|FREEDOM|-Part 2/3/Page 5/7 -PreRish TS-THE END - Page 6

A

W

E

S

❤️

M

E

!

Well,

Hello everyone. I had written a piece for something else long back. I just felt this suited Rishabh and Prerna so much. I hope you all like it.

This is the final piece to the end.

Bouquets and brickbats are welcome.

Piu

A humble request, listen to this song while reading this chapter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sz9v6080_g

FREEDOM-PART III

Felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders...

Pressure to break or retreat at every turn;

Facing the fear that the truth I discovered;

No telling how all this will work out;

But I've come too far to go back now.

I am looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom...

And to find it cost me everything I have.

Well I am looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom...

And to find it may take everything I have!

I know all too well it don't come easy;

The chains of the world they seem to move in tight;

I try to walk around it,

But stumbling's so familiar;

Try to get up but the doubt is so strong;

There's gotta be a wind in my bones...

I'm looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom;

And to find it, cost me everything I have.

Well I'm looking for freedom,

I'm looking for freedom...

And to find it may take everything I have!

Oh

Not giving up has always been hard,

So hard...

But if I do the things the easy way I won't get far.

Hmm, life hasn't been very kind to me lately,

Well,

But I suppose it's a push for moving on,

Oh yeah;

In time the sun's gonna shine on me nicely,

One day yeah,

Something tells me good things are coming and I ain't gonna not believe.

I'm looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom;

And to find it, cost me everything I have.

Well I'm looking for freedom,

I'm looking for freedom...

And to find it may take everything I have

Songwriters: ANTHONY CORNELIUS HAMILTON / KELVIN WOOTEN / ELAYNA BOYNTON

FREEDOM

El Beso Del Final?

Camp Site- Dudhsagar Falls Goa

The silence was eerie. There was not even a single living soul around. The lofty mountains were hanging like clouds of doom in the pitch-black sky with a dreary moonlit night. The wind slowly rustled between distorted trunks of trees that moved and then stood still like lonely sages in deep contemplation. Ignoring the trail which his muddy boots had left behind him, Rishabh moved faster trying to cover the few yards which led to a reclusive spot closed to the Dudhsagar Waterfall. The damp leaves grimed his skin as he moved forward step by step until he reached where he wanted to.

He cursed the day he had agreed to come to this place with Prerna at the request of Menaka. Menaka had some strange ritual she wanted to perform for Kukki's life in the moonlit Hunter's Moon Night right here. Prerna was Kukki's mother, and she had just agreed to this when Rishabh had called her once, she had surprised him pleasantly though.

Coincidentally, this was a place where Rishabh's mother used to bring him every year. Incidentally, he was told how Moloy had met his mother on a trip to this waterfall and then left her with a child in her womb. He went ahead to marry Mohini and forgot about them so conveniently while his mother used to live in the haunted memories of a glorious past she once had with his coward father. Just like Prerna was all the time, when she was married to Rishabh. That feeling gnawed on his heart. His stepfather, the less said about him was better.

His trail of thoughts was broken when he reached his destination.

Just a few meters away from the waterfall was the Black Rose Blooms enclosed in a barbed wire fencing which mentioned the bold letters-

"In the Loving memory of Sumitra, mother of Rishabh Bajaj."

Rishabh's slow pace became brisk steps, and in sheer anxiety, he literally tripped off near the fence almost cutting the insides of his cheeks. He could taste the metallic blood in his mouth. The same one when he had laughed maniacally after electrocuting his stepfather years ago when he couldn't take his beating anymore.

With a lone tear buried in the corners of his dark muddy eyes, he hovered his palms on the Black blooms blurring the orientation of time.

The darkness turned into bright sunlight for him where the crickets sang on a sunny day.

Numerous butterflies floated in front of his eyes.

Years ago.

"Ma!! Why do we come here every time??"

Little Rishabh ran collecting nettles and wild mushrooms from the soggy forest earth. The Dudhsagar waterfalls were right before them and the Sunday afternoon was a perfect getaway for the mother-son duo ever since they had returned to India.

"It is because your father proposed me here !", Sumitra raised her eyes from beneath her colossal hat, giving the final touches to the muffler she had been knitting for her son.

She sighed and blushed to remember her overtly passionate romance with Moloy who had catered to all her girlish fantasies.

The mat on which she was seated had numerous toys and baskets of fruits spread near the waterfall on a small rock. What a lovely summer afternoon it was!

Warm! Sunny and Delightful.

"Really ?"

Rishabh jumped near her pouring out his priced pebbles, nettles and mushroom collection from his white silk handkerchief which had turned brown with mud.

"So you were rich too like Baba?", he muttered nuzzling Sumitra's saree in sheer curiosity.

"No, I was nothing but a common girl, but you ..", Sumitra's bright eyes brimmed with tears as she placed a small peck on Rishabh's cheek and continued in her flute-like tones, "My son will get the most beautiful princess to marry!"

A little miffed, Rishabh replied in a question, "So, will I find her here only like Baba proposed you?"

"Yes, here take this!", Sumitra just smiled a little instead of arguing and poured out some milk in a glass from a metallic flask kept in the small fruit basket.

"I don't like milk at all. I hate the taste.", Rishabh sulked and shoved the glass away from his face.

"See, I have added honey in it as the princess would love to drink", Sumitra chirped adding a teaspoonful of raw wild honey and stirred it luring him.

"I don't want to drink it!" Rishabh stomped his feet and grumbled.

"Then how will you become strong and marry the princess who loves milk?", Sumitra squeezed her eyes, throwing in her last bait.

It indeed did work as his craze to marry a princess lured him back to his mother's lap.

"Okay, I will drink it, but you have to tell me the story first", he pouted, grabbing the glass of milk from Sumitra's hands.

"No, you will have to finish the milk first", she chuckled, putting her conditions forward.

"Story"

"Milk"

Story"

"Milk", Sumitra firmly raised her voice, putting a point of no reconciliation to the war of words.

When all other tricks failed, Rishabh kissed her cheeks, making a sallow face and begged in childish innocence, "Please tell the story Ma!"

"You are a born devil! Aren't you?", the mother in Sumitra couldn't resist the antics of her son and pinched his chubby cheeks.

"How many times will you hear the same story and ask the same questions?", she chortled.

"Ma! Please!", he blinked his eyes again and sipped one gulp.

Sumitra started her usual legend back while Keshav drunk the milk, "Once upon a time there lived a mighty king and his beautiful daughter in a palace made of ivory near these mountains. The Princess used to regularly come to the lake where she sipped honeyed milk before having her bath. One day, a valiant prince happened to see her bathing and was mesmerised looking at her exquisite beauty. The Princess got scared and immediately shrouded herself behind a cascade of milk that she poured from the jug. The pure milk fell from the mountains, plummeting down as the waterfalls you see in front of you."

Sumitra narrated the legend behind the Dudhsagar falls.

"Then ?", Rishabh wiped off his rosy pink milk laced lip and mumbled in curiosity, "Did the Princess marry the Prince?"

"Oh, Rishabh, I don't know. Stop asking so many questions.", Sumitra chuckled taking away the finished milk glass.

"But why did the Princess hide? Did she not love the Prince?", the questions of Little Rishabh did not end there.

"Hah hah! You ask too many questions!!", Sumitra pulled his nose and sneered at him.

It infuriated little Rishabh, and he started running towards the steep edged rocks which led to the waterfall.

"Stop. Stop, I said! Where are you running away?". Sumitra panicked and started running after him.

Rishabh teased her and winked his eyes.

"I am going to find my Princess who is hiding behind the Waterfall", Rishabh placed his hands on the waist and danced, "I will dance and find the princess.", Rishabh ran towards a waterfall.

From a distance, the waterfall had been like a small milky stream cascading over the huge rocks. As Rishabh came closer and closer and closer, his song was dampened by the deafening roar of the water.

There he stood under the plume of water and imagined the beautiful Princess hiding behind the waterfall. His tender heart yearned to have one glimpse of the Princess of the waterfall.

He watched in awe and clapped his hands, "Ma! I will find my Princess. I am the Prince!" As a child, this was always his quibble with life. He will get the Princess for sure and make her his Queen; he had decided that day.

"You are not the prince, you are the devil!", Sumitra broke into peals of laughter, looking at his antics.

Coming back from the depths of time, Rishabh realized that the warmth of Sumitra's voice was replaced by the scratching of lizard paws at tree trunks and the rushing coldness of the waterfall a few yards away from him. He kissed the black roses, and thousands of other memories too started flooding in his dizzy head. The trees had begun dancing again as the moist breeze played with their magnificent branches. The cold, humid moon sat above the loneliness, watching him from a distance. In the moon's face, he tried to find Sumitra's warm smile.

The thick forest which was basking in the warmth of the sun, where bumblebees were flapping their wings in his memories was a completely uninviting space during the night time.

In sheer anxiety and state of a lullaby, he ran towards the waterfall. A force of unknown nature, both magnetic and brutally charming was pulling him towards it. It was a state of anonymous tranquillity from a distance, but slowly as his feet rustled through the soft fallen dried leaves the drizzle fell on his face, and the noise was deafening up his already numb senses.

His feet stopped, and his breath did wedge within his lungs.

His eyes fell on a shadow which brightened slowly in the falling boom of moonlight as he walked closer to the pool of green waters which was looking like a pond of liquid silver formed by the milky white foam of the falling waters of the waterfall.

Prerna was right there in front of his eyes. Hair open and her black saree coiled like a snake around her lithe form. The rock was covered with soggy moss, completely slippery with water from pouring water and dull mist. She dug her fingers on the rock near the pool and pulled herself up. She stood head straight admiring nature's display of abundance.

Her silhouette was dark, but her soft angelic face was glowing like the moon above them. She soaked insight with a smile on her face trying to fly like an eagle with her arms outstretched.

Rishabh stood, soaking her instead. He did not know-how by any chance she had found her way to the waterfall alone or whatever had propelled her there.

She sat on the rock and soused her tiny feet in the pool, creating ripples and patterns just like she used to do with her hands while trying to break her silent world. Rishabh failed to understand what attracted him towards Prerna. Whether he liked her because of his savage satisfaction or because of the fact that she was the spitting image of his mother's selflessness or whether he simply envied her heartfelt laughter; he was unable to decide.

Rishabh quivered in excitement. It was as if the cascades of the milky white waters conjured cascades of equally powerful emotions in his brain. His pursuing fancies went berserk had not she raised her raised and met with his dizzy ones.

There was no coyness, but another powerful gaze, a mild hesitation as she pulled her saree around her drenched body and then a burst of heartfelt laughter like a child caught stealing sweetmeats from the kitchen cupboard.

She kept on giggling for a long time, and Rishabh galloped from one rock to another to reach where she was stationed.

There was a little hesitation when he bent down near her. Prerna pulled her saree closer and tried to hide her emotions in haste.

Perched atop the rock, Rishabh held her hands firmly and muttered, "Why do you hide from me ?"

"Why can't I find you ?", he spoke out of breath with his heart plundered in deep turmoil.

He raised his eyes and did watch Prerna, just blink her eyes in silence. Rishabh could have said a million things had not Menaka intervened out of nowhere and raised her suspicious eyes. Prerna had to be pinched by Rishabh to grab his attention, and then silence ensued only to be broken by Menaka.

"We were just starting the bonfire? Wondering if you guys would care to mix with us common people?", she uttered with caustic sarcasm pointing towards the other's who had started to light up the fire and roar like crazy in giddy intoxication faraway at the camping site.

"We definitely will.", Rishabh extended his hands to support her but instead, Prerna preferred to jump alone walking with poise towards Menaka.

Rishabh kept staring at his extended palms for a long time before walking unhappily towards them.

Later that night the gang of friends danced to drum rolls unclenched by shams of morality. They did not care who was Prerna or who was Rishabh, they smoked like crazy and danced like crazy too. They called it some ritual.

Prerna sat unmoved beneath a small tree bundled in her saree and discomfort, absorbing a different world altogether in front of her.

Later, in a final moment of frenzied euphoria, Rishabh extended his hands to pull Prerna for dancing. His quest remained unfulfilled. The daughter-in-law of the Basu clan got up and headed towards her tent with poise. The fire crackled some more, and other men and women swayed utterly free from the world. Something stung in Rishabh's eyes blurring his vision and something sparked in Menaka's.

Finally, when everyone was lost in the whirls of smoke scattered in senses, Rishabh took shelter beneath a tree, smoking some more and remembering his rejection once again. Like a thunderstorm, Prerna had ultimately wreaked havoc on him again and had scorned him in the worst possible way.

He flustered suddenly when Menaka sat beside him and tried to bind him back into her arms. He tried, he tried really hard, for old times' sake, lips met for a brief second but made him whimsical.

He pushed Menaka aside, lacing his fingers in his damp hair. Fidelity with someone who every second thoughtlessly crushed him underfoot made him angry, but the helplessness of his conflicting thoughts made him even more miserable. He got up in haste and tried to rebuke and challenge himself. Rishabh grabbed Menaka within his arms, but her words made the confirmation of his obsession even stronger. He clenched his fists tightly. The dying embers of the bonfire had a redness very similar to Rishabh's eyes.

"It is about her, right ?". Menaka simply glanced at Rishabh's frustrated face once.

