Fluffy

You were so tiny when we bought you. I remember it was a day before my math board exam, and I was extremely paranoid as math isn’t my forte.  We had been deciding for a very long time to buy a dog, and that day it just seemed right. You were given to us by this pet shop and I was so scared to even hold you, lest I drop you by mistake. You licked my hand, and then my chin and I still remember how that felt. We put you back into the car, and mom drove us back home. It was evening time. Dad had absolutely no idea that we had a new member in the house and when he came, you ran out and started barking. Dad was so happy to see you. I still have a vivid image of the smile on his face. He just couldn’t stop smiling. That night I was so relaxed and I knew that I would be able to handle the exam that was to happen the next day. I took you up to my room, placed you on a cane chair, made the cane chair face the wall, and made sure that the chair was as close to my bed as possible. You didn’t bark, or whine. You slept so well. I kept waking up at night to check whether you were still in the cane chair and saw that you were fast asleep. I slept with a smile on my face that night. The next morning I woke up and saw that you had managed to get into my quilt, on my bed and that you were right next to me when I woke up.  I laughed out real loud, and then hugged you, petted you, and started getting ready. When I was leaving the house you had that expression on your face (with one ear up and your head tilted sideways) as to being confused of where I was off to. When I came back home, you jumped on me, licked my hand and didn’t let me out of your sight.

After that day, whenever my bus came to drop me from school you used to bark till I came into the house. You would climb on to the area near the window sill and would wag your tail in a frantic manner till I entered the house. You were a beautiful dog.  We shifted from Nashik to Devlali, and here you made a friend- the neighbourhood cat. God you hated that cat! I mean we just needed to say “billi” and you used to run out of the front door and start barking crazily without there being any sign of a cat. I remember mom combing you, bathing you. You absolutely LOVED the way mom used to pamper you. I was like a friend to you. I mean, you had decided that my bed was yours and that if I left you home alone, you would tear my shoes or clothes in rebellion... You were so choosy about the food you were given!! You would go towards your food bowl, would pick up your left foot and would smell the food from a distance. If you liked the smell of it, you would then go and inch closer and have a tiny bite of it, and then IF you liked the taste of the first morsel, would you eat your food, otherwise you would look at the person who put the food in you bowl with an expression that suggested (“are you out of your mind!!! I am not eating this!!”), and then Mom would crush some biscuits and sprinkle them on top of your food... and then your highness would eat... We loved pampering you. I remember how when one day I was going to catch my bus, and you decided that you didn’t want me to go to school that day, you started running inside the house and jumped so high that you crossed the border of our house and landed in the neighbour’s house... I don’t think I have laughed as much as I did that day, ever again...

You were run over by a van. You still got up, trotted back till you got home. I ran downstairs, you collapsed on our front porch. You had froth coming out of your mouth, you still kept pawing me. I hugged you really tight and tried giving you some water to drink. You were dying and I couldn’t do anything about it. We called the veterinary doctor, and by the time we picked you up and put you in the car, you were gone. You left. I couldn't have seen you being buried and I didn’t accompany mom and dad. I cried, a lot. Mom, dad, veer. All of us did. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like without you in the house. There was silence. No “fluffy, come here!”, No “ fluffy handshake!”, No “fluffy billi.” It was all gone. But you will always remain in my memory.

I miss running up the slope, trying to get you off my bed, rather my pillow, playing with you, training you, telling you things that I wouldn’t share with anybody, telling you that I would give you a biscuit if you would sit down quietly. I miss all of that. I miss you fluffy. And you were truly the best dog ever.

The Past always comes back...

And she lay on the floor. Motionless. Drenched in the pool of her own blood. Dead. She had been lying stiff on the ground for two hours before the police came. Her face was completely pale, her eyes were bulging and there were marks of strangulation on her neck. She had been ruthlessly murdered.  Sheldon was sitting right next to her. Sobbing. The police started asking him questions but he was in shock. He had seen the entire crime take place and couldn’t do anything to save her.

