Eyes
He walked past me. I still remember the smell of his cologne, that strong manly odor always gives me butterflies. He walked with a hand in the pocket and the other swinging to and fro; his head tilted slightly to the right. His eyes hid the mystery of the desert and his smile was like soft snow, melting every heart it hit. And yet that day, that smile didn’t work on me, for it brought back the memories we had together only to give me pain .
Yet, I was so relieved to see him smiling. He had finally let me go. He had finally moved on. But deep inside, there was a pain. Why did this have to happen? Why was I to merely watch him walk past me, not noticing my presence, not noticing the smell of my hair, the sparkle in my eyes? I followed him, eager to know how Madhav, who was till yesterday so buried in sorrow, was actually back to the jolly old times? We walked past our favorite restaurant, the best in city with the best cakes anyone would desire. I remember once when I whimsically demanded chocolate pastry at 2 in the night, and without a second thought, he hopped into his bike, and within minutes was back with the treat. He was just so caring.
Suddenly, he stopped in front of an orphanage. He looked down at his shoes, closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. He said something under his breathe and smiled. His smile suddenly ignited me, making me more curious than ever. He entered the orphanage, asked a nanny to take him to the adoption section and sat in front of the officer. The officer asked him, “Do you really want to do this? You know this is only going to make your life harder, right? You don’t really need to do this, we are doing the best we can.”
But he insisted, “No, I want to.” Then, with a sad voice, he replied, “She reminds me of Maya and I can’t let Maya go again.”
I heard my name, and it was all I wanted to hear. He had not forgotten me! He had not let me go! He continued, “Let me sign the papers.” The officer brought the papers, and he signed immediately. What is he up to, I asked myself.
“Bring in the girl!” the officer demanded.
The nanny brought in a pretty little girl, in a checked white and red dress and a beautiful flower pin on her shoulder-length blonde hair. But she had her eyes covered with her little hands, I wondered why. Madhav, slowly walked towards her, saying playfully, “What’s hidden behind those hands, what’s hidden?” And she giggled and dropped her hands down with a big smile showing off her broken tooth and those eyes, those eyes. All I could do was cry and cry and cry.
That pretty girl was so like me. She had Sturge-Weber syndrome, just like me. I heard Madhav say, “That blue eye on your left is of a lion and that black eye on your right is of a tiger. And you, my girl are so special,I’m gonna take such a good care of you, baby.” And he said under his breathe, “I will never let you die like Maya. No, I’ll treat your glaucoma, won’t let infection even touch you. I’ll give you all the love you deserve, I’ll love you like I loved Maya.” Then, he looked straight towards me, and for a moment, he shocked me. I leaned back at the wall and i could feel a frame at the back of my head. He looked straight into my soul and I could feel his love for me and my love for him dance together in that fine moment. He walked towards me, looking straight into my wet eyes and stopped in front of me. He raised his hands towards me cheek. But I couldn’t feel him. And how could I? I was cold and dead and only a spirit with eyes but no body, with ears but no voice.
Madhav took the frame from the wall, the picture of Maya. He wiped his tears, turned towards the little girl and said, “Ruchi, this was Maya, who was just like you, with those special eyes.”
Zerone is an undergrad publication at I.O.E, Pulchowk focusing on People (their creative side, their thoughts, their lives) and Technology (the new, the old, everything).
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