One Last Time - Part III

One Last Time- Part I

One Last Time- Part II

Chapter 5: The Two Letters

“I know you might hate me after reading this, but it’s a step I just had to take. By the time you’ll finish reading the letter, I would have left this place. I had lied to you- I didn’t come here looking for a job. This dharamshala was founded by my father along with his business friends. Families of all the founders can live here for free for whatever length of time; so you won’t have any problem here. I know I owe you an explanation about where I’m headed to, but unfortunately I can’t do that because I know you’ll come looking after me. But I can assure you this- I’ll be back soon and I’ll bring back our son and maybe even our daughter…”

P.S.: Please keep reading the Geeta. It’s on the table besides the bed.

“Didi, my daughter is alive…Trisha is alive!!”…Mrs. Khanna could not control her sobs.

On one hand, she was happy that her daughter was alive but in a span of 20 days, she had lost her son and now her husband.

“Control yourself cheeku…has Jiju lost it? I mean how can she be alive…not a single person survived that accident, even her body could not be found!”

Had it not been for the situation, Mrs. Khanna would have blasted her sister for calling her ‘cheeku’ but it was hardly the time.

“I know didi…but your jiju is a very level headed man. He wouldn’t have taken such a big step if he wasn’t sure about this. And besides…”

“Besides what?”

“Oh didi…come with me to my room”

After hurrying upstairs, the two sisters entered the room and Mrs. Khanna headed straight to the side table. She picked up the Geeta and started flipping through the pages. But to her dismay, she found nothing.

Bala took the Geeta from her sister, turned it upside down and started shaking it. Few seconds later, a small piece of paper, folded several times, fell from the book along with a photograph, burnt from both the sides.

While Bala picked up the letter, Mrs. Khanna took the burnt photograph. As soon as she saw the picture, she started crying again.

The girl in the picture looked nothing like her daughter. How could she; it had been fifteen years since the accident. Trisha was in the eighth standard when she had gone for a picnic to Kullu Manali with her school. It was one of the worst accidents in the history of that region. The bus, en route to Rohtang Pass, fell into the deep valley, killing all the 89 children on board, the ten teachers and the driver & the cleaner. The worst part was that they could recover just 27 bodies; Trisha wasn’t one of them. Looking at the picture, Mrs. Khanna could see a fully grown Trisha, about 28 years of age, wearing a black coloured shawl. She wouldn’t have recognized her had it not been for those sea green eyes…

Meanwhile, Bala had opened the folded piece of paper and had started reading aloud…

Dear Baba,

          I don’t know when you will come across this letter, but I hope its well after I’m gone.Baba, I’m leaving the house in search of my sister. Yes I know I had a sister. And I failed to understand why you and Maa hid it from me all this while. I have no memories of her as I was just two years old when she “supposedly” died. But you will be both glad and shocked to know that she is very much alive. How I know all this should be least of your concerns now. What I want you to do is to not tell Maa all this and also not to come looking for me. I will be back only when I find her. I have also kept a photo of hers in the latter pages; hope you recognize her.

Regards,

Dhruv

Mrs. Khanna’s sobs grew louder on hearing the letter. She just couldn’t believe that her husband knew about Dhruv and Trisha all along and kept her in the dark, making her go through such a big ordeal!

“Control yourself cheeku…lie down for sometime and then we can think what to do…”

Bala gave her sister some water and drank some of it herself; it was difficult for her to keep her emotions in check because handling her sister was much more important.

Mrs. Khanna lay down on the bed with the picture of her daughter still in hand. As she lay there, staring at the ceiling, a thousand thoughts crossed her mind- how did Dhruv know about Trisha when they had kept that secret from him for so long, and how did he find out that she was still alive, instead of disappearing why didn’t he tell them, why did her husband keep her in the dark, how did he know about where Trisha is, who burnt the picture from the sides and many more such questions. Lost in these thoughts, she slowly started dozing off, but not before looking at her daughter’s picture one last time…

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P.S. : I'm sorry for not completing the story...i'l try to do so in the next post, no promises though ;)