The eagle takes flight. It aims for the zenith. It cuts through the air as it nears its one single vast expansive target. It crosses the field, a field with sprinkles of miniscule ignorant life forms. A gun shot. Dogs bark. The fall of the last of the kings. The zenith remains unconquered for another day.
The fire burns. Hungry. Merciless. Devouring all and everything. An angel of destruction. The fire burns majestically as the dry woods satiate its hunger. Hear the crackles. A child inhales the smoke as he cooks his meal for the day. A sudden strong wind makes the child raise his hand to cover the fire. A fire brigade rushes past the almost empty street. He looks for a while then gets back to his cooking.
Red. The color of blood. The color of the morning sun. The color to cry for, rejoice for. The color of passion and courage. But today it is the color of goodbye. The mothers and daughters play with the “sindoor”. The goddess smiles her frozen smile. She longs to join them but scriptures forbid her. Laws of man chains the strongest of power. May be some day she will, she believes. Is that a tear in the corner of her eye? “Subho bijoya” and they all threw red. I never found out.
“But I have a meeting, please understand. I will call u soon. I am sorry”, the boy hangs up without waiting for her reply. She is sad. She wanted this one to work. But for the past six months things have gone bad and beyond repair. She really wanted this to work. She leaves the keys of the apartment, takes her bags and with a last look, closes the door.
After a few hours and several knocks later, the door opens and a yell of “Happy Anniversary”. The empty apartment welcomes the surprise.
The bus stops at the signal. The girl looks out. Her eyes meet the guy’s. A smile plays on both their lips. “Will he remember me?” “Will I see her again?”. The signal turns green. The bus starts.
People hurrying past. A chaos in a section, an argument in another. Yells and shouts fill the whole area. The boy looks around hysterically. He’s hungry, he’s tired, and…. and his gaze locks on the face of the most beautiful girl and he forgets everything else. The girl looks up and smiles. Suddenly everyone starts cheering. The priest chants as the boy puts vermillion on the girl’s forehead.