She did feel hurt, looking at Rishabh's astounded face. At any other time, she wouldn't have wasted a moment's thought on whether he rejected her or not. For Menaka, sentiments were like shackles, and she always made sure that even if she fell for them, she quickly cut it off with her own merciless hands.

Rishabh hung his head and squeezed her arms, yelling, "I don't know what you are talking about?"

But Menaka continued, "Tell me? Does she snub you? And you enjoy it, Right?"

Rishabh's grip on her loosened, and he turned his face away.

Menaka didn't give up. She somehow had a weird passion for grotesque, and it gave her thrill to rub it on Rishabh's face, "Does she whimper in your dreams and you like the domination?"

"Stop your nonsense!", her words made his misery lay heavier on his already burdened shoulders as he placed his hands on his ears.

"Huh. Tell me what else do you want to do to her? You would like to punish her for leaving you for your half-brother?", Menaka rubbed ample salt on his wounds.

"Menaka, just mind your own business, will you?", Rishabh shoved her on the ground and started walking away in anger.

"You perceive me to be far from morality and what about you and her?", Menaka laughed hysterically brushing off the soil from her elbows and dress.

Rishabh's feet jammed, and he stared back at her shooting daggers at her, "You have no right to comment like this on Prerna? There is no reality in what you say!"

"How many senses do men have, Rishabh?", Menaka smiled one of her crooked smiles and slowly walked towards Rishabh.

"Five, why ?" he blurted confused.

"Women, women are strange we have the sixth one too.", Menaka whispered, leaning closer to his ears and started walking away.

Keshav stared at her gobsmacked. She stopped midway and turned around using the final nail in the coffin with her words as sharp as needles.

"She is fire, and you are like this cold ice. I know how much you crave for that heat, and I know you love burning!", she exclaimed and walked towards the group of senseless men and women lost in their own world.

An unknown burden and thrill plagued Rishabh, a sheer wave of urgency, a cheap gritting need. His heart struck with a whimsical yearning for the sight of Prerna. He couldn't keep still. He rushed towards Prerna's tent, which was fixed at a little distance.

Breaths almost left him as he barged into it and saw Prerna buried in a red satin duvet placed on the cot in her tent.

Prerna’s eyes were half-closed as her petite form leaned intently near the lamp scanning the pages of her book. She tossed and turned after stuffing her mouth with a kewda water sprinkled sweet which she had taken out from a small sandalwood box placed near the lamp.

Her face grimaced with pain as she turned the pages and sometimes smiled in awe. It was as if the expressions of the words swam in her charming radiant front.

When she saw a shadow climb up upon her, she got up in haste.

Her eyes met up for a brief second, and at this point, she got a bit scared. Rishabh stood there breathing eyes bloodshot heavily, face pale and ghostly.

Step by step, he moved further towards her, and in anxiety, she leaned and with a whiff of her breath blew away the flame of the lamp. She knew what would happen next. Rishabh would take the cue and leave as he would when they were married, and she would switch off the light of their room. She took a breath but whatever happened took her by surprise.

The match was struck, and the lamp was lighted again by Rishabh. What followed was an unusual game to blow the fire off and then ignite it back, alternating their turns.

A tinkle of provocative laughter elucidated when finally Rishabh won, and she resigned, blowing it off again.

At that very moment, he extended his hands to touch her warm cheeks flushed with happiness, but Prerna walked two steps backwards.

Patience was lost, and Rishabh gripped her arms throwing her on the cot screaming in hatred, "You think you will become dirty if I cast my eye upon you, huh?"

He pulled her closer while she struggled to free herself, "Let me see you today. You cannot hide ..Do you understand?"

A slap was returned in turn for brutality, and a fierce shocking rebellion broke out of Prerna. Pushing him aside, she ran away as fast as her legs could carry her. She tripped and probably cut herself, but she kept on running for a long, long time.

Rishabh followed her shadow in futility screaming in fear, "Stop I said!"

"Wait! I will not hurt you!", his voice choked as he ran without any response from the shadow.

"I am not bad.", his guttural voice muttered trying to suppress his tears that emerged every now and then.

At last, the shadow did fell near the waterfall as Prerna had hit a steep rock. She rolled and groaned in pain, holding her feet. Rishabh ran towards her and then she screamed, pushing him away and he stared at her panic-stricken.

She hit him madly, she shook him violently and her scream, if not masked by the noise of the waterfall, would have pierced the heart of every man alive on earth.

She finally held Rishabh's collar in stern defiance and cried, cried as hard as she could. It was as if the dams of her patience had given up completely.

Rishabh's feet jammed, but his heart was beyond his control. The waterfall, which was a part of his childhood fantasies scared him to death, and he pulled Prerna closer, caging her in his arms. He crooned a soft melody in her ears.

Some strange resistance, and then screams turned into deep cries and finally hiccups as she fell on her knees still trapped in Rishabh's arms.

Rishabh kept on rhetorically uttering while cradling her in his arms and whispered in her ears, "Don't cry anymore. Prem is my son. Our Son !! He will be my dearest son. I will love him. You will love him. He will not be like me. He will never make you cry like me. He will get the Princess. He will get his Queen! Everything will be fine. My son will be loved by his father!"

For a long time, Prerna cried and sensed the familiar warm whispers near her ears. The owls hooted, and jackals howled forming the perfect symphony with Rishabh's lullaby.

It was as if a billion moons had passed within each other's arms. There was a need, there was greed and much more. Prerna suddenly came back to her senses and pushed Rishabh back with all her might.

With a sharp reprimand for her giddy headedness, she turned around and was about to walk away.

Rishabh was not ready to give up yet!

He twirled her around, and the jerk pulled her back to him. He caged her in his arms again. The touch was cold, clammy, the wind blew pathetically hard, giving her goosebumps.

Their heads touched each other, and she lowered her eyes, gulping a massive lump in her throat. Something was terribly wrong with her. Nothing was working according to her. Her heart started beating in a rhythm unknown to her, her breaths rapid flaming beneath her cold body and tears filled her eyes while her body felt a great rush. The inspirations just hit each other as they moved closer and closer until their lips were touching; she drew in a sharp breath and muttered closing her eyes; "This is not right."

"This is not wrong, either.", she heard his whisper near his ears, and everything blinded the very next moment. Rishabh was still breathing for his breath.

