The Sun Shines Supreme

The worst part about sleeping under a starlit sky is you wake up to a a glaring sun! Deepak winced in his sleep and fumbled for a little cover to shade his eyes. Yet it was futile attempt. A shawl was no match to the morning sun. Moving restlessly on the quilt he finally gave up. A volley of colors greeted his eyes. A sight worthy of angels! The blue sky patched with white streaks, brown peaks smiling back at you, flowers swaying to the morning breeze! Yet it was all lost to the eyes that seeked a dark shelter, a warmer bed and loads of sleep. Looking at his watch he grimaced and shook his head. The shawl was discarded without a second thought as he stood up and walked back to his room. It was barely six thirty!

The room was still comfortably dark and his eyes took a little time to adjust to the shadows. They saw her then, sleeping all curled in one corner of the bed, arms flung over her head. Memories tried to come back but were soon shut out. Sitting beside Divya he gently removed the strands of hair that lay on her cheeks. She fidgeted in her sleep and opened the dreamy eyes. Her lips parted and before sound took shape of words he kissed her. There was nothing worth talking about. It was better this way and she too accepted. Talking was not important. The moment had passed and it was a new day...

Nisha turned restlessly on her bed. The sun rays had somehow managed to find space enough from the edges of the curtain and now danced to their own tune right on her face. Turning her face away she looked at the door, unlatched yet closed. She weirdly remembered the dream, and was acutely aware of the thoughts that danced in her head. It would not do, she told herself and sat up on the bed. Moments that pass never come back. Memories flooded her then. Memories of the days gone by. Of the nights like the last one when they all had sat together, when he had let his head rest on her lap carelessly. Vivid memories now haunted her mornings of the nights they had just sat together, talking endlessly about life and its nuiances, about love and its pain and about nothing at all. The comfortable silence of his company now pierced through the silence of her loneliness. It was all gone now and would not come back. She still remembered that kiss...a moment of passion that had killed it all. How could she back off then and now wish for it?
"We are friends Deepak. And that's all we shall ever be!" her voice mocked her and she walked towards the open window. She could see the shawl lying on the quilt but he was missing. Refusing to think where he must be she picked up her cigarette case and lighted one. Her eyes drifted towards the barren brown peaks smiling back at her. There was an unearthly beauty about them. The pain of lost love! Sitting on the edge of the window her eyes took in the canvass of her life stretched in front of her. Like her life, the peaks had seen better days, and now they both stared at greener pastures, pastures filled with promise. Like the peaks that now waited in shadows, she too waited for the sun to turn around and look at her once again, wished for the warmth of the bright sun when all she now had was the comfort of a cold moonlit night. How she had walked towards that night, almost as if searching for the same and how now she hoped she had basked in the sun while she had a chance to. Sitting on the chair she let her head fall back, not fighting the misery anymore. He was gone, for good or worse she would never know...but he was gone forever! And for some reason the dream became a regret before she even dreamt it.

(Concluding part on Tuesday, the 20th!)