Huff,.. is the sound which comes as I let out a huge breath out of me. But this breath does nothing to reduce the burden inside me.

Sitting outside my apartment's entrance I do not have enough energy to walk a few more steps to the lift.

Is this what she might have gone through each day..??

" Riya beta is everything alright?" I turn around to find Mohan kaka looking curiously at me. The kind smile on his tired face forces me to nod positively towards him with a small smile.

" One year has passed but it still seems like yesterday. " I couldn't help but look down at this. Suddenly I feel a warm hand patting my head followed by receding footsteps.

As I start to get up my eyes suddenly fall on the abandoned bench at the corner of the park. My vision turns blurry and suddenly everything around me starts to disappears as I allow myself to loose in the memories of that mysterious girl.

I had recently shifted to Gurugram at that time owing to my job. It took me two months to get used to the life of the metropolis.

On coming out of my flat, the sight of a small green garden between huge, sky-touching buildings was always a relief.

But what always caught my attention was a girl of my age, clad in tracks with a loose T-shirt and trainers. With her long black hair tied in a high ponytail and earphones plugged in, she became an unavoidable part of my mornings.

Eager to make her acquaintance I gathered courage and started giving out small smiles to her everyday but each day I got a forced smile in return. It was as if it was hurting her to smile.

If only I had walked up to her to find the reason behind her pained smile..

My humdrum routine took an erratic turn one day. I woke up to the sound of sirens and loud voices. Calming my aberrant heart beats, I made my way towards the balcony.

Police vehicles, ambulance and media was all I could spot. Acting on my instincts I ran down.

What I saw and heard was enough to make my blood run cold.

"Avni Chaturvedi, 27 year old accountant commits suicide by jumping from her flat's terrace."

I slumped on the ground hearing this.

Hours passed but I kept sitting there. Soon the news about her suffering from depression surfaced.

What would she have been thinking while taking each step towards the roof..?

Not a day goes by when I don't consider, the fact that she would never be able to feel her mother's warmth or her father's smile, wasn't enough to stop her from lifting her last foot and embracing the ground 165 feet below..

Didn't she fear the pain..??

Does mental illness make you weak or immune to all the other pain except the inner one..??, Not a day goes by when I don't question myself..

Hii..,

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