove off. “Phew!” Both relieved.
“ Where is the lady?”
“ Let’s check in the other room”
The woman was laying unconscious on the floor with an almost-knitted sweater kept aside.
The boys talked among themselves.
“ She looks unwell. What do we do?”
“ Is that even a question? Let’s rush her to the nearby hospital !”
Within ten minutes, the ambulance arrived on the cold Sunday evening. The old lady was taken to the hospital. After some hassle, the doctors took the case over to them.
Two hours later, Dr. David stepped out. “A case of acute pneumonia” he told the boys. “Don’t worry, it’s curable. She probably caught a bad cold and didn’t take proper measures on time. Also her condition suggests some neurological disorder. She tends to dwell in the past majorly because of some shocking incident she might have gone through ” he added. The boys exchanged looks with a sense of guilt. That night, they decided to stay there till her condition improved.
One day later
“How are you two related to her? ” a guy at the hospital inquired, just when the boys dozed off while sitting outside the emergency unit.
“ We aren’t. We just…”
“ Well, it’s been years since she’s like this”
“How do you know her?”
“ She along with her husband, Mr. Ronald Brian used to live behind our house. A bubbly woman, she was. Intelligent too. They had no children. They were each other’s partners in love, sorrow, crime and whatnot. An ideal couple. But one day, something terrible happened…”
“ What exactly??” Both exclaimed with eyes wide open.
“ Both of them finally decided to adopt. They were immensely excited for their new phase of life. For Mrs Brian, it was like a dream come true. Meanwhile, Mr Brian had to leave for an important meeting. He promised her —
‘I will be here by Sunday. And we both will finally bring our little one home’
This was followed by an extremely unfortunate series of events. Mr Brian met with a train accident. 40 people lost their lives, including him. It was almost like the world ended for her. Unexpected. Drastic. Inconsolable turn of events. Her Sunday never came…”
For the next two minutes, there was complete silence. The boys went numb.
Dr David broke the silence :
“ You can see her now. She’s fine.”
The boys rushed into the unit and tried to greet her with a smile.
“Cookie guy?” She asked with half open eyes.
Jameson smiled and said “ Yes, Mrs Brian. We’ve got some new varieties for you. Do you want to try them out?”
“ No, not right now. I will be needing them by coming Sunday. Ronald didn’t come yesterday. He promised me he’ll be here by Sunday. So he probably was talking about the coming week. Keep those new flavors aside. I’ll buy them soon ” she talked in a weak voice filled with hope.
