You Live Only Once?

Armaan parked the car and stepped out of it. He took out the wine bottle which was her favourite flavour. As he started walking towards the house, he heard a rustle in the woods. He looked around but couldn’t find anything. ‘Strange’, he thought. His concerns flew away as he saw Diksha. She was wearing a long pink dress, her hair was untied and she smelled like a rose garden. Pulling her closer, he kissed her. Hugging him she said, “I have missed you so much.”

“Let’s do what we are good at”, he said as he took her towards the bedroom. As he was opening the wine bottle, he heard a noise coming from the window. “Do you think it’s him? she said worriedly. “I will go check”, Armaan said.

As he walked out of the house, he was ashamed about the situation that would arise if she turned out to be right. What if he is actually back? How would he face him? He had been his best friend since childhood. How would he explain him having an affair with his wife? “You better not be here Sharad. If you are, it will not end better for one of us”, Armaan said clenching his fist.

After looking around, he walked back into the house. Locking the door, he started walking towards the bedroom when he saw the painting in the crooked position on the wall. ‘Diksha, when will you learn?’, he said as he fixed the painting. A letter dropped out from the back of the painting. “To Armaan”, it mentioned on the top.

As he opened it he realized it was written by Diksha. ‘Smart’, he thought. Diksha surprised him every now and then. But being in the same house, he was curious as to the need to do the same.

The letter read,

Armaan, it’s your Diksha. You probably think it’s a surprise. I wish it was. But it’s something more. We have sinned Armaan. Right from the day, we started meeting behind Sharad’s back to the day we held hands. We celebrate the day we kissed when it should have been the day we should never have witnessed. We have made mistakes we can’t go back to. But there is something we can change. 10 minutes after you fix the painting, Sharad will walk in on us. He will have a shovel in his hand and he will try to hit you. You will start fighting. It will not end well. We will end up killing Sharad.

I know you think it’s a prank. It’s not. For the next few minutes trust me. We have been here before and we have done this. We are living it again because we have made mistakes. And we did not learn from them. I am learning and I will soon make the transition. But you will be stuck in it.

As soon as things started making sense, I wrote this letter. We live our lives over and over again until we do it right. I know it will not make sense, but believe me. Remember I told you I feel I had witnessed this before. It was because I was having memory leaks. The universe works on different rules that we have not yet discovered. We might take ages to understand it completely but trust me on this. Walk away from the fight Sharad puts up. Don’t lose your anger. We have already lost a lot because of it. It’s time we account for our mistakes. We should not have cheated on Sharad, I will apologise and get away from this sin to the next one. That’s the way how it works. I hope when you read this you understand and apologise. There is no shame in accepting when you are wrong. I loved you and the time I spent with you was one of the most beautiful times of my life. But the cost at which it was achieved was heavy.

It’s never too late to apologise Armaan. Know that you are wrong and learn from it. I might soon come out of the bedroom and pull you in. At least then you may know it’s true.

Yours truly,

Diksha

As he finished reading it Diksha came out of the bedroom. “Is he here? I dressed up in normal clothes just in case”, she said looking around.

“He is not here”, he said folding the letter.

“Then let’s just continue”, she said pulling him inside the bedroom. She kissed him and pushed him onto the bed. At the same time, they heard someone open the door.

“Damn”, Diksha said as she saw Sharad walk inside with a shovel.

“I trusted you both”, Sharad said pouncing on Armaan. “Why? What did I do to deserve this?” he continued…….

Diksha cried as they buried the body. She could not believe the horrors she just witnessed. Armaan had a fixated look. He walked back into the house and looked at the painting. He rubbed the blood off his hand on the left corner of it.

After looking around, he walked back into the house. Locking the door, he started walking towards the bedroom when he saw the painting in the crooked position on the wall. ‘Diksha, when will you learn’, he said as he fixed the painting. The painting had blood on the left corner. A letter dropped out from the back of the painting. “To Armaan”, it mentioned on the top.

“Maybe you don’t just live once”, Armaan said.