Ishaan had just woken up from a deep sleep. He sat on his bed rubbing his eyes. He was not surprised to see his bed empty. Normally, before that morning, his wife would be there. He would wake her up kissing her softly on her forehead. She would open her eyes smiling and say, “I love you a lot.”

I am the luckiest man on this earth, Ishaan would think and hug his wife more tightly than ever. He would run his fingers through her hair and see the true love for himself that she felt for him in her eyes. They would cuddle up, kissing passionately.1074Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAxq6LGZjO

 I know you are gone, Megha. I know you are not coming back this time. I hope it works out for us being separated, Ishaan threw himself back on his bed and thought. Many thoughts were vibrating in his head, and his heart was beating erratically. He pressed the left portion of his chest with his right hand to make his heartbeat normal, but it was of no use.

Happiness was temporary. Anguish is going to be permanent, Ishaan mused. It was only yesterday that he was able to see and feel her.

“It’s not working out together, Ishaan. It’s time we live our lives separately,” Megha had said crying. A long fight had taken place. It had started with meaningless arguments and had turned bitter eventually.

“I know it already that it’s not working out. Maybe, we should give this one last chance to find a solution,” Ishaan said choosing his words wisely.

Megha got up from the bed, wiping her tears and started moving to another room. Ishaan followed her and said trying to control his anger, “Say something at least. Don’t keep on turning your back on me.”

“How many chances are you looking for exactly? Can’t you see, we have been trying to find a solution for the past several months? Every time, it’s going to end up like this. Things are no more in our hands now than they were then,” Megha said irritatingly.

“What do you mean things are no more in our hands? Why don’t you say clearly what you have in mind?”

“I don’t wanna cry for the rest of my life. I don’t wanna feel cornered. There is nothing but pain left in our relationship. Everything has changed. I don’t feel happy from within,” She complained angrily.

Ishaan lost his temper. He shouted, “Well even I don’t feel immense happiness being with you. My heart has become a pain factory, not for producing pain, but for consuming it every day. I don’t cry ,but that doesn’t mean I have suffered less. You can go away if you want. I won’t be stopping you now.”

“Of course I will go and I will never come back this time,” She shouted back.

Ishaan came back to the previous room and lay down on the bed, it was almost midnight. He was trying hard not to think about the fight. He closed his eyes forcibly to sleep. He couldn’t remember when he finally surrendered to the night. He woke up next morning and she was gone. Forever.

I wish I could see you one more time. I wish I could hold you once more, Ishaan felt a sharp pang in his heart. He realized everything was finally over. Another tale of love had come to an end. It hadn’t ended abruptly, it kept on decaying slowly and slowly, and when the love was completely sickened, both of them went their separate ways.

To deal with the separation was the most difficult thing to do for Ishaan. He loved Megha truly and no matter how hard he tried, her face kept coming back in front of his eyes. He was laying here and there for days trying to figure out something for himself. Her thoughts were still not out of his head. He remembered how perfect their love was–like both of them were born to be together. But then the worst part of their relationship would come to his thoughts, and he would feel deep pain knowing they weren’t together anymore.

Love is such a thing, Ishaan thought. It makes us feel like soul mates at one time and stranger than strangers at another. Megha wasn’t coming back, but he had to learn to carry on for his remaining life. One day he woke up and thought, Of all the people whom I have met and am never going to see again, I will miss you the most. He removed his wedding ring and put it in a drawer. He got ready and left for work.

He came back exhausted. He removed his shoes, threw his bag on the sofa and went straight to his bedroom. Its emptiness reminded him again of Megha. Had I loved you less, I would not have been suffering more. Your absence can’t ever lessen my love for you. He went to open the drawer where he had placed the ring. He took it out and put it back where it originally belonged: on his finger. I will not stop believing. My love for you was always true and always will be.

Ishaan was on his rooftop, trying to feel alive by watching Nature’s serenity. The sky was a gray white; the clouds were being blown swiftly by strong winds. Far away in the west, just above the horizon, the sky had turned dark orange due to sunset. Ishaan watched, as the sky changed its color from orange to light orange and slowly, to pitch black. The thick clouds blotted out the stars, and Ishaan was still there, thinking about the perfect life he once had.

“How long are you going to believe, Ishaan?” a pleasant voice whispered from behind. 

Ishaan turned around and to his beautiful surprise, there stood Megha–more gorgeous than ever. “I knew you would come, honey. I believed so strongly in our love,” Ishaan said almost crying with happiness. He ran to hug her and as he held her in his arms, he felt complete once again.

Megha drew herself back and said, “You didn’t answer my question; I had asked something.”

“I want to believe in our love forever, dear. I have promised I will never let my love for you die.”

“It’s not going to work out between us. It never has. It’s time to stop believing and move on.”

“Our love is true, Megha. Don’t you remember, we had dreamt us being together for eternity?”

“There is no such thing as eternity. Everything is mortal. You will have to remove words like eternity, immortal, unconditional, and forever from your thoughts. Unconditional love doesn’t exist in this practical world. We are never going to be happy together.”

“We can at least try one more time,” Ishaan said trying to convince Megha, but she was as rigid as a mountain.

“No one can help us to be together. Even we can’t.”

“But—” Megha had already left, and Ishaan stood there alone in bewilderment. His heart had started to ache more. He felt very weak from within, and as he bent against the railing for support, he lost control and toppled over it. In a few milliseconds, he was free falling from the height of about  one hundred feet. He felt weightlessness for a second or two, and then there was a loud bang on his head. 1074Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxinDXwEVTe

(to be continued...)1074Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoqOheTdrB