The Reason – Sujit Horakeri

Theme: The first day of college, a love note, and I suddenly saw a light at a distance…

“This time I won’t listen to any of your explanations dad, I want to know the truth, that’s all.” Tim bawled at his father.
David, as usual, didn’t give any attention to his son’s cry, as he turned the page of the newspaper.
“This is the last time that I’m going to ask you, say it or else see me leave this house forever.” yelled Tim vacating his back, and flung that college bag of his down on the table.
David freed his eyes from those pair of glasses and placed them back in their case, and poured the Tea in the cup onto the saucer.
“Fine, if this is it, then I’m going to leave you, and this time I won’t return as I did the previous month.” screeched Tim at the top of his voice, and moved to his room to pack his bag.

As Tim came out of his room all set to leave his dad, with his bag full of clothes and his personal stuffs, David spoke out to Tim’s joy, but the words which were uttered perhaps were not what he was expecting, “Well, how can you carry all those stuffs with you, which have been purchased using my hard-earned money?” said David, making Tim an object of ridicule, with a wicked smile.
“Oh yeah! Fine then here, take them all” raged Tim replied, pitching that bag of his.
David stood up, moved towards Tim and embraced him saying, “Son, does all that matter now? Have I not fulfilled any of your desire anytime?”
“But dad..? Well, it’s alright.” Tim calmed down a bit realizing that he was indeed blessed to have such a father.

David moved to his room, took that personal diary of his and entered
“This is the 17th time I have managed to console him, don’t know how far I can take it, before I’m forced to say it out.”
David closed the diary, moves to pick the ringing phone, as Tim reminds him of having his breakfast saying, “Dad it’s breakfast time.”
“Yes son just a minute.” replies David, holding his hand on the voice
transmitter of his cell phone.

“Hey dad where are you going? And you have not had your breakfast either?” enquires Tim.
“I have some work son, I will have my breakfast later. Take care of
yourself, see you in the evening.”
***
“It was the first day of the college and first day of my life as an engineering student. If it’s your first day in a professional college, then you are bound to experience some ragging by your seniors, and I was no different, as I too had to experience a bit of it.
A senior called me while I was going to the canteen to have some food to quench my hunger, “Hey you! Come over here.” he yelled in a boisterous voice of his.
I had no option but to move to the table where they were seated. The first thing they asked me was to give my introduction, which wasn’t a difficult job by any means; I would have said that, even if they would have woken me up while I was dreaming. The next thing was a bit difficult one, they asked me to propose a girl who would enter the canteen first, no matter who. Well, I was hoping some of the senior girls to be the one, simply because it will be easy to propose them and of course a good looking girl. The latter part of my hope turned to reality, but the earlier one didn’t quite turn out to be so. Because the girl who entered first was one my school mates, whom I didn’t knew much, but I breathed a sigh of relief, as it was someone I kind of knew and I thought I could manage this with her.
“Yeah, there she is. Get set and start moving.” he instructed, which
sounded more like an order.
I was moving towards her as he halted me and said, “Remember you are not supposed to say that you are being ragged.”
I nodded as if to say alright and moved to her, “Hey Alisa!” I called her so as to ask her to lend me some of her time.
She turned back and looked at me with a grim face, and as soon as she
noticed me the expression on her face changed to an exclamation mark,
“Yes!”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I guess we have studied in the same school” I said, not in a convincing manner, but my voice didn’t stutter either, which it usually did, whenever I talked to a girl.
“Why should I correct you? And yeah, even if we did study in the same school, what’s in that thing now?” replied Alisa, needless to say she sounded like a girl who’s super egoistic.
Realizing that this task is going to be a rough ride, I replied “I didn’t mean it literally; I just said it to decorate my words. And yeah..”
“So you are trying to impress me, huh?” asked Alisa fluttering her eyelids, interrupting me.
“Well, when did I say that?”
“It’s understood boy. Everything need not be expressed in words.”
My mouth was kind of zipped on listening to that reply of hers, “Well, I – I..”
“You know what I hate people who stutter while talking.”
I concluded that this girl is too good to be defeated in words so I just decided to complete the work that I approached her for.
“Don’t panic, but I guess I would like to propose you right now.” I said rubbing my right eyebrows with my forefinger.
“What?! Do you really want to do that?” quizzed Alisa questioned.
Although it was a strange question to ask, it was a feasible question to ask to a guy who’s kind of reserve, and a guy who seldom talked to girls.
“I guess so.”
“Hmmm let me see then”
“What should I let you see?” I asked, perplexed.
“Let me see how do you propose a girl I said.” clarified Alisa.
“I guess you didn’t get what I meant to say, I said I would like to propose you, not any other girl.” I refined.
“I’m not dumb you idiot and I understood what you said.”
Well, there was nothing left to talk, all I could do was propose her with a bewildered face.
“I Love You” I said, I literally SAID it, there was no emotion whatsoever, forget emotion there was no expression of even attempting to show any emotions either.
All of a sudden, Alisa started crying (and I had no clue, why in the
world was that for! After all it didn’t come as a surprise for her)
Alisa moved, well I don’t know where she moved, but all I was left as
an option was to follow her, because the seniors busted out laughing their head off, and signaling me to move behind her by waving their hands horizontally, giving me a green signal to spell out that it I was being ragged.
“Hey, listen. Hey Alisa.” I shouted, trying to stop her and clear everything.
She didn’t turn around as she started to walk briskly forcing me to run. I overtook her and stood in front of her, finally managing to stop her. She stared at me for a while and started laughing on me, as if I was a fool. I was honestly bewildered to the peak by that alien character girl.
“Well girl..”
“You are such an idiot David, you really are. You know what I was just
kidding, I’m a good actor, ain’t I?” cleared Alisa interrupting me, laughing like hell.
I was left speechless on listening to what she said.
“Now close that mouth of yours, and yeah if you propose like that, no girl will ever accept your proposal.”
“Even if she loved me?”
“Well, that’s a different issue, you know what if I were your lover, then I would have made you to propose me like I want”
“And how’s that?”
“So you want to be my boyfriend huh?” asked Alisa with a smile on her face.
“Well, I have one question for you. Can I ask?”
“Yeah go ahead.”
“Have you escaped from a Psychiatric hospital?”
“Very funny” she said as if she wasn’t impressed by my question.
“Well, the seniors asked me to propose you, so I just had to. Don’t mind huh?”
“Oh, that’s why I wonder how a guy who hardly talked to me when in school, all of a sudden came to me and proposed me”
“What you thought, I really loved you huh?” I asked winking my left eye with a smile on my face.
Alisa just smiled and said, “Well, I’m famished man. I’m going to canteen.” she said and waited, as if she was expecting me to ask, if I could accompany her to the canteen.
“Well, I too was heading for the canteen, but these seniors caught hold of me and asked me to do this.”
“Oh, come then we will have something to quench our hunger.”
“Alright, ba.. ba..but”
“I already told you I dont like people who stutter while talking, and yeah don’t worry it’s going to be my treat.”
“No I just meant, I mean you buy what you need, I will buy what I want. Because I forgot my wallet, and all I have is 50 bucks.”
“Nah, you just come with me.”
***
“Is this it?” asked Krissy
“Well, I don’t quite know dear, I just found this piece of paper in my dad’s diary, which was placed on 21st of August 2010 page, which is nearly 20 years back. So, I feel this is how his first day in the college was.”
“Where’s that diary?”
“I don’t have it now, it’s at home.”
“Ok so you might get answer to your question then. Soon. Come let’s go to your home and read it before your dad returns from office.”
“Alright, let’s do it then” agreed Tim and they moved to his home in a hurry.
***
I knew she loved me as well, but it was a queer feeling, the one which I had never experienced before, not even when I was proposing her on being told to do so by my seniors. That’s how it is I guess, it’s tough to express your love when it’s true and you really mean it. But I had no other option either, she will be staying here and I will be moving to the Infinite city, for the job I have agreed to, after 2 days, I wish I would have been placed in some company which is situated here, sadly not to be.
Love notes, these days are a rarity, but that’s the only way I could have expressed my love for Alisa I guess, and moreover she didn’t like people who stutter while talking. So, this is the only way to do it, I felt.
After nearly spending a day in writing this love note, I finally decided to give it to her and confess my love.

