Still..

She was my last patient for the day. As I looked out to the visitor’s room and saw her laughing as she played rock-paper-scissors with my receptionist, I couldn’t help but smile. Angela was a fighter. She had been diagnosed with an illness at a critical stage, and she had never given up. She turned and saw me looking through the curtains. She leaped from her chair, and in a few steps had reached my door.

“Hi Dr. Lewis, you should have called me”, she said. I took her in my arms and sat her down on my table, as her mother came behind her. Unlike Angela, her face was anxious. She didn’t know the results yet.

“How is she?” she asked me, her voice wavering with anticipation of what I would say.

I looked at her, then at Angela and said, “Let’s put it this way Mrs. Lewis. I’ll be at all her graduations in the future.”

As I told the words, her face became calm, and a smile appeared. She hugged me. I closed the clinic for the day, and we walked out. “Daddy, I’m really happy you’ll be at my graduations in the future”, said Angela, as I locked the doors.

“Then you stop calling me Dr. Lewis when you come here. Is it a deal?” I replied, smiling too. .

It was a day the heavens opened up. Angela opened her favorite clear umbrella, and stood waiting for me to carry her. The treacherous wind blew strong, taking the umbrella out of her hand.

“Wait, come back”, she shouted and without thought ran onto the street. “Angela….”

My wife’s scream echoed into the rain, as we watched her get hit. We ran to her, I carried her and hailed the nearest cab. As she held on to my neck, blood from her wounds on my sleeves, I heard her whisper, “It’s a deal, Daddy.”

A moment later, I could still see the umbrella, lying still on the water; still like the smile on her face; still like my Angela’s heart.

for Thursday Tales with image by Nilgunkara

Poetry & writing to me are to me, a breath of fresh air in a life that is sometimes covered by the smoke of sorrow or self doubt. They also become the sweets I share to celebrate when life offers me a reason to. But most of all, they are to me, my life. For each word I write is a piece of my heart, a thought that just had to find its way into the world.

28 thoughts on “Still..”

  1. Oh..my…how could you do this to me? YOU gave me a heavy heart…you made me almost cry, but…yes…. ..tears..…:(It really breaks my heart…:(Beautiful but totally poignant!As always, you weave magic into your stories, either to make one laugh, get bitter or cry hard! You really touch one's sensitive feelings, like me!Keep writing! I wish a happy one next time!

  2. Thanks to: Amity.hmm, i do my best to write something different from the simplest iteration of the photograph. and more often than not, it gets a sad ending. glad u liked it, and felt the magic in my story. i wish a happy one next time too.

  8. I really don't know what to say…this story is so achingly tragic, yet so beautifully written. The scenes created are just magical, this is a truly wonderful piece of writing.

  12. Thanks to: Deepak.not really. even a bland write can attract if written well, and the eyes that see find it interesting.

  22. Thanks to: A Dreamy Gal.yes. lots of sad endings, but i like that zest i put into it too… 🙂 glad u liked it as well.

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