The world became blank, the roar of the waterfall stopped reaching her ears, his grip tightened around her as he ducked his head and grabbed her lips, brushing it against his. The coldness grew warmer; she could not decipher what was this. Her already giddy head started floating, the rush, the inexplicable thrill threatened to burst her throbbing heart. Prerna felt his hands slipping to her cheeks, caressing them. The fire grew inside burning them both, the fervour of the sudden touch, the passion swept both of them like a storm. Everything around them blurred. Rishabh was on the verge of insanity. Passion for Prerna had consumed him ever since he realized what she meant for him. To touch her, to embrace her, to make her collapse in his passions had become the sole object of his existence. He flung himself on her, in ecstasy. Such a delirious state was unknown to him. He felt as if he just merged with her. The way he brushed her lips, and grazed her cheeks; he felt everything else apart from her deserted him, his spirit was like an empty vessel filled with her. The kind of carnal desires his touch evoked sent her into a cataleptic ecstasy. His touch was like poison for her making her die slowly, the death of her the woman she had been all these years. Whoever was born and took the place of her was an unknown woman.

"Mr Bajaj, Anurag...", Prerna muttered breaking their moment of intimacy.

She watched Rishabh's eyes open in horror, his face blanching, him drawing a sharp breath! He then took a moment to hide his tears, and a swoop of dark anger screamed out from the depths of his heart.

"Isn't it enough that Basu gets my father and life that could have been mine?", Rishabh was on the verge of bursting from his seams.

Prerna saw his wrath patiently and silently. The waterfall was flowing in her princely pride and their hearts in shambles and in quenchless despair. Rishabh was breathing like the hot flames of air emerging from the hearth of a blacksmith. The Hunter's moon night was even drearier.

She saw him suddenly grabbing his hair and yelling, "I should have killed Basu, I will kill him".

It was the moment for Prerna to intrude, she lunged at him, and the fierce duel began. Rishabh was shivering in anger and despair, she panicked.

"Why, Why why? Why can't you just... ", Keshav grabbed her arms and gritted his teeth which were already chattering with terrible amplitude, he burst from his core.

Prerna was tired, tired fighting her fate. She embraced Rishabh with all her might. She knew it had to be done to free him from the shackles of his past.

The grip of his nails choked her, but she saw in his eyes a silent agony, he was sinking into madness and darkness. She breathed heavily and hugged him madly. He stood motionless chattering his teeth looking here and there trying to free himself from her, but it was not the moment to lose for her. It was the night to hold him. She traced her hands back his neck and forcefully made it duck on her shoulders. A sharp shooting pain made her freeze when the chattering teeth sunk in her flesh, the hands she held them and made them dig her back. Her breath stopped in shock, the crush was violating and anything but gentle.

All the years of repressed anger accumulated in his sharp nails and teeth; but she held him, and they walked to their safe haven, their much-needed proximity to sink into each other. That night; Prerna's loud moans and screams floated in the air. She choked with insurmountable pain; she offered himself to him freely and bore the attack.

She lay bare, she put her heart, body, and soul in their bed, and she cavorted and writhed with him in wild and cynical abandon. Many a time, her hands slipped from him, trying to bear everything with ease, but tonight was not the time to leave him. She bore his pain, trying to absorb him in her, to bring him out of the misery he still held in the depths of his heart. Her face contorted, but she gently caressed him, her bones rattled almost threatening to break up, but she waited with bated breath and rained kisses all over him. He had never been so barbaric, and she had never been so gentle. To each his own but the communion was mutual. The exchange of pain for comfort was a harsh prize for Prerna, but she was ready to pay. When she tried to silence her own moans with her palms, he gripped her wrists above her head and filled the night with her echoing voice. The damp clouds began to pool in over the water.

Prerna waited and held on.

She had to wait for a long, long time, and the only thing to break the silence was his harsh breathings and her silent tears.

Her saree had been crushed beneath them, and his clothes lied on the heap of mud, tarnished and black.

There was nothing but silence between them. They both lied side by side, Rishabh's hands were limp resting above his forehead, and Prerna stared at Hunter's Moon overhead. It was bright red, almost haunting by now. The gentle breeze dried the pools of sweat and anguish that had been the remnants of their past. Prerna's body ached terribly, faint smudges and impressions of his teeth and clawed nails blighted her skin. Rishabh's breaths came in shallow yet deep gasps and pants.

The clouds that had continued to roll and thunder in while he had occupied and devoured her body was now ready to burst from their seams; the threatening of the rains poured out in torrents.

The silence of their breaths was unbearable, but it broke as Rishabh spoke, staring wide-eyed at the starry sky, “I know I am the devil Prerna, and I lived up to it today."

Rishabh's statement was cut short suddenly. Prerna blurted, her feeble ragged voice broke into hiccups, 'But, the devil still gets a fairy tale ending."

As if by impulse, she kissed his lips gently.

"We both are free now.", she muttered.

Faraway near the black roses hedge, lied the tiny black beads of Prerna's mangalsutra, broken and thrown away from her. The vermillion had long gone.

THE END.

A note on Hunter's Moon :

Hunter's Moon or Blood Moon

Hunter's moon is mentioned in several sources as the Anglo-Saxon name for the Full Moon of October. This is the month when the game is fattened, and it is time to start preparing for the coming winter. Traditionally, this included hunting, slaughtering and preserving meats for use in the coming winter months.

Other names are Travel Moon and Dying Grass Moon. Some also called it Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon, which also refers to the hunting season.

Originally posted by: manzilmukul

Well,

Hello everyone. I had written a piece for something else long back. I just felt this suited Rishabh and Prerna so much. I hope you all like it.

This is the final piece to the end.

Bouquets and brickbats are welcome.

Piu

A humble request, listen to this song while reading this chapter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sz9v6080_g

FREEDOM-PART III

Felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders...

Pressure to break or retreat at every turn;

Facing the fear that the truth I discovered;

No telling how all this will work out;

But I've come too far to go back now.

I am looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom...

And to find it cost me everything I have.

Well I am looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom...

And to find it may take everything I have!

I know all too well it don't come easy;

The chains of the world they seem to move in tight;

I try to walk around it,

But stumbling's so familiar;

Try to get up but the doubt is so strong;

There's gotta be a wind in my bones...

I'm looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom;

And to find it, cost me everything I have.

Well I'm looking for freedom,

I'm looking for freedom...

And to find it may take everything I have!

Oh

Not giving up has always been hard,

So hard...

But if I do the things the easy way I won't get far.

Hmm, life hasn't been very kind to me lately,

Well,

But I suppose it's a push for moving on,

Oh yeah;

In time the sun's gonna shine on me nicely,

One day yeah,

Something tells me good things are coming and I ain't gonna not believe.

I'm looking for freedom,

Looking for freedom;

And to find it, cost me everything I have.

Well I'm looking for freedom,

I'm looking for freedom...

And to find it may take everything I have

Songwriters: ANTHONY CORNELIUS HAMILTON / KELVIN WOOTEN / ELAYNA BOYNTON

FREEDOM

El Beso Del Final?

