She

She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. My small life, short one, spanning only eight years. I remember how I used to peep through the flowing yellow curtains of her room, just to catch a glimpse of her, every morning before I went to school. She used to stand close to the mirror, lining her beautiful pear-shaped eyes with strong lines of kohl, which had a mesmerizing effect on her reflection in the mirror. Her lips, dyed red, pierced through her whitish complexion and flooded the room with an exotic aura. I stole glances behind the flowing curtains until an array of squabbling young girls brushed by my side and entered her room. One of them squeezed my cheeks and another pointed me to her. She turned around, pushing aside her cascading tresses, stretching her arms wide and kneeling down she called in her melodious voice, “Come here jaan, come Runu.” My shyness swept my conscience and I fled from the scene, as a ritual, every morning and collided with scores of other girls, who lived in this dilapidated multi-roomed structure, the city’s largest brothel.

In the evening, she stood against the dazzling golden hues emanating from the halogen street lights. Her face reflected purplish shades as the lights stared down at her face. I was sitting upon a heap of boulders which served as the sole seating arrangement on the corner of Satish’s tea shop, for customers who visited the building in the dark. I was munching candies while I stole my glances at her. I didn’t like her now. She looked beautiful, true, but the high heels, the shining scraps of clothing that exposed her body rather than covering it made me stifled, uncomfortable too.

Still, I stared at her. She stood, partially bent on her left, leaning against a pillar. Vehicles rushed past, people breezed past the building, increasing their pace than the usual, as was obvious every evening. This was, after all, for most, a forbidden zone, something I had always known. I could only clearly see her fingers, fairly shaped nails shining under the night sky, the stars ornamenting her hair. Her face was delicately veiled behind the pillar, where my visibility failed to reach. I kept on tilting my head by the sides but before long, a plush vehicle parked by the side of the stone pavement. I saw her bending down, as the opaque windscreen descended and in moments she had vanished.

“Need more candies, Runu? Here, I have got some more for you.”

I rose. I walked over by the pavement and looked around. The regular uproar had died down and the street was almost deserted. I was too enraptured in catching figments of her and I had evaded the warning call of nature. I shouldn’t have been out here so late. But where was she??

The car gave a sudden jerk and sped past. A mix of dirt and dust fogged my vision for a while. And then I heard shouts, petrified screams of fear, gasps and…and I looked ahead. A heap of flesh covered with glittery pieces lay dumped on the pavement, crowds flocking around her. Wails thundered into my eardrums. I found myself sitting holding on to the pillar, where her fingers had rested firmly, a while before. Then, I felt tears flowing down my cheeks. And I cried. Till dawn, till nothing remained of her. Except ashes, grey and withering.

Tags: Fiction, Short Stories

Category: Short Stories