So Close, But So Far ....

She sat there…..tears rolling down uncontrollably from her eyes….She stared unbelievably at the picture which was now moist from her tears……she just couldn’t believe it…..she….she….she…she who had done everything for her parents….she who had loved them like no one else…she who had cared for them all her life….what else could she think when they told her she was adopted?

Riya returned home happily that evening after giving her last paper. She had always topped through her college years, and this being the last one, she was determined to work hard and pass out with flying colors!

But then life changed in an instant when she unintentionally eavesdropped on her parents and learnt the truth. She cried when she heard it and went storming into the room and demanded to know the whole truth. With eyes down, not able to face her fiery red ones, her parents told her that their real daughter died in a plane crash when she was very young. They adopted her then, and also told her that she had an elder sister who had already been taken away……

Not being able to swallow the bitter truth, she went to her room….her moist eyes gazing at the family albums for one last time. She packed one in her bag, where she stood happily with her mom and dad, swallowing a lump in the throat when she looked a it!

She left home without a word that day by train. She went to another city, to another place, to a new destination where life would not cheat her. She got a room for rent which was shared by another girl called Mariah. She was elder than her and was finding a job in town. Both of them never talked about their past but created a certain bond of friendship…they talked day and night, helped each other and solved each other’s problem! Riya had found one person she could trust.

Mariah noticed a small necklace in Riya’s neck and with a strange twinkle in her eyes, she asked, “Hey, that’s a beauty dear….where did you buy it from?”

“Ah! I don’t remember how I got this but I could show you lot many better than this!” Riya cried happily and started showing her jewelry collection to Mariah.

Then Mariah left for her interview while Riya stayed back, preparing for her exams. Around 2 in the afternoon she called an urgent call from an unknown person, who informed her that Mariah had a terrible car accident and was in hospital. He gave her the address and room number and asked her to visit soon as Mariah’s condition was critical and she could be breathing her last.

With no time to ponder over the news, Riya left impulsiveness and reached Mariah’s room soon. She stared at the drastic change in her….how the fun loving Mariah who always had a smile on her face, was lying there as if there was no life in her….though a faint gleam was visible in her eyes…

Riya went and sat beside her, clutching her hands tightly but not shedding a single tear….she looked bravely at Mariah…

With faint gasps, Mariah said, “I’m glad you came…I realized something today and I want to reveal the truth to you now… We both are the sisters who had parted at birth….” She then took off a necklace form her neck and Riya took of her own. She put them together and understood that they were broken pieces of a single sign which when fixed together, formed a heart….Riya took out her childhood photo from her bag and noticed that she had this piece of jewel even then!

With uncertain feelings in her heart Riya stared at Mariah’s silent face….her eyes ere closed and she had already breathed her last….Riya stared…sobbing uncontrollable and kissing Mariah’s hand lightly, she said, “Oh Lord, why has life always been so dishonest, deceitful and such a hypocrite with me….?”

Her tears glistened in the soft sunlight as she tightly clutched the piece of dazzling, elegant jewel and cried her heart out….

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