Part 6: Hello Friend!

We were childhood friends. We played together and went to school together till the 12th standard. After that, I went to get into an engineering college and became a computer engineer and got a jog in an IT company. My friend started his own business of selling cars.

We were neighbors; so we never lost contact. Whenever we were home for vacations, we would go out together. We would go for long drives or to swim in the nearby river. A few years later I got married. A year later my friend got married too. Oh! How much we enjoyed that day.

It has been 5 years since that day. We became so busy in our life that we had no time to talk to each other. I didn’t realize how quickly time has passed. My friend too got busy with his life, looking after his family in our village and here I am in the city busy with mine.

One day I decided to take a vacation and visit my village. I felt like I needed a break from the humdrum of city life. My wife stayed back with the kids as they had school. I decided to take the bus, just to refresh some old memories.

As the bus travelled on for some hours, the noise of the city could no longer be heard. All I could see now, was the lush green scenery of forests and paddy fields. After hours of travelling, I finally saw the familiar tea stall just outside the village. Ah! Finally, there; after so many years. But a lot has changed over the years. When I stepped out of the bus bus; to my surprise; there he was! My dearest friend.

“How have you been?”, I asked.

“I’m good. I knew you would come to see me.”, he said.

I was surprised. “Really! You were that sure?”, I winked.

We, then walked through the village for talking about our lives. Finally, he said,” I have to go now. I have some urgent work and I can’t stay. You should definitely come to see me today. Good luck”

I too bade him farewell and walked home. When I arrived home, I saw there were many people gathered outside my friend’s house. Even my parents were outside  his house. I was confused. I walked up to my mom and inquired. She was in tears.

“He is gone!”, she said.

“Who?”, I inquired

“Your dear friend, Mohan.”

I was so taken aback that I couldn’t utter a single word.

“He was hit by a car last night while returning home. He died on the spot.”, she continued, “Today is his funeral.”

“But how could that be? I just met him today at the bus stop and we talked along the way home. He even asked me to give him a visit!”.

And then, I saw his dead body cover in white cloth and his picture with  flower beside it. I dropped down unconscious. When I woke up, I told everything to my mom. I had fever for three days. My mom called a priest to cleanse me and the house.

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