“Sanyu,why do want to live alone?” Anjali complained again.

“Maa... I love solitude of my own,” Sanyukta reasoned.

“Sanyu, try to move on. For how long you will live alone,” Anjali spoke nonchalantly.

“Maa... I am tired, I will talk to you later,” Sanyukta disconnected the call.

A sigh escaped her mouth, she looked at her empty apartment, the lovely Dehradun mountains looked magnificent through the balcony but the hollowness Sanyukta feels every day since last 3 years is overpowering the natural beauty of the Doon Valley.

Nature has a healing power, but when the wounds are deep, nothing works on them.

Sanyukta became a teacher in Arya Senior Secondary School, Dehradun,3 years ago. The mountains felt better than the chaos of her life, henceforth Sanyukta decided to live here, basically she came here for her exile, never to return to the people she knew.

The world saw the gorgeous girl with a pretty face and a beautiful figure but what no one noticed the emptiness of her eyes and the smile that faded long ago, now only lifeless soul resided in the body of Sanyukta Aggarwal.

Sanyukta wore a comfortable nightwear, a pair of spectacles on her nose as she sat to inspect the test papers of today's math class test.

After checking a few papers, she noticed an unusual paper, it was completely blank with name Shreyas Sharma and note at the back of the sheet saying,'Madam give me passing marks this time, I will pray in nearby mountain Hanuman(hindu diety) to give you the best husband in the world'.

The word husband made Sanyukta's throat dry, a burning sensation occupied her mouth.

Sanyukta made her way to the kitchen, she drank a glass of water, but irritation in her mouth traveled to her chest. Now an ache radiated in her heart.

She made her way out of her apartment into the greenery around. She sat on a cemented bench, leaning back, closing her eyes to find some solace.

The same face, the owner of those dark brown orbs, again came in her vision. Every feature of his face came accurately as if she saw him yesterday.

A tear escaped her eyes as she flinched, trying to forget the man she loved once with heart and soul.

Soon more tears came out making patterns on her cheeks, some moved towards her lips making
Sanyukta again taste the salty water.

“Didi, you take this umbrella,” a little girl jerked out of her misery. An Eleven-year-old girl Jiya stood there with an extra umbrella for Sanyukta.

Sanyukta didn't realize when her tears started mixing with the raindrops falling from above.

“Thank you,gudiya (doll)” Sanyukta responded to Jiya as she took the umbrella.

Jiya is a little girl living in the same building as Sanyukta. Jiya often checks out on Sanyukta whenever she sits alone on that cemented bench.

“Didi, why do you cry so often?” Jiya asked innocently.

Sanyukta had no answer to little Jiya,” Gudiya, I was not crying. I was making a wish to fairy goddess”she cooked up an excuse.

“What did you wish for?” Jiya asked curiously.

“I asked her to make my Gudiya study well in her exams and make her a doctor,” Sanyukta spoke in a soft voice.

“But didi, I want to be a mechanical engineer” Jiya giggled and went away.

A tinge again occupied Sanyukta's heart, the words Mechanical Engineer were enough to scab the past wounds.

No matter how hard Sanyukta tried to walk away from former times, the past always made ways to seep in Sanyukta's life, making her suffocate.

Memories make us smile in happy times, but the same memories become haunting in times of difficulties, the same memories mock a person playing themselves in a loop.

Sanyukta is trying to move from the past, but what is that haunting memories that has made her life so lonely and tasteless? Only time will reveal what wounds are hidden beneath these tears and sorrow, stay tuned.