FF: A tranquil Storm - Pt3 Pg11

The remaining characters are insignificant and I shall introduce them as the story unfolds.

It is 6AM on a gloomy Saturday morning. Dawn is barely opening her eyes to a cloudy, soon to be stormy day. In this zero degree temperature, Maan's leisure pursuit tends to flourish. He has rented a usual summer cabin close to a beach-facing park in far away long island, and decided to spend the weekend there ice-fishing. The backwaters stored in some closed areas around the park are pretty-much frozen. The slate colored stones stacked right across the frozen pond are adding to the black and white effect that has been enhanced because of the fresh snow from last night. The leafless trees are looking picturesque as the snow beautifies their lifeless wintry existence. He has settled himself with all the equipment and is ready to start his course, when suddenly he is distracted by the sound of car tires parking in the nearby parking lot. "Who could be wandering here at the beach on such a cold stormy day this early on a Saturday morning?" He thinks to himself. He continues to monitor the movement, suffering from great curiosity. However, he doesn't see anything so he tries to go back to his activity.

A few minutes later, Maan hears the sound of the car door opening, and then closing. He turns around and sees an Indian girl wearing salwar kameez coming out and walking towards the beach. "Is she crazy? It is freezing outside. Forget a winter coat; she doesn't even have a sweater on. Oh well, what do I care?" He is restless but tries to get back to his Saturday escapade.

The girl continues to walk slowly towards the ocean. The closer she comes, the more evident her sad face and her tears become to Maan. "Could she be in trouble?" Maan wonders but shrugs off the distracting thoughts and tries to concentrate. The girl keeps walking, lost in her own thoughts. She seems as if she has no idea what she is doing or where she is going. She slowly steps foot into the cold sea water. Maan uncontrollably continues to stare at this anomaly of a woman. He notices her slowly starting to immerse herself in deeper waters. She doesn't seem influenced by the coldness of her surroundings and the water itself. It looks as if the pain inside of her, as evident on her face, has consumed her so much that she wants to numb herself in hope that she will stop feeling that ache of her heart. The storm within seems to have incinerated her. The deeper she gets the more concerned Maan gets. He can't help but jump in that ice cold water to pull this insane Indian girl out of there.

He swims inwards, picks her up, and pulls her out of the water. Looking at her with sheer disgust and anger, he takes her back into his cabin, and turns on the fireplace. She is now unconscious and shivering in cold. Maan, still angry, pulls his towel hanging on the door and tries to wipe her face. He turns her around and attempts to get some water out of her system. She slowly starts coming to her senses.

The girl opens her eyes and sees Maan in front of her all wet and dripping. She gathers all that just happened. She bursts out in tears, breaks down, and apologizes to Maan. "Dekhiye aap mujhe galat mat samajhiye, main apne aap ko maarne ki koshish nahi kar rahi thi! Main to bas!" (Look, don't get me wrong. I wasn't trying to kill myself, I was just!")

"Mujhe tumhari raam kahaani sunne mein koi interest nahi hai. Tumhare paas badalne ke liye kapde hai?" (I have no interest in listening to your sob story. Do you have clothes to change into?) Maan asks furiously. "Haan gaadi mein!" (In the car) She replies. He runs quickly towards the car in his still wet clothes. He sees the keys are in the ignition and car still running. He opens the car and finds that the whole car is packed with luggage, as if this girl has left her home. He finds a pair of clothes, brings the car in the cabin parking spot, shuts off the car, and gets back into his cabin.