Like She Did !!

There was a very small, yet beautiful village, right at the very top of a beautiful hill. A river that glistened with sparkling freshwater ran through a ridge nearby, with pebbles and stones decorating its bed. Beside the river, at a distance of one mile each, sat big brown rocks. If you got up early in the morning and go near the water, you can see a boy sitting on those rocks with a shawl draped over his shoulders, staring into the darkness until the sun's fully up. And once the sun is up, he leaves and never comes back for the day. But the most fascinating part is that every day he would sit on different rocks, in a regular pattern. One day, the first rock, next day, the second one, and so on. Once he is done with all of them, he would come back to the first one.

Amar had been to the village a few months back for a weekend getaway. He had booked a homestay with a local family. One night, while he was talking to the family after dinner, they told Amar about the boy. He peaked with curiosity. Who was he, and what was he doing there every morning?

Amar was curious to know more about the boy and hence decided to visit the riverside the very next morning.

He woke up early  and left for the river. Once he reached the river, Amar squatted behind one of the big rocks and hid waiting for the boy to arrive. And there he was!! The sky was just turning a bit red when he arrived. Draping a mild blue shawl, and crouching, he walked up to the rock next to his and sat down.

The sky turned red, then orangish, and then the sun came up. All this while, hiding behind the rock, Amar's legs became cold and stiff.  Anyways, as soon as the sun was up, the boy got up to leave. Unable to hold his patience any longer, Amar ran out to stop him and grabbed him by the shoulder. The boy was startled. Holding the boy with firm hands, Amar assured that he meant him no harm and helped him calm down. Making him sit besides him on the rock, Amar asked what is it that troubles him every early morning.

His name was Abir. About nineteen years of age, he was an awe-inspiring artist. You can make that out by looking at his hands. There were hard skin patches at ends where the brush touches your skin. Abir had been painting for quite some time now.

One night, after dinner, Abir was sitting on the roof of his home, when he saw a little girl running on the street opposite his with ice cream in her hand. She would be around 6 years old. As Abir was staring at the beautiful soul, the girl looked up smiled at him. Abir felt a light... perhaps a heavenly one flashing at him through her.

Days passed. That girl used to come every day near the ice-cream parlor, take ice cream, run wildly on the street, look up and give Abir a smile. One day, as she was passing his house, she looked up and instead of smiling, cried out loud. Not knowing what to do, he ran down and pulled her up in his arms and asked her what the matter was. For long she just hid her face in his arms and wailed. After a while she looked up into his eyes and asked, "Who are you? Are you God? You must be God. No one smiles at me except God. He comes in my dream and smiles. You must be a God. A different God". Unable to hold himself at her innocence, Abir burst out laughing. Seeing him laugh, she let out a smile too.

She came every night. Both sat down on the front porch, she brought a small ice cream for him, while in turn Abir would narrate her a new story every day..

"Do you know there is a river on top of the hill and it is very beautiful. Can you please take me there? Please!!" she requested Abir. Seeing the little girl's enthusiasm, Abir asked her to come early that night and offered to take her up on that hill. She was thrilled.

As planned, Abir left his home with the girl and a small bag of paints, food, and water, and walked towards the hill. They climbed the rugged, steep road. It was about 4 in the morning when they finally reached the top. The little angle squealed with happiness on seeing the river.

Running towards the river, she struggled to sit on one of the rocks. Seeing that her tiny little feet couldn't manage to climb the rock, Abir came and helped her up. Sitting there for two minutes, she  asked him to go and sit on the next one. This went on and on until she was done sitting on all of them. Funny ain't she?

So, it was about quarter to six in the morning that Abir opened his painting kit. He wanted to capture the sunrise and this tiny soul together in one frame. Opening up the bottles and putting up his board, he waited till he could have the girl in one single resting position, as restless as she was.

" Abi da, Abi da, See I saw a blue fish, I saw a blue fish", screaming on top of her voice, she came running towards him. He smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Now go, little one. Check another colored fish and tell me", he said. Just as she turned and was about to run, her ankle slipped.

Everything happened in one go. Her head hit the rock on which he sat, her skull and shoulder split, and blood splattered on the board nearest to him.

And the sun came up!!!

Abir still feels the cold every day. The cold feeling he had when he tried to wake her up from the lifeless body. He still feels the cold when he looks at the blood-smeared board which he keeps with him all the time. He doesn't paint anymore. The only warm feeling he gets is coming to the exact hill top at that very exact time, sitting on each rock like she did, looking into the wild like she did, and leaving the place as soon as the sun is up.

Like she did!!