You were too Precious to Hold!!

"The Rhythm of her heart was faster than the beating drum in the parade ground.

I was worried, if it was just me, or was it audible to everyone around..."

Why was it so hard for her to understand that It was me who need cure.

She was perfect!!

Like the pearl in a seashell, too delicate to hold. She was precious than all the wealth of this world put together.

And, yet I had to let go of her. I had to let her fly away, and soar high up in the sky , so that one day I could look up and admire her flight.

I was just an ordinary boy from a rural slum, who did not have any major dreams.I just wanted to get a decent job, and look after my family.

But her dreams was to conquer the universe with her voice!!!... She was very ambitious about her life. She wanted to be known, not famous, but known...

She wanted to reach everyone's heart, pierce them with a sweet prick, that would stay with them like an undying memory of a fairyland.

It was during the summer of 1955. Dad had decided to quit his clerk job, or was rather kicked out of it, and we decided to fall back to our house down the village.I wanted to keep up with my studies, to which they agreed, cause I was the only son, and they were ready to sacrifice their lifetime saving on my career, to encash it later.

I was getting ready for my match, and was rushing to the game floor for my annual day practise.

Something just knocked me off, and I fell over my toes.I just lift my head after recovering from the shock, and was about to curse the shit out.

I'm sooo sorry!!... I didn't mean to hurt ya!!... It just fell off!!... Stupid me!!.. I can't even handle my drawing board!!...Forgive me please!!!

Those words were like a sweet gibberish lingo which I was unable to focus on. I was just starstruck, and all I could focus on was her eyes.

They had the charm to move the toughest of the men on earth, and yet soo innocent and dreamy. The whole black hole would be lost into oblivion into them.

Sudden pain , bought me back to reality..

She was pinching my nose to check if it was broken. Well!, it was red as a rabbit arse, but definitely not broken.

Are you alrright!!.... 

It seemed more like a rhetorical question to me, so I just stood there smiling like a foolish teenager boy..

Hey!! pal... Aren't you getting late for the game already??..

Someone from the corridor screamed my name, and reminded me that I had a practise to go to.

I picked her drawing board, and smiled back at her, saying I wasn't hurt at all, and it was a pleasure to bump into her.

That day, is still fresh in my memory lane, as if it happened just yesterday.

I don't want to trouble myself recalling all those moments I spent with her following after that day.

We were popular in our college as "The Most Romantic" couple...

She had become my breathe and me her heartbeat.We were truly inseparable..

She always said I was her life and she won't be able to sustain without me.

We were soo much into each other, that it was completely out of our control to stay away from each other.

But one thing always bothered me was our personality, and what we wanted from our life.

I always felt like I was holding her back from discovering her life, and achieving her desires.

I never fancied to tour the world, the thought itself tired me. But she was always excited when anyone mentioned about it.

She kept quiet when she felt me being uncomfortable among the crowd. She promised me that she would be my life, and would grow old sipping our favorite tea in our small garden outside a sweet home in the village.

It scared me how she was ready to sacrifice all that she had, just for me. My happiness meant everything to her, and she never complaint about me being less than others.

These thought always bothered me. I knew she could achieve greater heights. It was me who was blocking her way. I was weak to not let go of her, and make her stay with me sounded selfish.

One day, she asked me what I wanted to make out of my life. I couldn't say much cause I had too little expectation from my life, let alone dream about it.

When I asked her the same, her eyes gave me the same deja vu vibe, and I was lost in it again. 

She suddenly became more enthusiastic as she already was. She explained to me how she wanted to travel all over the world and make her presence fell in the world.

That moment, I felt like a Cage, who was pulling her away from her dreams. I felt a pain in my heart, not for myself, but for her.I was not ready to sail the boat with her. It was obvious that I loved her, but her dreams made my reality look too small and unreal.

It was the last day of our college. We were suppose to meet after our convocation and decide a new destination for ourselves.

I had lost all the interviews , and Dad had called me back in the village to look after his fields.He said he won't be able to sponsor my Masters. I was broke and had no options left. I couldn't face her. I couldn't tell her that I was a failure.

She had got her scholarship to a prestigious Art Institution in New York. She was supposed to fly there tomorrow and start over her new journey.

How could I let her know that I wasn't coming with her.

I did not leave her any message or bid goodbye. I JUST LEFT!!!!

But grandpa, Granny never told us that you left her.

I took a magazine from the drawer, and handed it over to Lilly(my granddaughter)..

It was HER on the cover page of the "World's Most Ferocious Women"

Lilly said- Why are you showing me this magazine , I know her, She is the most wonderful woman and inspiring everyone of all ages. It's difficult to even get a glimpse of her.I wish I could meet her someday, and learn to be like her.

John Sighed!!!

Lilly understood... and was shocked like a bombshell...

Whatttt???????...... Granny wasn't your first love????.....

You dated "The Folrence Watson"?????... Wooaahhh!!!!!

Grandpa!!... tell me more about her!!... tell me how she was??....was she as ferocious and bold as she is now???...

Lilly's endless questions knew no boundaries. I could just smile, cause she reminded me of her young self.

I stood and took my stick to support my walk, and walked up to the balcony of my room.

I looked up in the sky.. There she was!!... Smiling like she owns the world... Still had that hint of innocence hidden in her eyes.

The billboard soared high in the skyscraper building next to our house.

She had taken her flight and she was soaring high and high everyday..

I never had the capacity to hold the power that she possessed..

The world knew "The Florence Watson".. but for me she was still that clumsy girl in the corridor.

Those memories came flooding in like a Tsunami..

"""The Rhythm of her heart was faster than the beating drum in he parade ground.

I was worried, if it was just me, or was it audible to everyone around.""""