The golden rays of the sun fell upon my cheek like a bliss in the partial twilight of the dawn. I was wearily lying on my bed, thinking about the limitless sky and the universe. For more than 5 minutes I continued lying there, pondering aimlessly. It was 6 am in the morning and I didn’t know what thoughts had disturbed my sleep. I got up from my bed then and walked straight into the bathroom to brush my teeth, but watching the running water from my tap, I was lost again! I was gazing through the diminishing transparency of my visage that was being reflected on those tiny droplets of water. “How beautiful!” I murmured but then woke up with a start after I realized the amount of water that I had wasted.
I seemed to be traumatized and lost for no good reason. I was never like that before. Never did I even pay attention to the minutest detail. What was so wrong with me that day? "Is it because something horrendous is awaiting me?" "It’s all in the mind. Stop being so negative." I reiterated to myself. Despite the weather being so pleasant outside there was always a dull spot in my heart that day which initiated negativity and terror. To drive away those crazy thoughts I decided to write some poetry. I was looking for a way to reinvigorate my imagination in quick bursts of flash fiction which I considered to be my expertise. But even before I wrote a word, like a storm someone rushed through and pounced on my shoulders from behind, hugging me firmly.” Heyyyy!” she yelled with enthusiasm. The hug was warm and familiar. I did not even take a minute to recognise her. It my best friend- Rashi. “I have got two surprises for you today. The first one is, that we are going on a one-day trek! Look, it’s such a wonderful day outside and you are simply rotting here to write your melancholic poetries. Come on, what are you waiting for? Wind up all this mess and get ready quickly!” she said with excitement.” Oh, come on! This is insane.” I exasperated. “Don’t you worry about this at all. I have already dealt things with both of our moms. So, shake a leg now! We have got a bus to catch” she assured me. I tried to glare at her out of frustration and anger with those tiny squeezed eyes but that big wide smile on the lower bottom of my face clearly manifested how convinced I was. I packed my bag as soon as possible and we both headed towards the bus stand. Our bus journey was a short one and we spend those forty-five minutes gossiping and backbiting about those nasty folks in school. A typical BFF conversation, isn’t it?
“Okay, I know that you get tired soon but trust me, it is completely worth the wait.” she spoke abruptly.” The highest point out there is so beautiful, serene and peaceful that you will never regret doing this with me. We might even scream our lungs out there and hear our own echoes on the top. Wonderful, isn’t it?” she continued. I nodded back exuberantly. As soon as we got off the bus, a cool breeze of air blew past me. I was shuddering with cold but couldn’t help noticing the natural beauty surrounding me. It was so mesmerising and enchanting. I could hear the tranquil voice of the crickets singing with the sound of the rippling water and feel the high-spirited flow of the river. The lush green pastures were embracing the endurance of those hard working farmers and the meadows were filled with strikingly vibrant colours of those beautiful flowers. I was so intrigued in having deep conversations with rashi and also observing the beauty of nature around me, that within a spur of a moment, we reached the hill top.
No sooner did I reach the hill top than I threw myself on the stack of hay out of exhaustion. While rashi proceeded forward and cried out loud, “rashiii, milonii”, her voice echoed throughout. Hearing that gave me immense pleasure. “the best day of my life,” I screamed back..” oh yes mine too! The second surprise is still waiting for ya though!” she tried to tease me. I got up from the stalk of hay and ran towards her. Pulling her ponytail tightly I said” are you telling me or not?” “alright alright. Lets settle down first. I loosely gripped her ponytail although didn’t let her run from my clutches until we settled down.
There was absolute silence for a while and we both were lost into the remarkable creation of god. Suddenly ,she touched my hand and held it tight. Looking towards my face she gave me a slight smile. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. Her face abruptly turned completely red as if she had been holding back her miseries all this while. A drop of tear trickled down her cheek and pointing towards her forehead, she said,” they say, there is a tumour in here”.” They say I have only got a year more to survive” “they say it’s the it’s the last stage of cancer and we cant really do anything” for a moment I was zapped. I seemed to be unaware of all the happenings around me. Rashis words were echoing in my head. I couldn’t resist holding back my tears. I hugged her and burst into tears.”what are you saying rashi.. I really don’t understand anything” I said. Neither do I she replied.. all I know is that I just have a year left with me now. Noo! I weeped in misery..i wont let u go..why are u doing this to me
Heyy u have to be strong come on..
You know I could sense something devastating happening to me today. What am I going to do without u rashi.
This is life my dear friend … cruel, dark and full of miseries but we gotaa know how to make our masterpiece on this black canvas. Only then will u succeed.
Is there really no cure to this? I asked shakingly
We don’t need to cure cancer. We need to feed it with happiness love and a thousands of cherishable memories only then we can defeat it, for eternity!
