A night with the fallen star - Part 6

He looked around the bridge for one last time. There was no one around. Cool breeze tickled his skin, making him snuggle inside his jacket more. He felt stupid to follow her advice. He tried to scream. But his voice was too low. "What was that? You have to scream loud. This is whispering?", she said.

He stared her with anger. "Scream louder. There is no one to look at you. Imagine that I am not existing.", she said. "I am not going to do this silly thing. I have had  enough.", he growled. "Please just do this once and I won't let you do it again. I had told you at the beginning. You have to do what I say.", she said calmly. He was irritated. He couldn't contain his irritation inside his heart and spilled it in form of loud scream.

She shook by the impact. She wasn't shocked though. She was excited. "How do you feel?", she asked. He started laughing. After few minutes he got back to his old self. "Nothing. Let's go.", he said.

 When they got back inside the car, she started with her never ending questions. "Oh come on! You must have felt great. I know. You are just hiding. Tell me how you felt? Great, right?", she asked. "Yes! Great! Fine! Now we are done.", he said in pretentious excited tone. "Whatever it is. You feel peace inside like...", she carried on but he cut her short.  "Do you always talk non stop? Don't your friends or family ever complain?", he asked.She kept quiet as if she had seen something horrible. "What? What happened?", he asked. She nodded and began, "Nothing! No one ever complains now. After what had happened, no one hardly speaks." He looked at her with confused stare.

 "My life was perfect. I had good job that paid me enough to help my dad. He is the only family I had got. My world was small. It started with dad and ended with providing him good life. In my small world, I made many friends. Some good. Some bad. But after the accident, I lost everything. I stay at the hospital ward, waiting to meet my world. My friends hardly meet me now. They have gotten busy with their lives. My dad is the only daily visitor who comes to meet me. It's heartbreaking to see him come and see me everyday like this.", she said.

 Vikram felt sorry for her. He wanted to know more about what she was going through. But he didn't know. Words failed. He wasn't used to feeling bad for others. He was always engrossed in his own problems to even notice others.

(To be continued)

A night with the fallen stars - Part 5

She asked him again like a curious child, "When was the last time you have screamed?"  "What do you mean?", he asked. "When was the last time you screamed out of joy or despair? " He walked back towards his memory lane. Flashbacks of life showed him no incidents of him screaming out of joy or sadness. How could he? He was a star. He was required to behave in a manner he is expected to.

He had learnt to keep his private life out of public scrutiny very early in life.  Here he was being asked a ridiculous question by a girl he hardly knew and he was searching for an answer. He had all the rights to not to answer this. But he did what he wasn't supposed. He answered her question, "No". He ridiculed himself for this action. "Why did I do that? What if she was some reporter? I know nothing about her.", he wondered.

She giggled and said, "Why do you think so much? Maybe because of that, you haven't let out the emotion that is eating you. Let it out. Now you will come across a bridge after this road. Stop there." He was relieved at last. He had been infuriated with her non stop question through out the journey. Now that she would be gone, peace would be back.

The bridge appeared in few minutes. He stopped the car. She opened the door and was halfway out of his vehicle. "Come out.", she said. He was puzzled. He got out of the vehicle. "What happened? Isn't this place you asked me to drop you?", he asked. She smiled. Her smile irritated him. "No! We are not done yet. I didn't ask you to drop me. I asked you to stop. This is place I come to vent out my frustration.", she said.

He looked around the bridge.  Except the sound of river flowing under the bridge, it was silent and eerie. The road was redone recently. There were no potholes on the road. The  pungent smell of tar still remained.But the bridge seemed like century old. "Isn't it peaceful? ", she asked while turning around excitedly. He nodded, "Yes"

"There is no one watching you out. There is no one judging you here. When you scream; your mind, soul and heart gets lightened. You are suddenly relieved from the stress and everything that bothers you. I come here with burden and leave with only positive feelings. You must try it.", she continued. He nodded, "Okay" She looked at him and said, "You must try it now". He was confused. "Is she gone mad?", he wondered.

(To be continued)

A night with the fallen star - Part 4

Vikram replayed the incident in his mind. Those people's vacant stares still gave him goosebumps. They seemed like ghosts or maybe psycho fans. Whatever they may be, they were scary. "Again you went back to your old self. What happened there?", she asked. "Nothing! I don't like answering all your questions.", he rebuked. She was embarrassed and said,"Fine! I will not bother you." 

" Some people will never change. They don't understand the word called humanity.", she whispered to herself.  Vikram was oblivious to her allegation. He was in his own world. He wanted only little time for himself and God had conspired to let him have that. He wanted the time to fly soon. It was strange when you want the time to fly soon, it moves too slow. Maybe it's with our mind. Time moves at it's own pace. Our actions determines the speed of the time. It's our human nature to do the opposites. We never let go of the time when we are sad and we let it move faster when we are happy.

Maya couldn't sit idle. Sometime she played with her hair. Sometime she drummed her fingers on her lap. When she fidgeted with the buttons on the stereo player, he would push her fingers away.  She had never been quiet for so long.  "Do you always hide yourself from everyone this way?", she asked, breaking her silence and his thoughts. 

"What? Do you always ask stupid questions like this?", he asked firmly. "Do you ask questions to people who ask questions? ", she asked. He shook his head slowly with irritation. "No, I don't always. But it is different with you. You ask too many unnecessary questions.", he said. She smiled. "I need to hide myself from people even those who are very close to me. The profession I am in requires me to be the way I am. It's difficult for me to trust people with my private life.", he continued. 

"My life is always in  a radar.", he mocked himself.  He remained quiet for sometime. "I am a star. If I share everything I do in my life with everyone, I jeopardize my career.", he said. "You don't have to share your life with everyone. But you can trust few of them with your secrets. Those few are not always bad or wronged people. They could be good ones. They could be your family or friends. You can't always keep all secrets to yourself. You can't keep burning inside. It's better when you share that heat with others. You reduce the fire that has been hurting you and give warmth to the ones who need them.", she said.

He looked at her and then turned his sight to the road. She was making sense to some extent. He had been burning inside. He had been keeping his frustration and anger inside. No one really knew who he was. They stayed away from him because he had always given them cold vibes. "When was the last time you screamed?", she asked out of  nowhere. He gave her a confused stare. "Now what was she going to do?", he wondered.

(To be continued)