GRAVE

 GRAVE

Years went by and the flowers of the spring could no longer hold their scent. The old man watched, as the trees shed off their leaves like every other year. He sat in his rocking chair and watched the sad scenery. The lake seemed to be reflected the lifelessness of the sky. He was sitting there alone, with a cup of tea in his hand, he kept on looking at the ochre leaves. Today was the day his beloved left his hand forever.

"A joyous woman with a high sense of justice." People used to say. She was killed by some political disputers. That day, she fell in his arms. She was coughing out blood and was having great difficulty in talking. "You must marry someone again." Those were her dying words. Her hands, parted with his as well as her soul.
Ever since that day, he started smiling in a brighter way, a way he never smiled before. He learned how to cook and went to an orphanage daily to play every day with thousands of kids. But, he didn't keep his beloved's last wish. He walked to her grave on this very day every year and said. "I know you are here. I won't cheat on you" Her grave was situated underneath the tree that showers her with ochre leaves every year, this very day.

                             ~ Suchismita Basu Roy