"Hello, remember me. I am Tshering," he said softly. As she looks up to see who he was, she nearly shouts out of surprise, "Azai wai."
He just laughts and brings forth his hand in a gesture to handshake. Pema slowly corrects herself up with an apology.
"You haven't changed a bit, same all hairstyle, still weird looking and lost in her own dreamy world," he says with a smile on his face.
For a moment she touches her hair and tries to remember her hairstyle at college time. She hardly remembers what types of hairstyle she used to keep those days.
"Really! You still remembers my old hairstyle? It seems someone was keeping eye on me." She says laughingly. As she moves her hand over to cover her mouth, she remembers about the chocolate she bought and hands them over to him.
"What's this?" He questions.
"Its for your little friend who always chases me around," she says with a smile.
"My little friend? Huh... sorry I didn't get you," Tshering said with a surprise tone.
She just looks at him and waits for him to change his statement but finds him totally confused by her statement. Then she continues " I mean the small boy whom you introduced once during college farewell picnic, wait... I have saved that photo in my phone from laptop."
As she shows him the picture, a silent tear falls from his eyes, he gets angry and shouts at her, "I never knew you would make fun of someone who is dead."
On hearing that Pema suddenly moves back and explains him that she has really seen that little boy 3 times already at Haa. She then begs him to tell her what actually happened and how did that little boy died.
Tshering looks at Pema and thinks for a moment before he says, " ok! Then listen. Do you remember after our last exam paper we were suppose to meet near the water tank." She nods and says, "yes I do."
He continues,"when I was waiting for you near the water tank, I received a call from my friend sonam. He called me urgently to come to hospital as his son wanted to see me."
"Ok and then,"she asks him with full attention.
"Well you see, he was suffering from brain tumor and although he was successfully operated, due to some unknown reason he still suffered from severe migraine. No one knew how long he would live and I have known him since I became his father's friend long time ago.
He was so fond of me and always called me as atta. I felt so happy to have a little brother and I would always take time to go and visit him everytime I get a chance. I even brought him at our farewell picnic as he wanted to experience college picnic.
Well when I reached at hospital, he was already shifted to ICU, I couldn't go and meet him so I waited outside the ICU for whole night. At around 3 am, he came to sense and was asking for me, I went inside with a smile I forged upon myself and acted as if nothing was wrong.
He was there still writing his diary, I wonder what he writes there.
He would share all his secrets with me and I told him that there is one last secret I didn't share with him. Although he was in pain he looked at me with a smile and told me, "Its about love right brother."
I was shocked and he kept on smiling and asked me to show him the picture of the person I love. So I took my phone out and showed him your picture. He was very happy and told me that he remembers meeting you at the picnic. He told me," I will call her mathang and brother I will help you get her love."
Although he was sick and he should be worried about himself but he was worried about my love life and wanted to help. I thought of calling you but my phone was out of battery. He wanted to meet you once more but I couldn't come to college to ask you for his condition kept detorating and I was scared that the few moment he have would be my last moment with him. He asked me to bring him a bottle of water and told me to take my own time as he opens his diary to scribble down some words.
When I came back with a bottle of water, I saw my friend crying loudly and his wife was there at the corner lifeless without any emotions, she was neither crying nor shouting. I knew something must have happened and when I rushed near his bed, he was still hugging my phone and he was lifeless. I didn't know what just happened, I couldn't even cry nor shout like his father. I lost the most loved person in my life, I lost my brother. I remembered his last word. "I will call her mathang and brother I will help you get her love."
I had to stay at his house to help with the rituals. It took nearly a week to complete all the works and when I returned back to college to meet you, my friend told me that you left few hours ago with your parents.
In the process of helping my little brother's death rituals, I misplaced my phone and ended up losing all the contacts I had with you.
As he was still telling the story, Pema couldn't bear it and started crying, she begged him sorry and request him to share her his name.
He couldn't utter his name at first and then after few seconds Tshering said, "Sonam T Dorji, he was a very good boy and very intelligent and he didn't deserve to die so early, he had lots to see in this world. God wasn't fair... God wasn't fair.." He started crying with tears all over his face.
Pema just hugged him and said,"I am not lieing but I really saw him and everytime I saw him, I ended up meeting with you. Now I think I know the reason. He is full filling his promise to you. He said he would help you right, well he is really helping you to meet me."
As Tshering hears this, he just smiles at her with tears on his eyes and requests Pema to show him where he is right now. Pema hesitately points at a house and tells him that she saw him going there. To her astonishment, Tshering looked at her and then goes into that building. Pema also follows him, Tshering goes directly to house no 7 and knocks, Pema cautiously warns Tshering that she only saw that little boy going into the building, which floor, which room she had no idea.
As both of them waits for the door to unlock, a strange cool breeze flows through their body. Pema shivers while Tshering smiles and says, "I know brother, you are trying to make your presence known to us, its ok."
As an when he finishes saying that, the door unlocks and Tshering smiles at the woman who just opens the door, it's non other than the mother of Sonam T Dorji. She smiles back and looks at Pema and hugs hers.
Still unsure what just happened, Pema hesitates to say anything. Tshering clears his throat and says,"I didn't know you two got transferred to Haa, where is your husband?" Someone just comes out of the kitchen, it's Tshering's friend Sonam.
Sonam also hugs Pema and smiles as he looks back on the picture of his son. "My son, you did it, your promise has been fullfilled," Sonam cries out of happiness.
Sonam continues,"... before you two ask me any question, I want both of you to refer this diary of my son, look at the last page."
When they both opens the last page of the diary, they gets the shock of their life. It reads, "I may leave this body but I promise I will bring my brother and mathang together no matter what, even if it means for me to come back from death, I will do it. Until they are together I won't give up."
Pema gets shiver all over her body, Tshering after hearing his lost brothers last words, fills with sadness and cries out aloud.
Pema and Tshering shares them all the incident that occurred till now and promise them that their son's last wish won't be in vain.
Keeping all the differences aside, Tshering once more proposes Pema, promising to love her even after death. Pema already went through the pain of losing him and she knew that he was the one for her.
As a token of love towards his brother, Tshering laminates his brothers last word and keeps it in his house. Pema prays every day to God to let her have Sonam T Dorji as her son so that she can repay her gratitude to him.
#I hope I did a fair justice to a story# Thank you...
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