Rooftop
Sunsets were her favourite. She had hundreds of sunset pictures on her phone- all kinds, sunny, shady, cloudy, beautiful, pretty. To her, all sunsets were too pretty to be missed.
“Hey, let's go up, see the sunset”, Priya has been bugging Stephen for a while now. And finally, he succumbed to her irritating pleads and accompanied her to the rooftop-where she wanted to see the same wonder that has been exciting her for over the years.
“What’s the big deal about this? You’ve been seeing the same view ever since you came here”. As always, Stephen was not able to get through her weird ideas and thoughts.
She giggled. Her long curly hair was fluttering in the breeze. Her trinkets made little sounds in the wind with her movements. Her gaze was way too long and deep into the city lights that were slowly lighting up the night. Stars had aligned for her to start watching them. They matched her bracelet. “You didn't answer me, Priya”, Stephen kept asking her.
Priya looked him, sighed, smiled and then told, “You know, I've been on my own always, all when I grew up, when I started building myself, when I was falling apart, I kept it all to myself. I don't know, I felt like it was just the sun and the sky who knew what I was feeling every single day. And strangely, I love the sun more than the moon and sunsets were my way of bidding goodbye to a companion who is gonna be there for me tomorrow for sure. I just like to see it that way. After all, I am a Leo.” Priya turned to see Stephen’s confused face, knowing he ain't gonna relate to anything she just told. She knew, “Crazy, unrealistic, drama” that's what was going through his mind.
“How long has it been since we met last time?” Priya asked him looking straight at the lights and climbing slowly onto the sun shade.
“I guess it's been a year actually”, Stephen remembered.
“But you know what, I thought I was over you. But every single moment I 've spent with you proved me wrong.”She smiled again. “I like you. I reaaaallly like you. Maybe that’s the only thing that’s not weird about me. Falling in love with you, knowing you are everything I’ve always wanted, and also realizing that it would be too selfish to wish you to be in my life.”
The following silence was again broken by Priya’s trinkets swinging in the night wind. “Then why do you push yourself away from everyone? from me ?” Stephen shot the question that has been already poured over by all the people she knew.
Still not daring to look at him, gazing straight into the lights, swinging her legs over the sun shade, she said, “I do not want to be part of your happy moments. When you want to think back on your good memories, I do not want you to hesitate just because I was part of that moment. I want you to be able to reminisce every single happy moment, making memories with people that you love and the people that you want to be around. And whenever I feel selfish to make some good memories for myself, I’ll fly in, just like this, make some good moments for myself and leave!” She laughed too loud, her peculiar laugh filled the air.
Grabbing the courage to look at Stephen, she found him deep in thoughts, leaving her clueless if he heard her or not. “Hey, let us go inside, its getting cold.”Stephen, who was standing right behind her turned around, started walking towards the door, waiting for Priya to come.
“Hey, I've bid my goodbye to the sun today, now let me say goodbye to you as well. You are special to me. Maybe you are a moon, that’s why we never get together. Be my sun next life. I’ll be waiting. I love you”- That’s what Stephen could hear Priya say while he was holding the door facing his back to her.
His eyes widened hearing the following thud from somewhere far, but near. He turned around and found no one. He ran to the sun shade, looked around and found something down, on the ground, lifeless.
Priya, her smile was still on her face, her hair was still fluttering in air, her star bracelet was still making sounds in the wind, her laughs were still lingering in his ears, but this time, all smeared with a thick, slush cover of blood.
