Beside her...

I tread carefully on the bark which grew right over the river at a height so perfect that our feet could feel the tickle of the lazily flowing river. I turned back and lend a hand to her. She was plodding slowly onto the branch, stumbling over a pebble which rolled gently into the water with a plop.

 We sat on the branch pulling ourselves close together .She was a typical woman- talkative , complaining ,caring , over -protective and was in a frenzy about anything and everything-from my nails which I forget to cut every time to the wrong gifts I gave her on the first few birthdays(Now I just let her choose.)But she was everything to me-my friend, my girl, and my pet … In short, my soul…

Her light yellow dupatta swayed in the gentle breeze. Her earrings dangled as she nodded her head and her bangles clinked as she made gestures during her highly expressive prattle. We sat there talking n laughing about god-knows –what??She laughed hard, craning her neck backward. I leaned forward, tilted my head and sat there admiring every bit of her laugh. I can never deny that her laughs always bought a curve to my lips and just filled my heart with ecstasy. She completed her laugh and looked at me with squinting eyes and pouting lips as if rebuking me for ogling at her! I couldn't stand her cute look. I pecked her cheek with a quick kiss. And there she went again shouting, hitting me hard and almost pushing me into the water. The riverside was our daily hangout, let it be happy times or sad.

Our chats continued, she kept bantering me with the list of girls who have an eye on me, while deep inside praying that no girls family should come asking for me before she did. And each time she teased me I made a silent promise that no matter what, I wouldn't leave her.

Our talks subsided for a while. Come on!! Our mouths required a little rest after quite a few hours of continuous chatter. She rested her head on my shoulder and kept meddling with my fingers. I threw a pebble into the water creating ripples. Even in love, you can never ignore the ripples it creates…   It reminded me of our four year long relation, still going strong. From the day we met till today. Everything seemed like a stupid joke initially but it evolved into love slowly and steadily…  Bickering was a part of every relation and so was it for us too. But they never lasted long. It just helped our relation mature. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she sat upright and looked straight up at me .Our eyes locked for a considerably long time and not a word we spoke. A truly priceless moment before a passionate kiss.

I knew we were meant to be and we had already dreamt of the things we would do together. Our dreams were real until that fateful day…Sometimes life can take a cruel twist….A twist that almost wrings you out, taking the life out of you. All I remember was a flashing light and I lay down on the road staring at a puddle of blood beside me….

And now, every day she sits alone on the branch crying for me, her pretty eye lashes moist with tears. I couldn't stand watching her dull face bereft of all the joy and the naughty smiles which I would never see again.  But little did she know that I sat by her everyday holding her tight, caressing her hair and wiping her tears. How I wished if she could only see me or hear me crying out to her… telling her that I am right here….right beside her all the time.......