Camp Site- Dudhsagar Falls Goa

The silence was eerie. There was not even a single living soul around. The lofty mountains were hanging like clouds of doom in the pitch-black sky with a dreary moonlit night. The wind slowly rustled between distorted trunks of trees that moved and then stood still like lonely sages in deep contemplation. Ignoring the trail which his muddy boots had left behind him, Rishabh moved faster trying to cover the few yards which led to a reclusive spot closed to the Dudhsagar Waterfall. The damp leaves grimed his skin as he moved forward step by step until he reached where he wanted to.

He cursed the day he had agreed to come to this place with Prerna at the request of Menaka. Menaka had some strange ritual she wanted to perform for Kukki's life in the moonlit Hunter's Moon Night right here. Prerna was Kukki's mother, and she had just agreed to this when Rishabh had called her once, she had surprised him pleasantly though.

Coincidentally, this was a place where Rishabh's mother used to bring him every year. Incidentally, he was told how Moloy had met his mother on a trip to this waterfall and then left her with a child in her womb. He went ahead to marry Mohini and forgot about them so conveniently while his mother used to live in the haunted memories of a glorious past she once had with his coward father. Just like Prerna was all the time, when she was married to Rishabh. That feeling gnawed on his heart. His stepfather, the less said about him was better.

His trail of thoughts was broken when he reached his destination.

Just a few meters away from the waterfall was the Black Rose Blooms enclosed in a barbed wire fencing which mentioned the bold letters-

"In the Loving memory of Sumitra, mother of Rishabh Bajaj."

Rishabh's slow pace became brisk steps, and in sheer anxiety, he literally tripped off near the fence almost cutting the insides of his cheeks. He could taste the metallic blood in his mouth. The same one when he had laughed maniacally after electrocuting his stepfather years ago when he couldn't take his beating anymore.

With a lone tear buried in the corners of his dark muddy eyes, he hovered his palms on the Black blooms blurring the orientation of time.

The darkness turned into bright sunlight for him where the crickets sang on a sunny day.

Numerous butterflies floated in front of his eyes.

Years ago.

"Ma!! Why do we come here every time??"

Little Rishabh ran collecting nettles and wild mushrooms from the soggy forest earth. The Dudhsagar waterfalls were right before them and the Sunday afternoon was a perfect getaway for the mother-son duo ever since they had returned to India.

"It is because your father proposed me here !", Sumitra raised her eyes from beneath her colossal hat, giving the final touches to the muffler she had been knitting for her son.

She sighed and blushed to remember her overtly passionate romance with Moloy who had catered to all her girlish fantasies.

The mat on which she was seated had numerous toys and baskets of fruits spread near the waterfall on a small rock. What a lovely summer afternoon it was!

Warm !!Sunny and Delightful.

"Really ?"

Rishabh jumped near her pouring out his priced pebbles, nettles and mushroom collection from his white silk handkerchief which had turned brown with mud.

"So you were rich too like Baba?", he muttered nuzzling Sumitra's saree in sheer curiosity.

"No, I was nothing but a common girl, but you ..", Sumitra's bright eyes brimmed with tears as she placed a small peck on Rishabh's cheek and continued in her flute-like tones, "My son will get the most beautiful princess to marry!"

A little miffed, Rishabh replied in a question, "So, will I find her here only like Baba proposed you?"

"Yes, here take this!", Sumitra just smiled a little instead of arguing and poured out some milk in a glass from a metallic flask kept in the small fruit basket.

"I don't like milk at all. I hate the taste.", Rishabh sulked and shoved the glass away from his face.

"See, I have added honey in it as the princess would love to drink", Sumitra chirped adding a teaspoonful of raw wild honey and stirred it luring him.

"I don't want to drink it!" Rishabh stomped his feet and grumbled.

"Then how will you become strong and marry the princess who loves milk?", Sumitra squeezed her eyes, throwing in her last bait.

It indeed did work as his craze to marry a princess lured him back to his mother's lap.

"Okay, I will drink it, but you have to tell me the story first", he pouted, grabbing the glass of milk from Sumitra's hands.

"No, you will have to finish the milk first", she chuckled, putting her conditions forward.

"Story"

"Milk"

Story"

"Milk", Sumitra firmly raised her voice, putting a point of no reconciliation to the war of words.

When all other tricks failed, Rishabh kissed her cheeks, making a sallow face and begged in childish innocence, "Please tell the story Ma!"

"You are a born devil! Aren't you?", the mother in Sumitra couldn't resist the antics of her son and pinched his chubby cheeks.

"How many times will you hear the same story and ask the same questions?", she chortled.

"Ma! Please!", he blinked his eyes again and sipped one gulp.

Sumitra started her usual legend back while Keshav drunk the milk, "Once upon a time there lived a mighty king and his beautiful daughter in a palace made of ivory near these mountains. The Princess used to regularly come to the lake where she sipped honeyed milk before having her bath. One day, a valiant prince happened to see her bathing and was mesmerised looking at her exquisite beauty. The Princess got scared and immediately shrouded herself behind a cascade of milk that she poured from the jug. The pure milk fell from the mountains, plummeting down as the waterfalls you see in front of you."

Sumitra narrated the legend behind the Dudhsagar falls.

"Then ?", Rishabh wiped off his rosy pink milk laced lip and mumbled in curiosity, "Did the Princess marry the Prince?"

"Oh, Rishabh, I don't know. Stop asking so many questions.", Sumitra chuckled taking away the finished milk glass.

"But why did the Princess hide? Did she not love the Prince?", the questions of Little Rishabh did not end there.

"Hah hah! You ask too many questions!!", Sumitra pulled his nose and sneered at him.

It infuriated little Rishabh, and he started running towards the steep edged rocks which led to the waterfall.

"Stop. Stop, I said! Where are you running away?". Sumitra panicked and started running after him.

Rishabh teased her and winked his eyes.

"I am going to find my Princess who is hiding behind the Waterfall", Rishabh placed his hands on the waist and danced, "I will dance and find the princess.", Rishabh ran towards a waterfall.

From a distance, the waterfall had been like a small milky stream cascading over the huge rocks. As Rishabh came closer and closer and closer, his song was dampened by the deafening roar of the water.

There he stood under the plume of water and imagined the beautiful Princess hiding behind the waterfall. His tender heart yearned to have one glimpse of the Princess of the waterfall.

He watched in awe and clapped his hands, "Ma! I will find my Princess. I am the Prince!" As a child, this was always his quibble with life. He will get the Princess for sure and make her his Queen; he had decided that day.

"You are not the prince, you are the devil!", Sumitra broke into peals of laughter, looking at his antics.

