Tall, Smart and Handsome…!

It is a dark alley. Nothing is visible even after your eyes adjusting to the surrounding, walking down it was like walking without an aim and endlessly knowing not for what…but she could not stop.

She kept hurrying though, through the alley and could see a ray of light from the further side and suddenly her heart wished for hope and almost ran towards it is.

She knew not why or for what but she kept pursuing not able to stop her and her mind that was raiding her with loads of questions and then the image flashed in front of her.

It was the usual image of a masked man, who smelt of sweat and cologne and he had his shirt buttons left open, the shirt tucked into his pants and that shinny pants…never could make out from where he comes, but he appears and always in the same attire and solves the mystery for her.

Only thing she does not understand in his appearance is that he is all that women talk about, tall and handsome, manly, the vigor, gentlemanly, his hands strong, they way he held her that tender clutch around her waist, strong enough to carry her to a safe distance, then drop her and does the vanishing act…!

In this ordeal everything else was different but one thing remained constant…he was not the dark skinned guy…like a women’s dream. He was fair and his skin had this perfect blend of the colors of a dark coffee bean and the milky cream…he did not fall into the genre of romantic hero’s off the romantic novels or the drop dead dark hero that women always fascinate with!

She never knew why he kept seeing him the same way again and again and never knew why he always kept disappearing after the safety turn…like he did now and she always could not continue further…!

She woke up with a start and looked around and tried to go back to her sleep…looking for that smart looking guy who came from nowhere and went nowhere…she is right at that spot…hill top, deserted plains, watery ways, the dry desserts, the wet swamps, the boat rides, the cruises, the landslides, the earthquakes…but he was not just coming back.

She turns to the right, clutches the pillow tight, closes her eyes shut and places her onto the reel again and waits for him to come…the alley running deep and dark, the light in the corner, she is almost there at the end of the alley…he should appear now…now…!

“S..a…ndh…ya, Sandhya….!” – her mom’s voice. How come she came here? She turns to her right again and finds a hazy figure hovering over her.

Opening wide her eyes, she looks at her mother smiling at her and asking her to wake up…she can see her mother mumbling a lot of things, but she can’t hear any. The room comes into her sight and the things around and finds that she is in her very bedroom and nowhere…the alley is gone, along with it the light and the darkness.

She shoves her mom off and tries to close her eyes again, and she finds a hand touching her…a smile spreads across her face and then it pushes her further and finds that her mother shaking her off her sleep.

“Mom, please do, let me walk to the end of the alley, please…let me see his face today, please. I know it is masked but I want to see his eyes that speak a volume to me…that warmth of the breath close to my lips…that sends slender tremors into my body and soul…Mom, please let me do it, just this one time.”

“Hey, what are you blabbering, Sandhya? What is it? Who is it? Now, you get up and tell me the truth what is all this about? Are you seeing someone? Who is it? Wait, till I tell your dad about this? You little naughty girl, behind our backs you have been weaving your own love story is it….Siva, Siva…come here, listen to your daughter.”

“Aiyoo….mom, nothing like that, said Sandhya pulling the rug off her body that had got tangled with her journey. What did I say? What did I blabber?

No, no, wait mom that was just a dream.”

By now, Sandhya was wide awake and was racking her brains for whatever she could have blabbered to her mom and the after effects of it. She was so sure that her mom is not going to let her go so easily and it would take a longer time to convince them…both the mom and dad.

She found her mom has already gone to tell things to her dad. She did not know what to do. She just closes her eyes and that pair of eyes came alive…Oh! My god not again…!

She ran into the bathroom and started talking to herself loud enough for the whole world to know. She got done with her morning duties along with her long explanations to herself. She opens the doors to find her mom and dad standing in front of her right at the doorway.

Instantly, she closes it and then regains herself and opens the door slowly with a sly smile. They both smile at her and her dad slowly holds her forehand and she starts off…“dad, dad, let me explain…it is nothing just a dream…….she goes on for some 20 mints without a gasp of breath!”

Her mom and dad just listen to her and then laugh aloud when she finishes it. They give a laugh so loud that she is bewildered and after a minute joins them…!

They all have a hearty laugh and get on with their work. She is not able to get this guy off her memory and he seems to be playing hide and seek with her especially with her today…she promises herself today she is going to find out who he is…tonight, wait my dear – she says forgetting the fact it – is just a dream.

(to be contd……..)