Surprise on Return

I had no clue why Anaira was texting me so much. I could not even enjoy my solo trip. I decided to switch off my phone, so that I could enjoy my me time, peacefully.  Friendship is a beautiful relationship, but I failed on this score. This was me, Radhika, best friend of Anaira. My friend was so supportive and talented. She was a spectacular storyteller and a voracious reader.

Finally, after spending two weeks in the hills, I returned to my hometown and the first thing I wanted to do was surprise my best friend. So, I went directly to her house. I saw her father sitting in the Veranda,  making a drink for himself and her mother boiling eggs. Her father made a call to caterers for arranging food for a few days. The yellow walls of the two-bedroom house were giving very mysterious vibes. I settled down on the chair and asked uncle, was there any function?

He looked at me and asked where were you, Radhika? I was on a trip to hills and I had told Anaira about that too. By the way where was she? I was surprised to see strange behaviour of uncle and aunty. They used to get happy after seeing me but on that day their face was telling a different story.

On hearing my query, he paused for some time. Don’t you know anything about Anaira? No, I don’t know, I replied.    

He gulped his drink and his wife placed the plate of boiled eggs near his bottle of Whisky and went back to her room. When she opened the door, I saw some ladies in that room. I never saw aunty and uncle that silent. So with worry, I asked, all ok uncle?

No, nothing was fine, uncle replied. Anaira had died two weeks ago. We found her body in the washroom. Uncle was a very jovial person, so I did not take him seriously. I enquired whether he was kidding me? With teary eyes, he said, I wish I could. On hearing his response, my hands started shivering and everything seemed black in front of my eyes. I had no clue how to react or how to believe, what he had just narrated. I was not able to cry, I was numb. I was not ready to believe it.

So with shivering legs, I went to the room where Anaira’s mother had gone earlier. There, I saw a garland of flowers on her portrait. I ran away from their house immediately.

After reaching home, I locked myself in my room and switched on my phone. There were a few dozen messages from Anaira.

I read her last message, which read, “Radhika, someone is trying to kill me, please help…………

I dropped my phone and started crying uncontrollably. I was feeling guilty for not taking her words seriously. She had told me many times, but, I did not want to believe it. I cursed myself for switching off my phone for so long. I wished that, I should have believed her stories, I wished…

Thank You

Keep Smiling

Riya Om

Editing Credit: Mr. RIS Sidhu uncle ji

PS: This is a fiction story :). Next chapter will be out soon.