Dim lights, skinny women, attractive men, loud music and an inexhaustible supply of cheap alcohol. Well, it was June’s birthday. She had turned 18, and her best friend Elizabeth threw this party for her.  It was a huge success. Everybody had an amazing time. Sheldon and Josh were responsible for the Bar, and they did an amazing job. Suddenly a man in the mid thirties entered the house and took out a gun. Pin drop silence. He screamed saying, “ Elizabeth!! Where are you? Look what we have here? A party, eh? And I wasn’t invited?”  He went towards Elizabeth, took her by the arm and pushed her out of the house. No one moved. Elizabeth didn’t even look scared. She wasn’t intimidated by a man with a gun. She had handled too many men with guns to be scared of a puny and skinny man with a gun. She pushed him roughly and said,” What do you want?” He smiled in a dubious sort of way and said,” I know you killed a man. You shot him. And at that point of time you were in such a dire need for drugs that Jeffrey manipulated you, and you killed his only enemy. I just came here to say hello to a pretty lady.”

 Elizabeth was a drug addict and had been clean for 5 years now. She had some very bitter enemies because of her addiction to marijuana. But June had always been the more mature person, she had always been the girl who everybody respected, and Elizabeth was jealous of that. She was jealous of the fact that June was more popular than her, and that even her parents absolutely adored June. However, June was never jealous of Elizabeth. She was always there when Elizabeth needed her, especially during the years she was trying to quit. She never had any negative feeling towards Elizabeth.  Sheldon was in love with Elizabeth and Josh and June were going to get married very soon. 

Before Elizabeth met Sheldon, she was in a relationship with a man called Jeffrey. He was a drug lord and she didn’t know about this, until one day she saw him kill a man. He was the one who introduced her to drugs. He took advantage of her being vulnerable. Deep within, Elizabeth was scared of Jeffrey because she knew that he had the ability to kill her. She wanted to quit doing drugs but Jeffrey’s presence made it impossible. One day, she was very high on drugs when Jeffrey came to her and said that there was a very bad man, who was ruining his business. And that he needed to be taken care of. Elizabeth had no idea of what was happening, and before she knew it, she was in a car, with a gun in her hand. The next thing she saw was that there was a man standing infront of her. His face was covered with a black cloth and Jeffrey kept telling her to pull the trigger and shoot him. In her daze, she just asked ‘why’ once, and Jeffrey replied saying that it was just a game and everybody was testing whether she had the ability to do such a grave act. She pulled the trigger. The man fell to the ground. Bleeding. It was a dark alley. Jeffrey caught hold of her, literally threw her into the back seat of the car and they sped away. The next day when she woke up, she didn’t remember anything concrete. She had various images in her head. Car. Dark alley. Man. Gun. She thought that she had been hallucinating and let it go. After a year, Elizabeth decided to run away from Jeffrey’s grasp, and she went to the police. She told them that he was a drug lord and that she was scared that he might kill her and that she needed police protection. They asked her for his address and caught him and put him into jail for five years.

5 years and 3 months later, the shady looking man had come into her house. Elizabeth knew that Jeffrey was out of jail. Jeffrey knew that she had given him up to the police. And she knew that he would come back for revenge. The party was still going on. Elizabeth came back into the house. Everybody was staring at her. June was crying. Pin drop silence and then Elizabeth apologised to June and said that everything was sorted and that there was nothing to worry about. Everyone was drunk, so they started talking to one another again. Music started playing, and everything was back to normal.

The next day Elizabeth went to the local police station and told them that she had in danger of being murdered and that she needed constant patrolling outside her house. They listened to her case and said that they would do all that they could. To the best of their ability. Elizabeth parked her car in her garage and saw an unknown car that had been parked a few blocks away. She saw June’s car and Sheldon’s bike parked right next to her garage. She went up towards her room and when she opened the door, she saw Sheldon crying and June was lying on the ground. When she went closer, she saw what had really happened. June lay on the floor. Motionless. Drenched in the pool of her own blood. Dead. She had been lying stiff on the ground for two hours before the police came. Her face was completely pale, her eyes were bulging and there were marks of strangulation on her neck. She had been ruthlessly murdered.  Sheldon was sitting right next to her. Sobbing. The police started asking him questions but he was in shock. He had seen the entire crime take place and couldn’t do anything to save her. Elizabeth was shocked. She knew exactly who was behind this, but there was no conclusive proof of Jeffrey’s hand in the crime. She told the police that she was sure it was either done by Jeffrey or by one of his men. They told her that they didn’t have enough evidence to convict anybody and that they would take Jeffrey into custody. That’s all they could do. Sheldon looked at Elizabeth and said,” YOU BETRAYED HER.” She trusted you. We are over.

