Reading Time: 3 minutes
Here’s a Sudden Fiction by Srinagar-based Muddasir. He talks of love and its futility between two people. Sudden Fiction is a kind of Flash Fiction in less than 1000 words. Read the engrossing short short-story, exclusively in Different Truths.
Is life truly so callous? He would ask himself when her looks disturbed his dreams. He doesn’t want to accept this fact that a girl who once made promises of eternal love with him can be capable of such cruelty. Every new friend came to him like a dream, he lived it without dreading the consequences, but his heart was only for her, and she knew it.
***
Long before she went on a pilgrimage, when her parents were alive, they often met for lunch and discussed their future prospects. She was scheduled to go on Hajj, before that she called him for a meeting. They met and exchanged the glories of friendship; it was an important day for them, they disclosed their love for each other. For a moment they were passionate lovers. It was a different kind of love, the girl was more pious and religious than the boy, and that was what the boy liked most about her. Before leaving him she was able to tell him that she’d miss him and she’d pray for their bright future together. The joy of the boy knew no bounds. He happily waited for the day when she’d return, but he didn’t know that it was their last meeting.
They had first met on the first day of their college, their eyes met and lit a spark in their hearts. But that spark turned into fire only when they separated after finishing their studies. The struggle of life made them mature enough to understand each other. Fate made them meet again when the boy heard about her parent’s sudden death in a tragic accident. He felt more than a sympathiser and went with his friend to her house to share her grief; from that day they were in touch.
Day after day their good friendship transformed into love, but they weren’t aware of it. However, the world, mostly their friends, looked upon them as lovers. Meanwhile, they lost their purpose of a meeting.
***
He planned to send his parents to her home with a marriage proposal when returned from Hajj. His days passed thinking about the promises of their future together.
He was wondering about her when she didn’t answer her calls. She never called him after her return. He 
too got busy with his new employment, but he was always waiting for her. Time flew. They entered a stage of life when the only thing to do was to get married. The boy asked his parents to wait for some time when they tried to look for his bride. He was still waiting for that girl, but she never answered his calls or messages. He didn’t have any idea about her.
At times, you wonder about the blood trails until you see you are hurt. While in the market one day, he met her cousin and he inquired about that girl and she told him that she had married the previous year, just after she returned from Hajj. The news hit him like a heart attack and he promised not to love anymore.
©Muddasir Ramzan
Photos from the internet.
#shortstory #SuddenFiction #DifferentTruths #FutilityOfLove #PassionateLovers
