Monday 30 September 2013

The White Rose - Part II

Read Part I here

Thomas couldn’t repress a smile as he thought of how Mathew had described the envelope. A Pink envelope. He knew who that came from. He had asked Sheila to fetch it and as she brought it to him, he could almost hear his heart speak out the name of the sender.
Sunetra. Sunetra Sankar. Netra to him.
What was in the envelope ? He was infinitely curious ! 
A letter  was unusual and totally unexpected. Netra usually sent him e-mails ; beautiful e-mails,  which he loved to read over and over again for their sheer beauty and simplicity cloaked in a lucid flow of language. Thomas took the envelope from Sheila in his hands, trying to feel the contents. He felt something spongy, and something hard beneath that.
Excitement tickled his insides…what was this ??
“ Shall I make a move, Sir ?”
Sheila’s question broke his array of thoughts.
“ Yeah, sure, Sheila. Thanks a lot.”
“ Sir, Mrs Jennifer woke up when you were away. I have given her the medicines for the night. Please call Sister Diana in case of emergency. Thank you, Sir,” Sheila informed him before she left. Thomas nodded and bid her goodbye.
Closing the door, taking care not to disturb Jenni, Thomas took his seat near the window, with the envelope  in his hand, the cool evening breeze engulfing  his warm spirits.
He couldn’t contain his excitement as he neatly tore open the envelope and carefully took out what was inside.
A greeting card carefully wrapped in a thin film of sponge, covered in a pink satin cloth.
It was a beautiful card, on a rectangular piece of thin but firm purple cardboard. A white rose with two green leaves, was quilled on to it. The corners of the card were covered with ornate golden quilling. On the rose rested a small butterfly, again quilled in elegant colours. It breathed life ! Altogether, it was the best piece of handicraft that Thomas had ever seen.
Beneath the design were quilled, the words – “ to eternity”.
Thomas smiled as he opened the card to see the words inside.
Inside, printed in golden letters was the poem -
                                                  I live a life, of love and care,
                                                  Short but sweet, and very fair,
                                                  Full of colours and extremely vibrant,
                                                  You will never find me, for a moment, silent ;
                                                  I fly by , happy , cool and gay,
                                                  For me, it’s the ‘now’ that holds sway,
                                                  I count my life by moments, not years,
                                                  I find no time for sorrow or tears ;
                                                  My mission in  life is to  show you all,
                                                  That days are few, life is so small,
                                                  As you live, love and die,
                                                  Time just moves, with the flash of an eye.
                                                  Live your life, happily ever,
                                                  Despair not, fail at heart, never,
                                                  Please listen to me as I flutter by,
                                                  I am just a lovely butterfly !!

Under the poem, scrawled in shaky letters, was the message –
                                                “ Would love to see you, always …
                                                        Lovingly Yours, Netra. "

How true the words in the poem  were !
Thomas read and re-read the card many times. He smiled.  
Her card had come at the time when he craved for moral support. He knew he could always rely on Netra to cheer him up.
He had not spoken to Netra for a long time now. He took out his phone and dialed her number.
Switched off.
He tried again. The same result.
He checked his watch. It was  8.30 p.m.
He made a mental note to call her the next morning. He checked on Jennifer, she was still asleep.
He had a sandwich for dinner, and sat back on his chair, the card on his lap,and let his thoughts take a ride back to his student days.
To Netra.


To be contd.....

3 comments:

  1. Sreeja you are a superb story writer. I read the second part first and then first and second part together. The story is so absorbing and speculating!! Can't wait for the next part. Come out quickly with it.The suspense is growing!!!

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    Replies
    1. Wow Ma'am...this made my day ! Thanks a lot for the nice words ! Shall surely post the next one soon.....

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  2. Well written but I think I can gues show this goes --the last line in her poem
    “ Would love to see you, always ..gives me quite a hint.
    --Seema

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