It had all started six years ago
Time handed over the final blow
Etched like jagged shards of glass
Shattering all my dreams alas!
“I have to go Ahmed, I am sorry”,
Rani had whispered softly.
With folded hands, quite shaky
Kohl- lined eyes dripping with tears
She had succumbed to her fears
“How can I live without you?”,
“You cannot steal my soul of emotion!”
“I am quite helpless, dear Ahmed”
” For it’s a promise I have to fulfill!”
With pain in her eyes, after her father’s demise
She took a step back, warning me to never track
“Ask me to die and I readily will”
“Your departure will render my heart still”
“This promise is too much to take”
” With your words cutting like a blade!”, he cried.
She gave him a sad smile , and stepped a little closer
Wiping tears lest they may expose her
She raised her hands to wipe his tears
But could do nothing to allay his fears
“You can make this promise”
“And seal our love for eternity”
“Our love was never to be complete”
“Religion has forced it to deplete!”
He embraced her helplessly
Hoping it would melt her tremendously
She pushed Ahmed away and ran
Lest his love would pull her back
She left the door ajar
And hurried towards her car
Nothing could now be changed
After what had been exchanged…
His world crashed in front of his eyes
With no way to stop the spreading ice
Pain and agony like he had never felt before
Struck hard on the head, knocking him to the floor
“What about the ring?”, he wailed
“You broke my promise”
“To be by my side forever”
“Even if everything went amiss?”
Ahmed grieved all the time
He forgot to smile at the sunshine
His morning dew and golden dusk
Had left him with broken trust
Promises are made to be broken
The saying is quite right
They tear your soul apart
And injure your delicate heart
Almost six years had now passed
Broken hearts not forgetting the past
Ahmed boarded his bus to office
Fate had left him with less choices
Quite wearied down by life’s imbalances
The air suddenly smelt a familiar fragrance
Which had forever lingered in his head
Of scented primroses, and lily of the valley
Violet lilacs complemeting a delicate Daphne
His heart gave a jolt, his Rani sat ahead of him
Still so mysteriously beautiful, still an enchanting miracle
Destiny had brought them together
While still not face to face
Ahmed mustered the courage
To turnover his evil fate
He took out their last love note
Written by her as our secret quote
She had sealed it with her blood
It read,” Our love will one day defeat religion”
Ahmed smiled silently to himself
Checking his reflection in the window
He stepped towards his lady love
His face was now truly aglow
When the bus stopped abruptly
His eyes stopped on her forehead
Sindoor decorated her calm face
She had not a worry or regret
She had finally opted to forget
Reality hit him on the face
She was so near he could touch her
But so far now, he felt disgraced!
She was someone else’s better half
He hid his face in his scarf
What if he tried to run away
Elope with Rani and end the pain?
But she looked quite happy and content
Had she easily forgotten their love in the end?
Ahmed unwillingly jumped off the bus
Heart hurting with pain and disgust
She had cheated on him and married
While all these years he had tarried
Waiting for that golden moment to come
When Rani and Ahmed become one!
He sat down heavily on the pavement
Pondering over this new testament
She did not love him anymore now
Cold sweat now lined his tired brow
It took much time for the message to sink
When he heard a violent blast at the brink
The bus carrying his Rani had a bomb
Deafening sounds and debris was flung around
Fumes rose from the bus, people screaming in pain
Ahmed ran towards it, slipping on a drain
The road was completely black and red
Symbolising his love that was now dead
He frantically searched for his Rani
This eternal pain he could not bear
Wounds of the past had still not healed
He started wailing as he kneeled
He stood up shakily to run again
But a hand flew from the force
And embraced his fallen body
Amid the confusion and chaos
It was apart from the shoulder
It was from the blast
It touched Ahmed’s cheek
Leaving behind a crimson streak
He could feel the pulsing blood
The warmth and that tender touch
He touched the fingers, it had a ring
Doomed to depict this gory end
He cried and banged his head
Screaming while holding the palm.
Sensation of that touch, now so numb
Would surely render him insane
It was their ring of love
Their promise of being together.
Her hand had kept her promise
To hold his hand forever
She had never taken off that ring
She had never broken her pledge
She had proved he was her king
And set him free instead…