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The Journey of his life

by Divya Palaniappan
(Johannesburg, South Africa)

It was a quiet evening; Sham was all by himself in his suave apartment in deep thoughts, when the phone rang. It took a while to get a grip of himself, as he maneuvered across to the phone. He stood in silence as he heard the shuddering voice on the other side. He walked back and slouched on the beige leather sofa in his living room. He made a few hasty calls before he went in, to take a shower. He was plunged in thoughts as the cab driver drove him through the familiar streets of the city which, he had made his home. Sham had to leave to his country immediately, to keep a promise he had made 2 years back.

As the cab approached the drive way, he was quite content, having arranged his travel to India in a short notice. The travel was on cards and he had been making arrangements to get his vacation sanctioned, but this call was too sudden and he couldn't bother about the nitty-gritty of work. This is an emergency; he had to take the next flight out to make his life meaningful.

On board, the instructions of the flight attendants echoed in the background, his focus was on only one person. As the flight took off, soaring high, making its altitude, his thoughts spun backwards into a distant past. He was young and a careless teenager who went to college for a past time. It is in those hours of travel to his college in the trains, he saw Nisha. He was perched precariously onto the train, swaying in the wind, when she

glanced at him. The glances turned to glares that made way to a typical friendship on the trains.

The dark clouds that he was staring into, being a part of the blue sky, took him to another time, the monsoons in Kerala. Heavy rains were lashing out in the state; they were caught in the gusty weather by the shore. They ran to the shelters nearby, stood in silence, letting the breeze hiss past them. In those silent moments, there were only two sounds that could be heard, the rain hitting the ground and the two hearts pounding.

'Seat belts on' He looked at his wrist watch another 15 minutes to land. Engulfed in the pleasant thoughts, he knew he had a task ahead, his future was at stake. He was pondering hard, in another few hours, he would be meeting Nisha's dad, and her wedding was fixed with another groom, scheduled to happen in 2 days. What would he tell her dad that would change his mind? How can he convince him to let them marry? He had to get his approval, there was no time. Nisha was in shatters and she needed him now, more than ever. As his thoughts were spiraling into a web of intricate knots, there was sudden loud noise, and the aircraft spun out of the run way. The plane was engulfed in a raging fire. Before he could comprehend the situation, the plane hit a blockade and tore to pieces. In a split second, Sham's thoughts evaporated like the dense fumes of fiery flames.

Nisha was awaiting Sham's arrival to start a new life.

The End