The Drive

She was driving alone in the rainy subway, listening to the song "Blowing in the Wind". Rolling along the  empty streets and vacant bus stops, she was gazing out of the car window. In a distance she could hear the church bell ringing. 

The chimes brought the latent memories back…

School bell was ringing and the children were rushing in, while away from the rush a girl with long curly hairs walked slowly. At the entrance the Principal was waiting and looking at his watch. The girl wasn't bothered about time nor the punishment that awaited her. The principal looked at her in contempt and shouted. She couldn't hear a thing, as something deep had scarred her heart.

A loud honking and she was suddenly drawn back into the present. The boy was bleeding on the road.  The truck driver behind her stopped and came rushing. The driver took the boy and laid him on the back of the car seat. He was bleeding heavily. Driver shouted furiously at her and said, "Rush the boy to the hospital you Bitch.”

She drove as fast as she could, to the hospital. While driving she looked to the mirror. The boy in pain was calling for his mother…

The boy was rushed to the intensive care, as she waited outside.

The long drive and the incident that followed had made her numb. Sitting outside and staring at red incandescence flashes of the past began to haunt her again.

Her father was drunk and shouting at her. A friend of her father was holding him back. She was getting ready to go to school. She looked at her father in pain and anger. Suddenly the friend of her father came close to her…

“He is a tough spirited lad, survived the critical phase. He will be fine…”, the nurse said to her. Her worn down face lit up as she looked at him from the glass pane. She was feeling alive inside.

She watched him for few moments and as she turned back, he saw an old man walking slowly with a look of despair on his face. He was inquiring about his son with the nurse. She stared at that old wrinkled face that had shades of the past she tried to run away from. 

The past she wanted to bury forever was feebly walking towards her…

The choice for her was either to run from the past or face the moment and bury it forever.

She walked towards the man as he  looked into her eyes. He couldn’t forget that innocent eyes and the helpless tears of pain that rolled on that dreadful day. Struck in disbelief and guilt he looked at her. 

She came closer to him and said, “The scar you had left, dragged me here, losing the most precious thing in my life. My Self. I was never able to tide over the darkest episode in my life. Hold this thought in your mind for rest of life. I am sorry for what has happened to your son. But don’t you think it was that moment of savagery which led to this very moment.” He stood there numb and listened to her. 

Slowly walking towards the corridor, she was feeling lighter and liberated inside. 

Her search for peace had ended in a circle of events.