Lying on a mattress in a corner she watched the night sky…. Through a window… the view was very pleasing and one could see the full moon through the branches of white Indian pride (that’s what they called that tree with white flowers growing in bunches)… the branch was laden with flowers and it looked absolutely divine.
She turned her back towards the door and focused on the flowers, beautiful, symmetrical and in abundance… this was her favorite pass time as she waited for sleep to put her conscious mind to rest. It was well past midnight and the room was lit with purity of a full moon… every thing looked so different in this light. There was a mystical glow an aura surrounding every thing… the silver photo frame was gleaming in the moonlight the shadows were still and the room was filled with peace. She thought of taking a walk. The thought of walking on a full moonlight when the world around her was quiet and dreaming made her check the time…it was half past 2 am.
That is when she decided its time to explore the night all alone…she slipped out of bed in her cotton nightgown barefoot … the outside was safe since the house had a brick boundary all around it, her dad had labored over the garden which surrounded their house which made the walk all the more appealing. As she opened the old wooden door and stepped out the smell of fresh neem mixed with wild fragrance of different flowers welcomed her. Inhaling deeply and congratulating her self on the decision of taking a walk she walked around the garden taking account of new saplings, the freshly watered grass was soft under her feet… she checked the dampness by walking around for a while and then decided to lie down for just a while listening to Sharon prabhakar on her walk man.
All of a sudden a weird feeling gripped her, it felt as if she was not alone…as if someone was lying down beside her… surprisingly it did not disturb her at all … she welcomed the invisible company … switched off her music and started sharing the beauty that surrounded her with her invisible visitor. There was a comfortable silence that one often shares with a friend they have grown together with , where words loose their meaning and silence speaks volume…
After some time as she could hear the chirping of the early morning birds… and smell fresh burning wood smoke in the air… she thought to her self some one around the block was starting the mud stove …she opened her eyes and looked at the time display on her walkman it was 4 am in another hour the house will wake up to a new morning. She collected her walk-man and got up…vainly trying to brush away the wet patches on her night gown, turning around she took one final look around the garden, beautiful sunrise turning the night gently into dawn… the Indian pride … the grass, beautiful flowers, heaving sigh of contentment she started walking towards the door, as she entered the house she wished her invisible friend goodbye and eternal existence in her life.