Last night it had rained a bit heavily , I could hear the frightening sound of thunder , along with the screams of my younger sister . As usual she was enjoying herself under the bed,may have also slept there only . I didn’t bother much ,I was only waiting for the rain to start , whilelying comfortably on my bed .After a while the noise of thunder stopped and the soothing sound of water drops relaxed my ears . I could imagine the street outside my window , enjoying itself in the rain . There was hardly any noise on the streets as the silence justified it , everyone must have been enjoying themselves at home . I heard the raindrops growing heavier and heavier , now the wind had also increased its pace , I slowly closed my eyes andfelt the cool breeze floating through my room carrying some raindrops along with it , it was a hallucinating feeling but It all just felt like heaven . I imagined myself standing at the book store waiting for her , this weather was just perfect for me to propose her . That smile was just something that I cannot describe , not in words not even in my thoughts .I saw her coming towards me, as usual she was here to buy the newspaper . Despite the darkness created by the clouds , her warm smile was welcoming me to talk to her . I heard someone screaming my name very loudly , I heard DEV , DEV , DEV , DEV and I opened my eyes . I looked towards the clock , It was eight in the morning I turned my head and saw my mom standing with her usual angry looks . ‘Oh not again’ I said to myself .
‘ Dev , were you dead ? , Just look at your room .
I saw water everywhere , I remembered that the window was open the entire night.
‘ I am sorry mom , I just slept . I didn’t notice all this’ . I said in a low voice .
‘ now don’t put your leg down , let me clean first ‘ she said in frustration .
I looked at my feet and cursed it . This fracture was like a barrier for me . I was not allowed to go anywhere , because of me mom had to do extra work by taking caring of me , keeping my medicines in check and also go to her office and now I had made my room a swimming pool . Its been almost two months since I walked outside my house . My friends only visited me on the weekends to tell about the fun part I was missing while sitting at home . Doctor had strictly prohibited me to put pressure on my leg so I only moved from bed to chair and chair to bed , but the best part was that, it was only a week left for my usual checkup . I hope this time it had a healed . I was very much eager to meet her . I saw mom cleaning the floor and slowly chirping her usual complaints . Everyday around ten she comes to buy daily newspaper and grocery stuff from the market . Its been more than a month since I was noticing her , she was the only good thing that happened with me after the accident that broke my leg. The floor was cleaned so I asked mom .
‘what’s the devil doing ?’
‘ shut up dev , don’t call your little sister a devil’
I wished mom saw her sometime when she was not in the home . She would have definitely called her the same .
‘ She is resting in her bed , she has high fever soI gave her the medicines, hope she will be fine soon . Fever is very much common nowadays , may lord save everyone from it’
‘ did she slept on the floor again ?’
‘ yes dev , you know how much she is scared of the thunder , she hides under the bed as soon as she hears thunderclaps, anyways here is warm water for you , sit on the chair wash your self a bit and change your clothes , I’ll close the door , If you have any problem just call me’
I freshened up changed my clothes and sat on the chair waiting for mom to bring breakfast and medicines . She came after a while shifted the chair towards the window and helped me to sit on it .
‘ I have taken off today , I am going to the market and I will be back in a while , don’t move from the chair , and take care of Deepti .’
I said yes to all her instructions and she left . I grabbed my cup of tee and biscuits ,I looked through the window waiting for her . It was almost time for her to come . My eyes were fixed looking at the streetend waiting for her . I was sipping tea and looking at the people around .Time passed but she did not came , mom also returned early as it again started to rain . Maybe because of the rain she did not come today . I was sitting on the chair entire afternoon and evening but she did not came . I had my dinner and leaned on the bed thinking about her . Mom came and closed the windows in my room as it was still raining, asked me to have my medicines and to sleep on time . The rain did not seemed good now . I was just annoyed by its sound . I was just feeling helpless , she didn’t came and I was not able to do anything , I didn’t know her name , I don’t know where she lived or anything , I knew absolutely nothing about her . I calmed myself as the best thing I could do was to wait for tomorrow morning . After that I somehow slept again thinking about her . Next morning I slept till afternoon , my body was in pain and I was shivering inside the blanket. Mom told me that I had very high fever . It took me two days to get normal . In these two days I mostly slept under my blanket . Mom used to sit next to me most of time , my sister also took care of me in the absence of my mother . After two days I sat on the chair looking through the window and again she didn’t came, God knows what happened to her , why was she not coming , I prayed for her health and kept looking at the street . Several days passed and I didn’t saw her . My leg was alright now but I was not allowed to run . Doctor suggested me walk in the house only for half an hour and after a week more I could go outside and join my school again . Now that I could walk I didn’t knew where to find her , what an irony it was. In a few days everything went back to normal . The weather was alright , I could move freely and my studies were also going well , every night I used to think about that face and that smile . Sometimes I used to stand near the bookshop and wait for her , I used to walk around the street , expecting her to pass by but none of this worked . All my efforts ended in nothing . The book shop was also closed from the past few weeks , mom said that he went to his village , he had some kind of emergency so the shop won’t open for some days . Days passed and I tried to forget her . I started concentrated more in studies now as I hoped to study in a good college . Time passed and I completed my school . I was now in college , I no more remembered her , I thought of her as a stranger now . I returned home after buying some vegetables for mom .
