A SHORT STORY

ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

The room they were in, seemed to heighten the palpable tension…..and dread they felt. It was a tad small, poorly ventilated, reeked of the smell of damp earth and its walls featured a network of faded parches, cracks and crevices. In addition, it seemed that the walls could speak as well- their voices gaining audience in Mary’s sub-conscious! In a voice she could barely recognize as hers, she remarked “Peter, please hold me! I am a bit scared”. “You do not have to be, my love! We are in this together; you and me, forever!” he soothingly reassured her.

Soon they interlocked in an embrace that was too intense for words to describe. Starry-eyed, they both wished that the moment presented other alternatives, not as deciding, not as consequential. “This is the only way out” Peter said, in a voice that croaked with pain and anguish.” I wish we had met under different circumstances, in a different place, at another time” Mary sobbed a response- “But is this situation irredeemable; have we actually reached that point of no return?” She asked no one in particular. “Our love has been the anchor upon which our relationship has weathered every storm, over and over again. However the attacks have persisted for too long and in order to preserve the sanctity of our oath, we must resort to this action,” he surmised a reply. “Yes, the oath we swore to,” she painfully recollected, “giving of ourselves to each other, in love and affection, in life as well as in death!”

The sound of that unnerved her and as she looked into his eyes, she could sense the resoluteness of his will, nay, of their will! He cropped her in his arms again and reassured her of the appropriateness of the action they were about to undertake, since love conquers all, forgives all. Soon their lips locked in a passionate kiss, so intense that their intertwined bodies throbbed from the thrilling sensation of the act as well as a morbid fear of the course they had chosen! After what seemed to be an eternity, they disengaged and he reached for two glass cups, on a table close-by. “I assure you my love that the effect of this mixture will give a little pain and before long we shall be together in another world, free from all the interferences forever!” he stated matter-of-factly. He handed her a cup and both proceeded to reaffirm the love they felt and shared once more for the last time. They chinked their glasses in a toast and for a brief period that seemed frozen in time, they gazed at each other. In unison, they lifted the cups, signifying the beginning of the end .Peter directs his cup to his mouth and closes his eyes as the deathly mixture made its way into him! He opened his eyes and gave a smile. However, something had gone wrong and as the smile gave way to perplexity then a frown, the enormity of the situation dawned on him: Mary had not drunk the poisoned mixture! She stood silently, cup in hand, tears in her eyes and remarked “I am sorry my love. I can’t do this, please forgive me!”

However, there was little time to comprehend all that was happening as he dropped to his knees, the poison having begun its destructive assignment in him. He could sense life sipping out of him but not in his eyes, for they bore in them the motley mix of anger, sorrow, betrayal and anguish. And these very eyes were transfixed on her. As he succumbed further to the lethal effects of the concoction, all Mary could do was hide her face in her hands, in bid to shield her eyes and her heart from that glare. It was too late; though, for his eyes remained open even in death and his parted lips seemed to have spoken her name in anguish, how-be-it for the last time!

Eerily she felt obligated to make Peter’s exit from the world a bit dignified, “he deserves to rest in peace, his eyes should not remain open. I have to close them” she mused. However, she knew deep down in her heart that she could not afford to have his stare etched in her memory, indelibly! She stooped by his side and as she stretched out a hand to close his eyes, he suddenly grabbed her by the arms in a last fit of involuntary spasm, his eyes locked on hers! Screaming in fright, she forces herself free from his grip even as she stumbles backwards in the process. She ploughed her way furiously away from the now still remains of Peter but worse seemed to be in store! The voices had returned in her head in greater intensity as she beat a hasty retreat, taunting and jeering her! Moreover, she could not tell if they were random or that of Peter. All she knew with a certainty was her need to leave that room as well all the madness and torture quickly!

Still on the floor, she knocked the table over to get to her veil and hat, inadvertently spilling her cup of poison! Crawling on all fours, teary-eyed and gasping for breadth, she soon reached the door! Standing on wobbly knees, she paused to comport herself, concealing her identity with the veil and hat. As she opened the door, she casts a long, mournful look at the body at the center of the room, as if performing an act of penance! Then she hurriedly shut the door behind her and made her way into the sanctuary of the surrounding still darkness!