She sat by the lake in the dark of the night. There was no soul in sight. Nothing could be seen except the moon and the stars. The grass beneath her was a little damp. Damp like her heart, heavy like her heart. The lake was stagnant and unmoving. The only sound was of the moving wind and rustling dead leaves. The wind whooshed and whistle past her ear like it wanted to say something. But there was nothing to say. There never was.
The tear that had cascaded down her cheeks had now long dried up. Her eyes were bleak, black and hollow. Devoid of any emotions. Maybe whatever they had said was true. Maybe she was evil, cruel and empty. Maybe she was selfish, slutty and every other thing they had said. As soon as she reminisced the words that had been spoken and thrown her way, her nose flared, her fingers tingled, and her eyes were filled with a new wave of tears.
Love was a poison, she had concluded. A conclusion made after being severed in the same place over and over again, the heart. The seething anger she was feeling snaked its way to her mind. She couldn’t stop herself. She picked up the nearest stone and threw it into the lake with all of her might. The water splashed with the sudden disturbance and rippled. She watched the stone that she had cast in the water get submerged as a couple of droplets from the splash that had landed on her face rested.
A drop pooled out of her eyes. It mixed with the droplets on her cheeks. She closed her eyes shut and clenched her fist tight. Everyone had left her. Left her, to battle the war, and they had stolen her weapons. And the man she trusted the most. The man that she thought would be her saviour was the last person who had plunged a knife into her back. She reminisced moments as she sat there, by the lake. Bleeding and in agony.
It was all coming back to her. A touch, a glance. A sea, a storm. She was remembering the first letter, the first kiss, the first smile passed her way. She was remembering the first fight, the first cry and the first time they had made love. But she was also remembering the time when the façade opened. It unveiled in front of her eyes like a curtain opening during a theatre act. The man she sought comfort in after being cast away by society was one of them. It was nothing for him, and she was living in it. She was bathing in the pain and memories he had given her, and she was dying every passing minute.
She was remembering every stone that had been pelted her away, she was remembering the patronizing gaze everyone glared at her with. A name, a scar. She was losing the ability to sit for longer. Her legs had already given up on her, like her dreams had. She lied down on the damp grass. A sigh escaped her lips. A droplet from the sky fell on her cheek, followed by another and then another. No sooner than then, the sky rained on her. Her clothes got soaked and heavy. She liked the rain, she remembered. She wanted to get wet in the rain once. A fantasy, a dream. A hope, a pain. She was finally fulfilling her wish. She laid in the rain, her eyes a closed. The pain she was feeling had dulled, the voices and memories had stopped. All she could feel was the rain, and she went into a deep slumber.
A Sea. A Storm.