Forever (Short Story)

One bright, sun-shiny day, a boy met the world. Well, actually, he only met this one girl, & for a while it felt like she was the whole world. She walked right past him first. Then came back & asked if he knew what time it was. A general question really, but one from her that made his mind boggle. He looked at his wrist-watch, told her the time. Oh, how much energy had it taken to say “4:15” at that moment.

He watched her run to the ticket booth & he felt his heart bleed in prayer, “If there is a God, please let her be on the bus with me, please let her sit on the seat next to me.” If he had known the importance of that one prayer & that one moment, he would’ve asked for her forever.

They announced that it was time to board & in the chaos that ensued, when people rummaged to pick up their luggage & run to the terminal, he lost sight of that girl, something he kept cursing himself for. He went to the bus, lost all hope except for a dim glow. He sat in his seat, the adjacent one empty still. & that one light glow of hope kept his eyes glued to the door of the bus. &, in his heart, he kept praying for a miracle. & then it happened. She walked in. & then he prayed for another miracle, & it happened. She kept looking at the seat numbers & found her seat was the one next to him, beside the window. As he got up to let her pass, she gave him a smile, a smile with enough familiarity in it to make a man feel loved.

She sat there, pulled out a book from her bag, opened to the bookmarked page & was lost in it even before the bus left the terminal. His heart was swollen beyond measure at the joy. He went over & over in his mind at how to start a conversation, how to talk to her, how to tell her he’s never seen anything like her & he’d burn his eyes before he ever did. In that moment, all he wanted to do was make this beautiful stranger his, keep her smiling forever. In that moment, beyond a doubt, in spite of all the impossibilities, he knew that he could make her his.

It took him one hour (of a four hour journey) to get up the nerve to talk to her, & before he even opened his mouth, she closed her book & told him she was hungry. It was nothing significant, just a starter for some small-talk. But, boy, did he feel special. They kept on talking, all through the journey, all through the stop they made for some tea, all through the rest of the journey. He told her stuff about him, stuff that everyone knew, stuff that wasn’t so special, but stuff that he wanted her to know. She told him stuff about her, stuff that was recent, not going too far in the past for it would’ve scared him off, but stuff that kept his attention.

They were nearing their destination. & he wanted time to stop right there & then. He wanted to tell her that he felt he knew her, that he felt he could get to know everything about her, that he could love her for everything she was & for everything she was yet to become. He wanted to ask her not to leave. He wanted her.

& the bus came to a stop. She smiled & said, “Home, at last!” What was that in her voice? There was something he heard, something that caught his attention. But she got off then, waited for her luggage. He kept watching her, begging God for her not to go. But she got her luggage, started to walk towards the exit. He stopped her, wanting to say a million things, wanting to tell her everything. But what if she was disgusted? What if she left & the only memory of him in her mind was that of a shameless man? So he changed his words,“Is there someone coming to pick you up?”

He watched her walk away, get into a car & leave. He stood there & watched her leave. Funny how he felt like his world was collapsing around him. He picked up his bag & walked away. But, in that one moment, he was changed from a man of chance to a broken man, with no interest in anything, with only a memory of perfection.

& as she sat in the car, on her way to home, she couldn’t fight the tears she felt. & she couldn’t understand why there were tears in the first place? She had wanted to tell him that she felt she knew him, that she felt she could get to know everything about him, that she could love him for everything he was & for everything he was yet to become. She wanted to ask him not to leave. She wanted him. But she knew without a doubt, because of all the impossibilities, they just could never be.

Little did they know, God was listening that day. The only word they forgot to say was ‘forever’.