“Marry me.” Ashish said.
Ashish and Shobha were best
friends since their school time. They weren’t found always together but
they always knew that they were there for eachother. Ashish had been working on
the prospect of going to US for his Masters degree since 2 years. He was
finally invited by the University of West Virginia and was to leave the next
day. It was just impossible for him to leave Shobha in this state when she was
so devastated because of her broken first love. He just didn’t know how and
what to convince her since he couldn’t see her like this. So, the only thing
that had popped out of his mouth when he saw her crying was “Marry Me.”
Shobha had loved Raj from the bottom of her heart. He was
her first love. He was the man of her dreams. He was handsome, cheerful,
chivalrous, good humored and loved her a lot.. Or at least she felt so. She had
been away for an internship for couple of months and when she was back, she had
seen Raj with another girl. Her heart ached at the feeling of her first love being
rendered unfulfilled. She felt the stabbing pain of his betrayal every minute
in her heart, mind and soul. She hadn’t
stepped out of her house for last one week but finally had gone to meet Ashish
since he was leaving for the US the next day. That is when Ashish looked at her
and the first thing he had said was “Marry me.”. She knew it was not a question
from him. It was just a statement. They both loved each other since their
childhood times but it never meant anything in a romantic way. They were more
like siblings. But she understood the intention behind his words. He just
wanted to protect her, take care of her and wipe away all of her pain. He just
wanted her to be happy and it left him devastated to see her like this. She
knew the implications if she said a yes to him. He was going to study in the US
and he was just not ready for a relationship.. And definitely not a long
distance one. Shobha wasn’t ready for a relationship right now either. She just
didn’t want to be in love right now. And, definitely not with her best buddy.
Shobha went to Ashish, gave him a big hug and a big cheerful
smile and said, “I promise I will be okay after you go. Go and chase your
dreams Ashish :-)”.
Nice .... Sweet. Feel like there is more to the story. Write on :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Shweta. It all started because of your motivation. I would leave Ashish and Shobha to themselves and pick up some other characters next :).
DeleteSuper !! Very subtle yet touching !
ReplyDeleteThanks Niranjan. You go the essence of it :).
DeleteThe structure is functioning well - it evokes interest while you first tell stg the reader don’t know the reason for. I like much of the enclosed picture too. I agree with Shweta, continuing is expected, how the life of Ashish and Shobha will go on, pls.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Erkki. I do not have any formal training in writing like Shweta so had to re-edit it quite some times. This was just a lil short story I wanted to always write. I think I would prefer writing something else and leave Ashish and Shobha where they left it :).
DeleteI see - I'll remain waiting for this "something else".
DeleteIt’s a nice story, in my view I think it portrays how perfect their friendship was , as it was never binding or holding each other moreover it’s like a shade above head , or a like an invisible power , can’t be seen around all the time but whenever you need it , it’s there .
ReplyDeleteYou put it very well , how Ashish wants to comfort her , so a quick solution would be to get married .
And how Shobha has plenty of thoughts on this though , true with girls they think a lot starting from -infinity to +infinity ;-) .
Pragya, Bingo :). You nailed it sweetie.
DeleteLove the narration<3.. Keep them coming :)
ReplyDeleteAwaiting for more :D
Thanks ra Niki. Yes, I will keep you posted :).
DeleteHey, you rekindled my liking for Short stories !
ReplyDeleteThis one is great and the title actually held my curiosity :)