Raj looked down the black hollow barrel. The shiny coat on the metal was sparkling in the low incandescent light. It had come all down to this, had he been a little less angry, a little quiet, a little more thought, things could have been different. There was some one banging his door, he couldn’t hear the screams with the blaring music he had drowned himself in. He felt the barrel push harder into his chin, he had the finger firmly positioned on the trigger and now waited for his favorite song to end…
Things were getting hard for Raj and Riya, no one knew whose fault it was. Riya wanted some breathing space which Raj didn’t realize, and Riya never bothered to make Raj understand and let time to play its role in Raj’s maturity. On one hand, Raj was trying to hold on to something and control with all his might, on the other, Riya’s remiss attitude wanted things to flow the way it is. The harder Raj tries to control, the tougher it got.
“Where were you? I had called you at least four times today”, Raj furiously questioned Riya.
“Was out with friends, was in a movie, didn’t bother to pick your call”.
“Why couldn’t you text me that you had gone out?”
Riya, at this point was exhausted and replied, “Forget it, no point discussing it with you any further, I had dinner outside and have bought your dinner. Its on the kitchen counter, good night!”
Raj couldn’t control his anger and tossed the food. This started a full fledged war and Riya couldn’t stand it anymore. She woke the driver up and asked him to drive to her friend’s place.Raj infuriated by his wife’s attitude, slammed the door after she just got out of the room. This drove Riya crazy, snatched the keys from the driver and ended up driving the car by herself.
An hour passed, he came back to his senses. Raj married Riya facing all opposition from his and her folks. He liked her for what she was, a careless, free spirit. Riya was the most playful character he had ever met, a woman who was in the game for the fun it offered. Raj was lost in deep thought, she has been the same all the time. His possessiveness and insecurity has caused damage which he never imagined. The sudden ring from his phone woke him up from his deep thoughts.
“Hello, Riya, I am sorry, lets talk, come back right now, hello….”.
There was silence from the other side.
“Sir, this phone was in the car which just crashed into a truck”, the person driving has been identified as dead, can you please come over immediately?”
He stood there with a blank thought. The phone slipped from his hand and the communication remained incomplete.
“Sir? The man is dead, can you come over immediately … Hello?”
Raj slowly made his way to his room and shut himself from the outside world. He saw his favorite picture of his wife on the top row of the shelf. How his love for her had become his worst enemy. He had lost what he treasured the most. The fear of losing whom he loved was responsible for her death. He stared at his wife’s picture, and he slowly moved his eyes to the adjacent shelf. His father’s favorite gun, which Raj had preserved, was all he saw. Raj’s emotional swing and capricious behavior made the wrong choices for the most part of his life, including what he was about to do.
Raj looked down the black hollow barrel. The shiny coat on the metal was sparkling in the low incandescent light. It had come all down to this, had he been a little less angry, a little quiet, a little more thought, things could have been different. There was some one banging his door, he couldn’t hear the screams with the blaring music he had drowned himself in. He felt the barrel push harder into his chin, he had the finger firmly positioned on the trigger and now waited for his favorite song to end.
He thrust the barrel hard enough as the song was approaching the end, just about to pull the trigger and he happened to hear Riya’s faint voice screaming from her top of the lungs. The song ended, he stood there perplexed.
Riya barged in and there she saw Raj standing, with a gun pointed to his chin.
Both were staring at each other out of complete shock. A million tunes was playing in both of their heads. The joy of his wife being alive, and the confusion of how to ask her for forgiveness. He wasn’t able to move anywhere being under the state of shock. All she wanted was him to lower the gun and throw it aside.
He finally had the courage to take a step forward, but still wasn’t able to take his gun away. He smiled, laughed and out of extreme ecstasy, he clenched his fist, forgetting the gun he had in his hand. The shot was heard miles away, Riya stood motionless. The pool of blood reached her feet. People walked up to the entrance of her door, amused by the loud music, not knowing what had to be done next. The music drowned her scream and cries. No one heard anything apart from the music. And then a deafening gunshot cut across the music and shook everyone from their stasis.
There was a sudden silence, the album had finished playing its last track.
Vijay
March 5, 2011
Dei super da. Full form le irukkey