Deadly Beauty

 I sat with my chin cupped in my hand and saw all the ceremonies taking place according to schedule. Today was my beloved’s marriage…to the man of her dreams. Which incidentally could have been me….if I hadn’t died at the most miss-opportune

moment………..

      

       There I was standing at one of the bus-stops overflowing with humanity, waiting for a bus overflowing with more of Humanity’s sorry examples. At last a bus came along which would take me to my destination but however much I tried, couldn’t add my mass to that of the already bloated mass in the bus. Suddenly the jacket of my outstretched arm snagged onto some kind of flannel material. Only when the bus started pulling away did I realize that the material was part of a odni of a salwar-kameez suit. I tried to un-snag myself but the speeding bus took my arm with it and the rest of my body hesitatingly followed. Now just imagine the sight, a 20-something young man running beside a bus with an outstretched arm through one of the world’s  most densely populated cities, whose streets are even more densely populated by smoke-belching monsters on four wheels! When the bus stopped at another bus-stop almost a kilometer away, my attempts at untangling myself drew the attention of the owner of the salwar-kameez owner.She turned with a frown one reserves only for an eve-teaser. On seeing my genuine distress, she helped me as much as possible, read – salvaged her odni as much as possible, after I had freed my arm I felt the necessity to look up at my source of my torment, and I looked into the startling green eyes of an angel. 

      As I stepped back from the bus her eyes followed me. They were a clear green, like that of a virgin meadow. And they were sparkling with laughter. But her lips did not seem to want to comply, they maintained their hard, displeased line. Suddenly something hit my right side and I was flung away.As I fell on the hard tarmac, cracking my skull, I was cursing myself, 'Foolish idiot! Standing and staring at an unknown girl in the middle of the road, and at peak hour too.Well I deserved what I got!'. As I tried to take a last glance at the girl who had taken my breathe away, literally, I saw the bus going past me and searched for her eyes, which weren't even looking at me.
          
        Fast-forward to today and here I am balancing effortlessly on top of a lamp-post watching her get into that imported SUV, with her just wedded husband. She looks very happy, because she doesn’t really know what was in store for her, I thought with a crooked smile. RGV is going to get material for a new film……………  

WiNdOwS.......................

        The green carpet stretched on as far as the eye could see......and beyond. He closed his eyes and relished the feeling of the soft grass crunching underneath his feet. He didn't need to open his eyes to see the white clouds swimming across the periwinkle blue sky, he could just feel it from the way the wind was brushing against his body.....He heaved a sigh! 

How long will he continue to fool himself with this illusion, he said to himself. He reluctantly, slowly blinked his eyes open. He was sitting in a darkened room, strapped heavily to a wheelchair. The only source of light, was the monitor screen in front of him. The desktop wallpaper was that of a virgin green meadow stretching to eternity accompanied by a blue sky dotted with white clouds. He blinked and spoke a few short commands and the wallpaper changed to that of a serene blue lagoon, with an island with white sand beaches and palm trees in the background.
      This had become his daily routine since he had been released from hospital two months ago after that incident. This had now become his hobby, his pass-time and his one reason to continue to keep breathing. He sighed raggedly, closed his eyes and treaded water.........