Part 3 : Somewhere away

Shilpa remained standing near the doorway long after the car disappeared around the corner.

Rain clouds gathered slowly overhead, darkening the quiet morning inch by inch.

Her fingers tightened unconsciously around the edge of the door as the words from the TV settled inside her deeply.

But something about those words made her chest tighten unexpectedly. As though fate is signifying something she wasn’t meant to understand yet.

Inside the house, traces of laughter lingered warmly in every corner.

Then, with one last glance toward the empty driveway, she finally stepped back inside.

She shook her head lightly and thought it was ridiculous. It was probably just one of those overly dramatic podcasts again.

With a tired sigh, she walked and switched off the TV. Silence immediately settled around the house, the kind she usually enjoyed. But today, it only made her feel restless.

Outside, dark clouds had already begun gathering slowly across the sky.

Unaware that somewhere far away, fate had already begun its slow journey toward the man standing at the center of both those lives...true to the words of the podcast.

But this time unfortunately, the same fate reaches her before it reaches him.

~

Meanwhile, somewhere beyond the life they had built.

Dark clouds had begun swallowing the city slowly and in no time, it began to shower. Not softly..but heavily.

Water dripped endlessly from the rooftops while loud distant thunder rolled across the grey sky. The world outside blurred behind veil of rain and mist.

Inside a small Government Office, time seemed to move differently.

Dusts stuck stubbornly to the old wooden shelves lined with forgotten files and papers that nobody had touched in years. The ceiling fan creaked lazily overhead, pushing around the damp scent of old paper.

A worker sat slouched behind his desk, absently flipping through stacks of neglected case records mechanically simply trying to survive another shift. He yawned loudly and continued to flip through the files bored.

In those files, most of the stories had already ended long ago. Or at least the system had already announced the prolonged cases for a closure. Some others were simply abandoned halfway.

Outside, thunder rumbled again.

A sudden gust of wind slipped through the half-open window, disturbing the cluttered pile near the edge of the desk.

Several files fell down instantly, spreading around the floor.

He muttered under his breath before bending down tiredly to gather the scattered papers.

As he gathered them one by one, his movements paused midway.

One particular file had fallen open separately from the others.

It looked old and was heavily dust-stained while the edges were already worn out with time.

A faded photograph peeked partially from inside while a red stamp across the page had nearly bled into the paper over the years.

The worker frowned slightly.

Then his eyes shifted toward a freshly attached report clipped unevenly onto the file which unlike the older pages looked recent and out of place.

CASE UPDATE REPORT #431

SUBJECT: Unidentified Female

- Record Match under Verification

Date Filed: 5 August.

Status: Incomplete Identification

Report Summary-

Female subject recovered approximately three months ago and was temporarily placed under supervised care.

Subject displayed signs of memory disorientation and was unable to provide consistent details regarding place of residence, family information, or prior identity. Recent observation indicates a possible match with an older unresolved record currently under verification.

The subject was found without valid identification documents or verifiable personal records. Further inquiry was pending.

Before he could read further, another staff member entered hurriedly.

"Sir, the woman from the shelter isn’t there anymore."

The worker looked up. "What do you mean?"

"She left this morning."

"Did she say where she was going?"

A pause.

"No sir… but she kept asking strange things."

"What things?"

The younger man hesitated slightly. "About train routes…bus stands...old residential areas and whether people still wait for someone after a very long time."

The worker frowned as he processed his words. Then his head whipped back at the file. He held out the file to him. "Is she the same person?"

The staff took a look and nodded, confirming.

Silence settled briefly inside the room.

The worker glanced once more toward the half-opened file before closing it absentmindedly.

Another forgotten story, perhaps. Or maybe not...

~

Back at home, Shilpa tried distracting herself with whatever household chores she could find. Laundry, dishes, organizing Nikki’s toys etc etc.

Yet that uncomfortable feeling refused to leave.

By afternoon, rain had finally started pouring heavily outside the windows and the entire house felt oddly cold.

She stood near the kitchen counter stirring the tea dazed before finally giving up and reaching for her phone on the counter.

The call connected after two rings.

"Hello?" Armaan’s familiar voice came through immediately.

The tightness in her chest loosened slightly at once.

"Hey…" she murmured softly.

A pause and then his tone changed instantly as he felt something was wrong. "What happened love?"

"Nothing..." she answered, almost quickly.

"Shilpa."

That one word alone almost made her emotional for no reason.

She leaned against the counter tiredly. "I don’t know…" she admitted quietly. "I just feel strange today."

"Strange how?"

Shilpa glanced outside toward the rain hitting the glass windows violently.

"Like…" she frowned slightly, trying to explain her heart. "Like something bad is about to happen."

Silence, almost contemplating.

"Hey." His voice softened completely. "Mujhe dekho."

A small chuckle escaped her. "Phone pe ho tum."

"Then imagine me looking at you."

That earned a tiny smile from her.

"There’s nothing to worry about," he continued gently. "You’re probably overthinking because of the weather."

Maybe.

"Can you come home early today?" she whispered without realizing it herself, holding her breath for his answer.

"Okay...I will be there." there was no hesitation in his voice.

And somehow, that single assurance comforted her more than anything else.

"Be good and don't overthink much, hmm?" Armaan gently reminded her.

Shilpa nodded and hung up, her heart now at ease, even if for a bit.

~

Meanwhile, rain lashed violently against the glass windows of a dimly lit bus terminal.

Passengers moved hurriedly through the storm while muffled announcements echoed overhead.

Yet near the farthest corner, one figure remained completely still.

A woman sat quietly on the cold metal chair, fingers clutching a carefully folded newspaper cutting that had already worn thin around the edges. She kept looking at it as if to imprint the picture into her mind.

The photograph printed on it had been cut unevenly by hand long ago.

Her tired eyes lingered on the paper silently. Her eyes were filled with uncertainty. Like someone standing at the edge of a life they no longer knew how to return to.

Few rain drops clung to the loose strands of her hair while the faint exhaustion beneath her eyes symbolised of too many lonely nights spent surviving instead of living.

The announcement for the arriving bus echoed again and this time, she slowly stood up and took a hesitant step ahead, almost afraid. Yet something inside her still moved forward anyway.

The cold wind brushed past her face, carrying the scent of rain and wet earth. For a brief moment, she stopped near the entrance.

Her eyes lifted instinctively towards the sky above, like someone trying to gather courage for a life that no longer felt entirely familiar.

People moved past her hurriedly, bumping shoulders, dragging luggage, complaining about the weather.

The impatient shout of the conductor made her come out of her daze and she finally boarded the bus.

Because somewhere beyond this storm…was home awaiting.

______________________________________

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