The Promise

                The church bell rang on this early morning at the church which is located at the outskirts of the New York City. The city is looking pleasant this morning, the sun is yet to rise in the sky, but the city is dimly lit.

                Inside the church, there are many people sitting on the benches in front of the Jesus. Looks like a grand wedding is going on. The church priest is holding his book and chanting prayers standing in between the marriage couple. They exchanged their rings. The prayers are coming to an end. Ben is so happy that he is going to marry a beautiful girl, Susan. But Susan is not happy; this can be seen in her face. Ben took the bouquet and knelt down in order to present it to Susan in a proposing manner. Susan’s mind is filled with some past memories. She closed her eyes and opened after a while with tears; she pushed Ben and ran outside of the church, and took a taxi and started her Journey.

                The taxi is now moving on the high way road. The road is empty. She is weeping and her destination is clear for her. The car is moving through the golden fields, in the open place beside the road. The first beam of morning sun rays are striking the car glass window and falling on Susan’s sad face.

                She is on her way in finding her heart, whose memories are striking her all the time. Her face tells that she is so confident that she is going to find and meet her heart. This confidence is due to THE PROMISE given by her heart .i.e. Dev.

          The Promise

Some days ago…..

                Dev and Hari are in car moving through the streets of America. Dev, a 23 years handsome boy, He came to America for the first time. Hari is the brother of Dev. Hari married Rosy and settled in America. Today Dev came to meet Hari and Rosy.

                Hari dropped Dev at his house and went to his office. Dev went into the house and met her sister in law, Rosy and went to his room and sat at the window of the room till evening.

                Dev started to get bored, he wanted to roam through the streets of America but he is shy to ask Rosy. It became dark outside.

                Finally at 7:00pm, Dev came out and walked through the streets and sat on a bench beside a busy road, under an old tree. He is thinking in himself that “everyone here is busy in doing their work, probably I am the only one who is idle and watching the busy world moving on. Everyone is in hurry in order to earn something. Somehow I am lucky that at least I got an opportunity to see them working though I am unfit for their work.”

                As his thoughts are going on like this, he felt his left leg getting wet. He leaned and saw a cute puppy at his feet. Dev picked it up and made it comfortable in his lap and he said to it “ looks like you are also idle, and no one in this busy world is bothering you, so sad of you puppy… let me see your name”. Dev read the word written on its belt around its neck “Rifle”, “wow, your name is so cute as you look”. Dev and Rifle started to play themselves sitting on the bench.

                Suddenly there came a sweet voice from behind of Dev, he looked back and saw a beautiful girl Susan, and she too saw Dev, they both stared into themselves until Rifle barked.

Susan: excuse me, Rifle is my pet.

Dev: oh sorry, here you go (handovers Rifle to Susan).

But it jumps back again to Dev

Dev: looks like it is angry on you.

Susan: No, it does not like me at all; see it likes you even though I love it.

Dev: No problem, it will take some time for it to realize that it is not liking a good girl like you and it asks you one day to apologize.

Susan: oh! Stop it.( smiling)

                Susan sat beside Dev and they started to talk to each other forgetting the busy people all around. Their small world consists of a bench, a dog, an old tree full of green leaves. They chatted to each other sitting beside a busy road in a busy street of New York.

                After a couple of hours, they realized that the time passed while talking and they must reach their homes, but they were unable to apart.

Dev: It’s been too late, but I want to talk to you some more time.

Susan: yeah! Me too, I wanted to spend some more hours with you.

                There been a long silence for a couple of minutes

Dev: shall we……

Susan: shall we meet again tomorrow here?

                She said the above words before dev going to ask her the same thing. They smiled that they are thinking the same.

                Finally that day passed and from that day they met at the same spot again and again.

One day……

Dev: Susan, I wanted to tell you a thing.

Susan: yeah! Tell me.

Dev: ok, I’ll try.

Susan: tell me.

Dev: I love……. The dog (unable to propose Susan)

Susan: Dev, stop the nonsense I love you too

                Their proposal completed and their bond became so strong from that day. Every day with their small world i.e. the bench, the dog, the old tree with green leaves they enjoyed a lot.

One day……

Susan: Dev, will you forget me when you leave to India.

Dev: No sweet heart, I won’t go back to India at all, I will be with you, all the time and everywhere where you are.

Susan: if you leave to India, I am going to miss my heart for ever.

Dev: don’t worry baby, if you feel like missing me then go to a open place far away from the city, crossing the golden fields, empty road and stop at a place and get down the car and shout “ I came here Dev, where are you?” I promise that I’ll run to you and come to you from the fields and fall into your lap and I’m gonna kiss you all your face.

