Her Smile

Her smile! How beautiful it was! Sometimes I wondered whether I loved only her smile rather than her as a person.

In keeping with our annual ritual, we all friends decided to go for a picnic to Alibagh, our favourite spot. I had already made a grand plan for this trip. I was going to open my heart to her and express my love to her.

The preceding night, I practiced my dialogue for almost two hours in front of the mirror for the major occasion ahead. I chose my words carefully, checked my body posture while uttering those words and put a pleasant expression on my face. But I was still not convinced I was doing it in the right manner. For the first time realization dawned on me that it is easy to love somebody, but hard to express it.

The next day, we reached Alibagh at ten in the morning. That whole morning and afternoon, we engaged ourselves with lots of play and picnic games. She was chatting merrily all the time. How queer she was! She liked loneliness, but she talked non-stop while in someone’s company. I was sure God made her for me only; I didn’t talk much and she talked a lot. I just loved to hear her.

In the late afternoon, all of us left our cottage for the beach. I knew I had to make my move soon. My attention was on her all the time, and how could I ignore the smiles she gave me repeatedly. My heart said again and again that I definitely had a special place in her heart.

Suddenly, she left all of us and walked away. I knew she wanted to spend some time in solitude at the beach. After a few minutes I traced her footsteps and there she was, sitting alone in the sand, looking at the vast waters before her. Wind was blowing into her serene face. How peaceful and beautiful she was looking!

Mustering all my courage, I went to her and sat beside her. She didn’t look at me, neither did I look at her. I didn’t say a word, neither did she! I kept staring in the direction she was looking. We remained that way for some time.

Strangely, I began to feel as if we were talking in silence. We were conversing about the beauty of the sea before us. We were conversing about the softness of the sand we were sitting on. And we were talking about our love.

I didn’t know how time had elapsed till she said, “Let’s go back. It’s time to return”.

I came out of the trance, suddenly. Oh my God! I had wasted all the time. I had forgotten my mission. “I want to…”

“Shhh…” She put her right index finger on her lips, gesturing for me not to talk. Then she stood up and began to walk towards our friends. I remained there, looking in her direction and unable to decide what to do.

After a few steps she stopped, turned back and smiled at me. Only for a second. Then she resumed her walk. Some magic had happened. My heart leapt with joy and said to me, “You idiot! You have got the answer. Don’t you see?”

I saw it. Finally, she had answered me with her smile. Her lovely smile.

PS: This story is part of my published book The Scene Behind a Veil, a collection of short stories. Hope you liked it.