Coming back from the depths of time, Rishabh realized that the warmth of Sumitra's voice was replaced by the scratching of lizard paws at tree trunks and the rushing coldness of the waterfall a few yards away from him. He kissed the black roses, and thousands of other memories too started flooding in his dizzy head. The trees had begun dancing again as the moist breeze played with their magnificent branches. The cold, humid moon sat above the loneliness, watching him from a distance. In the moon's face, he tried to find Sumitra's warm smile.

The thick forest which was basking in the warmth of the sun, where bumblebees were flapping their wings in his memories was a completely uninviting space during the night time.

In sheer anxiety and state of a lullaby, he ran towards the waterfall. A force of unknown nature, both magnetic and brutally charming was pulling him towards it. It was a state of anonymous tranquillity from a distance, but slowly as his feet rustled through the soft fallen dried leaves the drizzle fell on his face, and the noise was deafening up his already numb senses.

His feet stopped, and his breath did wedge within his lungs.

His eyes fell on a shadow which brightened slowly in the falling boom of moonlight as he walked closer to the pool of green waters which was looking like a pond of liquid silver formed by the milky white foam of the falling waters of the waterfall.

Prerna was right there in front of his eyes. Hair open and her black saree coiled like a snake around her lithe form. The rock was covered with soggy moss, completely slippery with water from pouring water and dull mist. She dug her fingers on the rock near the pool and pulled herself up. She stood head straight admiring nature's display of abundance.

Her silhouette was dark, but her soft angelic face was glowing like the moon above them. She soaked insight with a smile on her face trying to fly like an eagle with her arms outstretched.

Rishabh stood, soaking her instead. He did not know-how by any chance she had found her way to the waterfall alone or whatever had propelled her there.

She sat on the rock and soused her tiny feet in the pool, creating ripples and patterns just like she used to do with her hands while trying to break her silent world. Rishabh failed to understand what attracted him towards Prerna. Whether he liked her because of his savage satisfaction or because of the fact that she was the spitting image of his mother's selflessness or whether he simply envied her heartfelt laughter; he was unable to decide.

Rishabh quivered in excitement. It was as if the cascades of the milky white waters conjured cascades of equally powerful emotions in his brain. His pursuing fancies went berserk had not she raised her raised and met with his dizzy ones.

There was no coyness, but another powerful gaze, a mild hesitation as she pulled her saree around her drenched body and then a burst of heartfelt laughter like a child caught stealing sweetmeats from the kitchen cupboard.

She kept on giggling for a long time, and Rishabh galloped from one rock to another to reach where she was stationed.

There was a little hesitation when he bent down near her. Prerna pulled her saree closer and tried to hide her emotions in haste.

Perched atop the rock, Rishabh held her hands firmly and muttered, "Why do you hide from me ?"

"Why can't I find you ?", he spoke out of breath with his heart plundered in deep turmoil.

He raised his eyes and did watch Prerna, just blink her eyes in silence. Rishabh could have said a million things had not Menaka intervened out of nowhere and raised her suspicious eyes. Prerna had to be pinched by Rishabh to grab his attention, and then silence ensued only to be broken by Menaka.

"We were just starting the bonfire? Wondering if you guys would care to mix with us common people?", she uttered with caustic sarcasm pointing towards the other's who had started to light up the fire and roar like crazy in giddy intoxication faraway at the camping site.

"We definitely will.", Rishabh extended his hands to support her but instead, Prerna preferred to jump alone walking with poise towards Menaka.

Rishabh kept staring at his extended palms for a long time before walking unhappily towards them

Later that night the gang of friends danced to drum rolls unclenched by shams of morality. They did not care who was Prerna or who was Rishabh, they smoked like crazy and danced like crazy too. They called it some ritual.

Prerna sat unmoved beneath a small tree bundled in her saree and discomfort, absorbing a different world altogether in front of her.

Later, in a final moment of frenzied euphoria, Rishabh extended his hands to pull Prerna for dancing. His quest remained unfulfilled. The daughter-in-law of the Basu clan got up and headed towards her tent with poise. The fire crackled some more, and other men and women swayed utterly free from the world. Something stung in Rishabh's eyes blurring his vision and something sparked in Menaka's.

Finally, when everyone was lost in the whirls of smoke scattered in senses, Rishabh took shelter beneath a tree, smoking some more and remembering his rejection once again. Like a thunderstorm, Prerna had ultimately wreaked havoc on him again and had scorned him in the worst possible way.

He flustered suddenly when Menaka sat beside him and tried to bind him back into her arms. He tried, he tried really hard, for old times' sake, lips met for a brief second but made him whimsical.

He pushed Menaka aside, lacing his fingers in his damp hair. Fidelity with someone who every second thoughtlessly crushed him underfoot made him angry, but the helplessness of his conflicting thoughts made him even more miserable. He got up in haste and tried to rebuke and challenge himself. Rishabh grabbed Menaka within his arms, but her words made the confirmation of his obsession even stronger. He clenched his fists tightly. The dying embers of the bonfire had a redness very similar to Rishabh's eyes.

"It is about her, right ?". Menaka simply glanced at Rishabh's frustrated face once.

She did feel hurt, looking at Rishabh's astounded face. At any other time, she wouldn't have wasted a moment's thought on whether he rejected her or not. For Menaka, sentiments were like shackles, and she always made sure that even if she fell for them, she quickly cut it off with her own merciless hands.

Rishabh hung his head and squeezed her arms, yelling, "I don't know what you are talking about?"

But Menaka continued, "Tell me? Does she snub you? And you enjoy it, Right?"

Rishabh's grip on her loosened, and he turned his face away.

Menaka didn't give up. She somehow had a weird passion for grotesque, and it gave her thrill to rub it on Rishabh's face, "Does she whimper in your dreams and you like the domination?"

"Stop your nonsense!", her words made his misery lay heavier on his already burdened shoulders as he placed his hands on his ears.

"Huh. Tell me what else do you want to do to her? You would like to punish her for leaving you for your half-brother?", Menaka rubbed ample salt on his wounds.

"Menaka, just mind your own business, will you?", Rishabh shoved her on the ground and started walking away in anger.

"You perceive me to be far from morality and what about you and her?", Menaka laughed hysterically brushing off the soil from her elbows and dress.

Rishabh's feet jammed, and he stared back at her shooting daggers at her, "You have no right to comment like this on Prerna? There is no reality in what you say!"

"How many senses do men have, Rishabh?", Menaka smiled one of her crooked smiles and slowly walked towards Rishabh.

"Five, why ?" he blurted confused.

"Women, women are strange we have the sixth one too.", Menaka whispered, leaning closer to his ears and started walking away.

Keshav stared at her gobsmacked. She stopped midway and turned around using the final nail in the coffin with her words as sharp as needles.