‘mom , I bought everything just check if everything is alright ’
As usual she found faults in my work . I turned myself and started walking towards my room ignoring her . She said from behind
‘Dev listen , take this money and go buy all the stuff you need for college , and bring some sweets with all the money that’s left’
‘mom can I relax a bit and go in the evening’
‘ Don’t be lazy , now you are a college student so be active’
I took the money and walked outside , my sister was not home yet so mom was cleaning the house in her absence . I saw that the bookstore in front of my house was open , so I just walked to ask if he was in good health?.
‘ hello anyone here ?’
I saw an old man cleaning his desk and looking at me with some sort of confusion.
‘how can I help you ?’ he asked
‘ ohh nothing sir I was just passing by , I saw your store opened almost after a year , so I just came to ask about your health’
He had a smile on his face , it seemed I was the first one to ask him about his health. He looked kind of happy and asked me to sit .
‘ I just went to my Village son , my wife’s health was not good . She had fever and I went back to take care of her , my son and daughter-in-law left her alone to die , so I had to take care of her all by myself.’
I saw tears coming out , while he was telling me all this . I put my hands around his shoulder to comfort him .
‘is everything all right now ?’
‘no son she passed away , I was right there with her, till her very last breath’
He completely broke down , I gave him my handkerchief and searched for water near by . I gave him a glass of water and sat near him . I was really feeling bad for him . I said
‘ I am sorry sir for whatever happened , but if you need anything anytime you could come to me’
I showed him my house , he was relaxed after a while , he appreciated me for my kindness and blessed me for my gentle behavior. I promised to pay him a visit everyday and help him with his store work . Talking to him really made me felt good and bringing a smile on his face with my little efforts was just a wonderful feeling.I further went to buy my books and was back in few hours . I entered the house and saw mom giving me a smile.
‘ what happened ? Do I look funny ?’
‘ Ohh my dear son , your have really grown up, the man who owns that bookstore just came and told me about you kindness’
Now I understood why she was smiling
‘ what did he say ?’
‘ he told me how good you were to him and how you managed to relax him , he was praising you for almost an hour’
I helped mom in the kitchen while she was telling me that how much she was proud of me . I finished washing and cutting the vegetables and moved in my room. It was almost nine so I decided to wait for dinner in my room .
I thought that sometimes little acts of kindness can actually make a good environment around us . I looked through the window and saw the street , uncle had left for home , most of the shops were closed by now . After sometime I sat with mother and my sister and had dinner , we gossiped about our neighbors and what was going on in the city . My sister went to bed and I was also just about to leave when my mom said
‘ dev I forgot to told you , he also gave me this letter and asked me to give it to you’
I looked at the letter and wondered why would he give it to me . I told mom that I will read it and went towards my room . I looked at the letter it did not had any initials on it . It was in a completely blank envelope . It was a bit dusty maybe it was kept for a long time . I opened it and read .
“ hello,
Mr. Window ,
Sorry to call you that but I don’t know your name , I only know you as the person sitting on the window . I hope you are in good health, I am the girl for whom you kept waiting everyday at your window . I came to Calcutta only a month back to look after my grandparents , my mother was also unwell so my father stayed with her and I came here . I lived nearby and used to visit your street for my grandfather’s newspaper and fresh fruits , to be Frank at first I was a bit uncomfortable with you looking at me but with time I understood that you had feelings for me , very soon I also started to wait for you . I used to come 15 min early everyday and wait for you to sit on your chair and look for me while I used to watch you from the corner hiding myself , I waited almost everyday for you to approach me but nothing happened. I was not able to understand why you did not approached,your eyes were always looking for me but I was not sure about your feelings , so one day I decided not to walk by and see if you would come in search of me , I stood at the side even when the rain was heavy , I saw discomfort on your face . I was standing there in the rain for several hours waiting for you but you did not came , you very just sitting on your chair and not moving at all , I went home crying all the way . My heart knew that something was wrong so I tried again, next day I was again waiting in the rain but this time I couldn’t even see you sitting . My heart broke and I sat on the road and returned home after some time , I was still not convinced so I came again, but you were still not there. I did not had the courage to come and talk to you directly and tell you about my feelings to you, so I wrote this letter . By the time you would receive this letter I would be gone back to my father’s place, my grandparents health has now improved and I am taking them along with me, maybe we will never meet again, I am still not able to accept it that you did not had any feelings for me but if at all it was true then please forgive me for misunderstandings you. Lastly I don’t know about your feelings but I wished I could also see you from my window someday with the same smile that you had on your face .
All of this just shook me from top to bottom , I had tears in my eyes, because of some misunderstandings she had gone , I always looked at her through my window and she looked at me hiding on the street .Maybe I was looking from the wrong window
By: Anoop Kumar Mishra
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