I had asked her to come to the Season’s coffee shop one last time may be, our usual, twice in a week hang out spot.
“Yeah so let’s get in” I invited.
“Well, I’m not feeling like going in there. Can’t you stay here itself and find some job here?” Alisa wistfully questioned
“Fortunately or unfortunately, no would be the answer I guess.”
“I’m going to miss you David. I really will. Wish you would have stayed here with me.” lamented Alisa
“Well, don’t worry we will still be in contact.”
“David, I’m not feeling like staying here. Don’t mind but I just can’t withstand this.” confessed Alisa and moved towards her vehicle. And as she was about to start the vehicle, she turned back and looked at me with that wistful look.
I didn’t knew where did I get the courage from, but I just rushed towards her and gave that love note to her, “Read it when you get back home.”
“What’s this?” quizzed Alisa asked.
“Well, open it and read it when you get back home, you will get to know.”
“Why shouldn’t I open it now?”
“Well, there’s nothing that you shouldn’t, ba..ba..but..”
“I told you a million times, don’t stutter and I don’t like people who stutter while talking to me.” yelled Alisa interrupting me
“That’s the reason I asked you not to open it now.” I replied glumly
Don’t know what happened to Alisa when she listened to this, she suddenly opened the love note and read it all in one breath (it seemed)
I just turned away and stood there, waiting for her response.
Alisa stepped out of her vehicle and moved towards me and yelled,
“What took you so long idiot?”
“Well, I – I..”
“Ah, I just love it when you stutter David, I really do” confessed
Alisa and hugged me.
***
“Aw, so cute! It really is” said Krissy
“I can’t wait to see what happened next. What’s next?”
“Yeah, me neither” said Tim and turned to the next page of his dad’s diary.
***
I don’t know if I should even write this, because this is where my life halted. 27 November, 2013, this was the day when it all went wrong, this was the day when my life was separated from me by the cruel gods of death. This was the day, when they took Alisa away from me forever and ever. Yes, Alisa was suffering from a rare fatal disease which is called as the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which people say is literally impossible to cure, and it did turn out so.
“This death might take my body away from you honey, but my soul will
always be with you, in joyousness as well as in dolefulness. Ah it was
just a wish honey, I was just kidding, don’t you be worried, I’m sure
you will get another girl who will love you more than I did and a girl
who will love your stuttering. And moreover a girl who will not leave
you mid-way with unfulfilled promises unlike me.
But, I’m very disappointed to be honest, if you would have proposed me
earlier then I would have had the pleasure of being loved by you for
some more time. Unfortunately, someone else deserves that love. But,
never mind, I will catch hold of you in our next life and make sure
that we will survive the ages together.
I Love You and your STUTTERing
Always yours
Alisa”
Is the note that she had left behind, which was handed over to me by a 5 year old child in the hospital, who lost his mother and father in a car accident that day. This child made me see a light at a distance, which otherwise would have been filled with darkness”
***
Tears sneaked out of Tim’s eyes and rolled down on his cheeks, as
Krissy embraced comforting him.