"She is fire, and you are like this cold ice. I know how much you crave for that heat, and I know you love burning!", she exclaimed and walked towards the group of senseless men and women lost in their own world.

An unknown burden and thrill plagued Rishabh, a sheer wave of urgency, a cheap gritting need. His heart struck with a whimsical yearning for the sight of Prerna. He couldn't keep still. He rushed towards Prerna's tent, which was fixed at a little distance.

Breaths almost left him as he barged into it and saw her buried in a red satin duvet placed on the cot in her tent.

Her eyes were half-closed as her petite form leaned intently near the lamp scanning the pages of her book. She tossed and turned after stuffing her mouth with a kewda water sprinkled sweet which she had taken out from a small sandalwood box placed near the lamp.

Her face grimaced with pain as she turned the pages and sometimes smiled in awe. It was as if the expressions of the words swam in her charming radiant front.

When she saw a shadow climb up upon her, she got up in haste.

Her eyes met up for a brief second, and at this point, she got a bit scared. Rishabh stood there breathing eyes bloodshot heavily, face pale and ghostly.

Step by step, he moved further towards her, and in anxiety, she leaned and with a whiff of her breath blew away the flame of the lamp. She knew what would happen next. Rishabh would take the cue and leave as he would when they were married, and she would switch off the light of their room. She took a breath but whatever happened took her by surprise.

The match was struck, and the lamp was lighted again by Rishabh. What followed was an unusual game to blow the fire off and then ignite it back, alternating their turns.

A tinkle of provocative laughter elucidated when finally Rishabh won, and she resigned, blowing it off again.

At that very moment, he extended his hands to touch her warm cheeks flushed with happiness, but Prerna walked two steps backwards.

Patience was lost, and Rishabh gripped her arms throwing her on the cot screaming in hatred, "You think you will become dirty if I cast my eye upon you, huh?"

He pulled her closer while she struggled to free herself, "Let me see you today. You cannot hide ..Do you understand?"

A slap was returned in turn for brutality, and a fierce shocking rebellion broke out of Prerna. Pushing him aside, she ran away as fast as her legs could carry her. She tripped and probably cut herself, but she kept on running for a long, long time.

Rishabh followed her shadow in futility screaming in fear, "Stop I said!"

"Wait! I will not hurt you!", his voice choked as he ran without any response from the shadow.

"I am not bad.", his guttural voice muttered trying to suppress his tears that emerged every now and then.

At last, the shadow did fell near the waterfall as Prerna had hit a steep rock. She rolled and groaned in pain, holding her feet. Rishabh ran towards her and then she screamed, pushing him away and he stared at her panic-stricken.

She hit him madly, she shook him violently and her scream, if not masked by the noise of the waterfall, would have pierced the heart of every man alive on earth.

She finally held Rishabh's collar in stern defiance and cried, cried as hard as she could. It was as if the dams of her patience had given up completely.

Rishabh's feet jammed, but his heart was beyond his control. The waterfall, which was a part of his childhood fantasies scared him to death, and he pulled Prerna closer, caging her in his arms. He crooned a soft melody in her ears.

Some strange resistance, and then screams turned into deep cries and finally hiccups as she fell on her knees still trapped in Rishabh's arms.

Rishabh kept on rhetorically uttering while cradling her in his arms and whispered in her ears, "Don't cry anymore. Prem is my son. Our Son !! He will be my dearest son. I will love him. You will love him. He will not be like me. He will never make you cry like me. He will get the Princess. He will get his Queen! Everything will be fine. My son will be loved by his father!"

For a long time, Prerna cried and sensed the familiar warm whispers near her ears. The owls hooted, and jackals howled forming the perfect symphony with Rishabh's lullaby.

It was as if a billion moons had passed within each other's arms. There was a need, there was greed and much more. Prerna suddenly came back to her senses and pushed Rishabh back with all her might.

With a sharp reprimand for her giddy headedness, she turned around and was about to walk away.

Rishabh was not ready to give up yet!

He twirled her around, and the jerk pulled her back to him. He caged her in his arms again. The touch was cold, clammy, the wind blew pathetically hard, giving her goosebumps.

Their heads touched each other, and she lowered her eyes, gulping a massive lump in her throat. Something was terribly wrong with her. Nothing was working according to her. Her heart started beating in a rhythm unknown to her, her breaths rapid flaming beneath her cold body and tears filled her eyes while her body felt a great rush. The inspirations just hit each other as they moved closer and closer until their lips were touching; she drew in a sharp breath and muttered closing her eyes; "This is not right."

"This is not wrong, either.", she heard his whisper near his ears, and everything blinded the very next moment. Rishabh was still breathing for his breath.

The world became blank, the roar of the waterfall stopped reaching her ears, his grip tightened around her as he ducked his head and grabbed her lips, brushing it against his. The coldness grew warmer; she could not decipher what was this. Her already giddy head started floating, the rush, the inexplicable thrill threatened to burst her throbbing heart. Prerna felt his hands slipping to her cheeks, caressing them. The fire grew inside burning them both, the fervour of the sudden touch, the passion swept both of them like a storm. Everything around them blurred. Rishabh was on the verge of insanity. Passion for Prerna had consumed him ever since he realized what she meant for him. To touch her, to embrace her, to make her collapse in his passions had become the sole object of his existence. He flung himself on her, in ecstasy. Such a delirious state was unknown to him. He felt as if he just merged with her. The way he brushed her lips, and grazed her cheeks; he felt everything else apart from her deserted him, his spirit was like an empty vessel filled with her. The kind of carnal desires his touch evoked sent her into a cataleptic ecstasy. His touch was like poison for her making her die slowly, the death of her the woman she had been all these years. Whoever was born and took the place of her was an unknown woman.

"Mr Bajaj, Anurag...", Prerna muttered breaking their moment of intimacy.

She watched Rishabh's eyes open in horror, his face blanching, him drawing a sharp breath! He then took a moment to hide his tears, and a swoop of dark anger screamed out from the depths of his heart.

"Isn't it enough that Basu gets my father and life that could have been mine?", Rishabh was on the verge of bursting from his seams.

Prerna saw his wrath patiently and silently. The waterfall was flowing in her princely pride and their hearts in shambles and in quenchless despair. Rishabh was breathing like the hot flames of air emerging from the hearth of a blacksmith. The Hunter's moon night was even drearier.

She saw him suddenly grabbing his hair and yelling, "I should have killed Basu, I will kill him".

It was the moment for Prerna to intrude, she lunged at him, and the fierce duel began. Rishabh was shivering in anger and despair, she panicked.

"Why, Why why? Why can't you just... ", Keshav grabbed her arms and gritted his teeth which were already chattering with terrible amplitude, he burst from his core.