Susan: promise? That you’ll come when I shout.

Dev: I promise I’ll run to you.

                After some days Dev made Susan to meet his sister in law, Rosy and they too became friends but Hari don’t know about Susan, because Dev wanted hide this matter from Hari.

                One day Hari came suddenly when Susan is with Dev and Rosy. Hari understood the relation between Dev and Susan, but he acted like nothing and allowed Susan to be with Dev.

One day…….

Hari: Dev, have you packed your luggage/

Dev: what? Why?

Hari: have you forgotten? Tomorrow you are going back to India.

                Dev remembered that he must leave to India the next day, and he leaves to his room to pack his luggage disappointedly.

Susan: Hari, I love Dev, I want him to be here, please cancel his flight tickets.

Hari: no Susan, it’s just an attraction, he is too young for love and he is unfit for you.

Susan: what? Unfit? He is the only person who came into my life and my heart with his words. We always think the same and we live the same. What else is required for him to marry me? He is completely fit for me; we are made for each other.

Hari: sorry Susan, you must understand what I am telling , Dev though loves you, he must not marry you, please understand and get away from his life Susan, please.

Susan, hearing these words ran to her home leaving Dev’s house crying.

                Susan and Dev were sad, Susan started to cry bitterly lying on the bed the entire day. Dev left to India the next day though his heart is still in America with Susan. Susan though in America, her heart left to India. They are now completely alone. Their small world became alone.

                Days passed, the last leaves of the old green tree are falling, and the bench beside the road became rusty and the dog, Rifle also dead. Susan lost every memory of Dev. Susan’s mother arranged her marriage with a richest man, Ben.

                One fine early morning, the last leaf of the old green tree also fell down, that day, the marriage of Susan started in the church which we encountered earlier, but she came out of the wedding after her memories of Dev striking her at the time of wedding.

                She immediately took a taxi to Dev’s brother Hari’s house. She went into the house crying and shouted for Hari.

Susan: Hari, I can’t live without Dev, please call him back to America, I’ll keep him in my heart and look after him. Please Hari, please.

Hari: Susan, you must live without Dev, because….

Susan: because?

Hari: Dev is no more (crying)

Susan shocked hearing these words and slowly sat down on the floor

Susan: no, don’t tell lies Hari, tell the truth.

Rosy: yes Susan, Dev is dead (crying).

Hari: Dev is called to America by me to have treatment for cancer which affected him. We gave medicines and treatment to him without his knowledge. He too doesn’t know that he has cancer. The medicines didn’t respond to his disease. So I’ve sent him to India, so that I can’t see him die in front of me, and that is the only reason why I stopped you from meeting him.

Susan burst into tears remembering every word spoken by Dev and she is now helpless. The world around her started to get upside down. Her heart beat sound can be heard clearly by her ears into her mind. From the heart beat sound she remembered Dev’s words “ I promise you”, “open place”, “ golden fields”,” I’ll run to you”,” fall in your lap”, “ kiss all over your face”.

                Susan opened her eyes and ran outside the Hari’s house and took a taxi and started leaving the city, the sun rays falling on her and she is confident that she will find her heart and her destination is clear and Dev’s promise is echoing in her mind.

                Suddenly, Susan said the driver to stop. Susan got down the car, the cool breeze is flowing through the fields, and the open place can be found here, the golden fields are stretched along with the sky to the end of the earth. Susan started to shout” Dev, I am here, where are you?”

                There is no response except her words echoing throughout the open place. She shouted again and again and she became disappointed and sat on the road and started to cry bitterly and talking to herself “ no,no,……Dev promised me that he will come, he will come”

                But the poor heart doesn’t know that her heart went to a place from where it can’t return back. She sat on the road crying from morning to evening. The wind speed increased, the fields started to move to and fro for the wind. Susan is still crying lying her head down on the road.

                Suddenly she heard some sounds of something running in the fields. She slowly looked towards the fields. There she surprised to see Rifle running towards her through the fields. It jumped into her lap and licked all over her face.

                Susan hugged Rifle and said” Rifle, I missed you so much, and where have you been all these days, Dev is dead……”

While Saying these words she paused a second and remembered Dev’s words.” I’ll run towards you through the fields”, “I will jump into your lap”,” I’ll kiss you all over your face” and she looked towards Rifle and remembered how it came to her. She checked Rifle’s belt around its neck and found on the golden yellow metal piece written in italic font as “Dev”……..

                                                                                 

                The End

                                                                          Written by

                                                                              K. Sarath kumar