Elizabeth was trembling with anger. She took out her gun, put it in her back pocket and drove towards Jeffrey’s hideout. She knew he would be waiting for her. She walked through his front porch, entered the house, and as soon as she opened the door, he caught her head and hit it on a wall. She fell to the ground, her head bleeding. Barely conscious. He kicked her. He took out his gun and before he could shoot her, she took out her handgun and shot him right between his eyes. He shot her back and the bullet pierced her chest. She had one last chance. She needed to finish him off. She gathered all the strength that she had and shot him right through his heart... They both died. She closed her eyes with a smile on her face.

beLIEf

The gunshot rung out loud. Piercing the silence. What had she done? Now it was too late. Shocked by the reverberation of the gunshot and the sudden piercing of the bullet into his chest, Jason fell. He had a look of disbelief in his eyes. He had never in his wildest dreams expected this out of her. He fell to the ground, in the pool of his own blood, losing conscience steadily. She went towards him. Looked down at him and said, “You killed my father. I trusted you. Loved you more than anything else in this world. But I made a mistake and now you shall pay.” She shot him again and looked away. She had tears in her eyes, and she didn’t want to show him that weakness. He deserved to die. And that’s what she gave him- Death.

They sat down right next to each other. Their feet dangling from the rock that they were sitting on. The sea opened out to them. With the sun setting, the horizon was orangish yellow in colour. Beautiful... The atmosphere, the scenery, the company. Their hands touched. There was a sudden rush of blood. They looked at one another, a little embarrassed. He held her hand. Brought her closer to him, and kissed her. Gently. The same feeling came again. They wanted to stay that way forever... in each other’s arms.  Jasmine had finally started trusting somebody.  He was perfect for her.

Jasmine’s father was a senior partner at a private law firm. They were extremely wealthy. But she was not proud of this wealth. She wanted to build her own empire. She was already an established criminal lawyer. But her dream was to build a firm. She was handling a case when she met Jason. Jason was her client’s elder brother. Jasmine and Jason really liked each other’s company and he asked her out for dinner. She agreed. Jason told her that he worked for an organisation that dealt with arms and ammunition. They had an amazing evening and then Jason dropped Jasmine to her house. When he parked the car in front of her house, he got out and ran towards her door to open it for her... She stepped out of the car and he escorted her till her door and then they hugged and then he left. She somehow felt very safe around him. She went inside and told her father of the amazing evening she had had.

Jason drove back home. He went up to his room... His room had photographs of a man and articles related to him all over his desk. He was his next target. The job had to be done. Otherwise his younger brother would be ruthlessly tortured and killed. The target’s name was Gerard. Gerard Stone.

Jason met Jasmine continuously for 3 weeks and he fell in love with her. And so did she. She loved the way he was so proper. The way he respected her. The way he made her feel, when he was around her. One day she decided that she would introduce Jason to her father.  So she planned a small party and called some of her closest friends. Jason arrived at the party and Jasmine took him to meet her father.  As soon as they reached the pool side because that’s where he was sitting, Jason was shocked. He was so shocked that it reflected in his expression. He couldn’t hear Jasmine calling out his name. Jasmine came and stood in front of him, and then he came out of the sudden paralysis. She asked whether everything was alright. And then she said to Jason,” And this is my father- Gerard Stone”. They shook hands. Jason suddenly felt a little sick and told jasmine that he was not feeling too well and that he needed to go home. She was a little taken aback by the sudden need to go home, but didn’t doubt him for a second.

Jason drove back home. And tore all the photographs of Gerard Stone. How could he kill him. How could he betray Jasmine. He drank a lot that night and passed out. The next day Jasmine called to check whether everything was alright. He didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to do. He had to kill him. It was either that, or he would lose the only family he had- his little brother. He decided that if would think too much about how Gerard was Jasmine’s father, he would become weak and then wouldn’t be able to kill him. So he cut all contact with Jasmine.  He didn’t speak to her for a weak. And then the day had come when he had to perform the deed.

He sneaked into Gerard’s room from the balcony. Gerard was fast asleep. He took a pillow, covered Gerard’s face with it and shot him thrice through his chest.  He was using the MSP which was a small special pistol which is silent, given to him by the people who wanted Gerard murdered. And hence there was absolutely no noise. It was done perfectly. Jason escaped through the same way he entered the house- through the balcony. Next morning as Jasmine opened the door of her father’s room to give him breakfast, she could smell something very odd... She went and sat down right next to her father and touched him. He was cold. She suddenly noticed the pool of blood on the bed, and she screamed out loudly... she fell to the ground, and screamed... The servants who were in the house at that point of time, came running towards Gerard’s room... one of them called 911. The police came, and questioned the staff and jasmine as to whether they had seen some unwanted movement near and around the house. They all said that they hadn’t.

When Jasmine was around 16 years old, their house had been burgled. So Gerard had put a camera in his room and in Jasmine’s room so that if it ever happened again, they would be able to catch the thief. No one else knew about the existence of such a camera. Jasmine went into her room and saw in the camera the video of a man entering her father’s room through the balcony. He had a handkerchief tied to his face, but she recognised him at once. He was wearing a t shirt that she had commonly seen him wearing, and his gait gave him in.

The next day she went to Jason’s house... He was surprised to see her. He asked her to come inside. She pretended that she had come to see him to gain sympathy from him. He told her that he had heard that her father had been ruthlessly murdered and also said that he hoped and prayed for her father’s soul.  He asked her whether she wanted to drink something. She asked for water. As soon as he turned his back towards her, she took out her gun and called out to him. He turned to look at her and she took a shot at him. The gunshot rung out loud. Piercing the silence. What had she done? Now it was too late. Shocked by the reverberation of the gunshot and the sudden piercing of the bullet into his chest, Jason fell. He had a look of disbelief in his eyes. He had never in his wildest dreams expected this out of her. He fell to the ground, in the pool of his own blood, losing conscience steadily. She went towards him. Looked down at him and said, “You killed my father. I trusted you. Loved you more than anything else in this world. But I made a mistake and now you shall pay.” She shot him again and looked away. She had tears in her eyes, and she didn’t want to show him that weakness. He deserved to die. And that’s what she gave him- Death.

Random...

It’s been more than five years now. You were my best friend. Today, you don’t wish to look at me or smile at me. You cannot bear to hear anything that I say, that may go against your ideals. You don’t wish to know me anymore, yet you will always know me. You have always been there for me. As a friend, as an inspiration, as one person who I will always look up to. I may not be an ideal friend, sister, or daughter. But, please don’t hold my past against me. I know I made some grave mistakes, but I am human. You were the reason I was that staunch. I did everything that I could do. To the best of my ability, to be the best, at whatever endeavour I undertook. I succeeded at times, and failed miserably too. But that was for you. The success. Never the failure. It was so that I could get one little smile on that round jolly face of yours. One smile that was only for me. I hope I live up to your expectations someday. Please never hate me. Because, even if i try really hard to do the same, I can’t. That is because you will always be my best friend, my inspiration, my guide, and most importantly- My Father.

Friendship.

You are beautiful. I hope you realise that some day.  A beautiful person is beautiful from within and hence that reflects on their face. Your aura defines calmness. Your actions define strength. However, it is different these days. You are not yourself. Your ego is getting to you. As some psychologists rightly put it- the ego develops due to the constraints of reality. I understand that it isn’t easy. I understand that for you to achieve what you are aiming for is not easy. But nothing is. I will always be there standing by your side. Always.  As a friend, as a sister. I know that all you need is a push. And that is what I am there for. Your secrets are secret with me. You can be yourself around me. I will not and will NEVER judge you. You may get angry at me or snap at me, I won’t snap back. I’ll try nonetheless. Because I understand. And I always will. That’s a promise. I will help you achieve your dream because I know for a fact that you have the potential to achieve what you wish to.

As someone once said,” a true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.”

When you are successful, I will be there to help you balance your life, I will be there to rejoice with you. But when you will fall, I will pick you up and get you back onto your two feet and will make sure that you are back to being the bubbly, cheerful, carefree person who I know. I will always have your back. As a friend, as a sister, and most of all- as your best friend.