Prerna was tired, tired fighting her fate. She embraced Rishabh with all her might. She knew it had to be done to free him from the shackles of his past.

The grip of his nails choked her, but she saw in his eyes a silent agony, he was sinking into madness and darkness. She breathed heavily and hugged him madly. He stood motionless chattering his teeth looking here and there trying to free himself from her, but it was not the moment to lose for her. It was the night to hold him. She traced her hands back his neck and forcefully made it duck on her shoulders. A sharp shooting pain made her freeze when the chattering teeth sunk in her flesh, the hands she held them and made them dig her back. Her breath stopped in shock, the crush was violating and anything but gentle.

All the years of repressed anger accumulated in his sharp nails and teeth; but she held him, and they walked to their safe haven, their much-needed proximity to sink into each other. That night; Prerna's loud moans and screams floated in the air. She choked with insurmountable pain; she offered himself to him freely and bore the attack.

She lay bare, she put her heart, body, and soul in their bed, and she cavorted and writhed with him in wild and cynical abandon. Many a time, her hands slipped from him, trying to bear everything with ease, but tonight was not the time to leave him. She bore his pain, trying to absorb him in her, to bring him out of the misery he still held in the depths of his heart. Her face contorted, but she gently caressed him, her bones rattled almost threatening to break up, but she waited with bated breath and rained kisses all over him. He had never been so barbaric, and she had never been so gentle. To each his own but the communion was mutual. The exchange of pain for comfort was a harsh prize for Prerna, but she was ready to pay. When she tried to silence her own moans with her palms, he gripped her wrists above her head and filled the night with her echoing voice. The damp clouds began to pool in over the water.

Prerna waited and held on.

She had to wait for a long, long time, and the only thing to break the silence was his harsh breathings and her silent tears.

Her saree had been crushed beneath them, and his clothes lied on the heap of mud, tarnished and black.

There was nothing but silence between them. They both lied side by side, Rishabh's hands were limp resting above his forehead, and Prerna stared at Hunter's Moon overhead. It was bright red, almost haunting by now. The gentle breeze dried the pools of sweat and anguish that had been the remnants of their past. Prerna's body ached terribly, faint smudges and impressions of his teeth and clawed nails blighted her skin. Rishabh's breaths came in shallow yet deep gasps and pants.

The clouds that had continued to roll and thunder in while he had occupied and devoured her body was now ready to burst from their seams; the threatening of the rains poured out in torrents.

The silence of their breaths was unbearable, but it broke as Rishabh spoke, staring wide-eyed at the starry sky, I know I am the devil Prerna, and I lived up to it today."

Rishabh's statement was cut short suddenly. Prerna blurted, her feeble ragged voice broke into hiccups, 'But, the devil still gets a fairy tale ending."

As if by impulse, she kissed his lips gently.

"We both are free now.", she muttered.

Faraway near the black roses hedge, lied the tiny black beads of Prerna's mangalsutra, broken and thrown away from her. The vermillion had long gone.

THE END.

A note on Hunter's Moon :

Hunter's Moon or Blood Moon

Hunter's moon is mentioned in several sources as the Anglo-Saxon name for the Full Moon of October. This is the month when the game is fattened, and it is time to start preparing for the coming winter. Traditionally, this included hunting, slaughtering and preserving meats for use in the coming winter months.

Other names are Travel Moon and Dying Grass Moon. Some also called it Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon, which also refers to the hunting season.

Oh My God 😱😱😱😱

This was out of my imagination 😍😍😍😍

Amazing Chapter 😚😚😚😚

P.S. I want a happily ever after Epilogue PLEASD😊😊

Originally posted by: MR21

The song is so apt Piu❤️

🤗 I am on my Tarantino Week! I call it my PMS week when I am on a high with emotions. Tarantino songs are my guilty indulgence.

The whole journey of Bajaj on the way to Goa is awesome, it's beautiful written. He had come a long way, from being a child who was abused to this Bajaj who though wanted to have her by hook or by crook, eventually freeing her for her. His feelings for Prerna are all over the place. I am speechless about his dream.

His journey has been nothing short of hope, frustration and realisations!

FB is heartwrenching. He had lots of hope to have his own family with Menaka and Kukki. But what did he got, a shock.

In the show too, he always craved for a family, didn’t he?

Prerna, she did go through so much, all for her love for Anurag. And to see her like this without the same love and lonely is sad.

Sometimes love is not enough!

Anurag, will never learn right😆. He send Manilal to keep a check on Prerna and Bajaj. Like seriously😆. No wonder Bajaj is amused. So, Menaka is here. Let's see what is in store for us and for Manilal now.
🤣 Just added a sense of humour

Amazing update Piu. Not waiting for the next update.

Thanks Ramya for your lovely words 🤗

Updated And the end kar diya phew 😅

Originally posted by: scarlett22

Wow!! It's so lovely. I can just picture all of them your descriptions are so vivid.

Thank you so much🤗

Glad that it reached your heart!

Originally posted by: -jass-

A

W

E

S

❤️

M

E

!

Thanks a ton. Updated the last part too ❤️

Originally posted by: mitras

Read both the parts in one go😀 it's amazing. Rishabh plan and his way back to Prerna's life is gonna be fun to read

Not really a fun ride but an intense one, that’s what I can promise. Do let me know what you thought of the last part as I have updated the same ☺️

Thank you for your lovely words of appreciation 🤗

UFFFFF🔥

That was such an intense rollercoaster ❤️

His pain was palpable, it was over the boiling point and Prerna, oh she was not scared to burn in it! Their conversation was eye opener, his toleration level was undone, he could not control himself and she, being his painkiller, took him. In a true sense, meri har khushi tumhari, tumhara har dard mera 💔

Beautiful ❤️

Damn, what did I just read?! This could be the classiest, most intense and passionate work ever presented on PreRish. The way moments flew by and nestled into a beatific beauty of amour and hesitantly driven realisation left me awestruck. The flashback and childhood fantasies are always a treasure to admire, believe me if I say I loved the legend of Dudhsagar falls and Rishabh's wild fantasy of searching the princess. I really loved the way you encapsulated the tale in a simple fluid crescendo of lively matters.

Menaka's introduction was least expected and in a way she reacted during the bonfire has made her neutral in my eyes when I expected her to be negative in here (after finishing part2 of this).

Prerna giving away about how Prem survived in the Basu Bari and treatment he was entitled after all the risks his mother has took upon herself. It was natural for someone to break boundaries and cry her heart out. Still she remembered of Anurag when she lost control over that broken being but the wounds were deeper enough to paint the hesitation with bliss. Missed moments of Kuki and Prem t though, how do they make as siblings?

Can I please expect an epilogue highlighting a strong headed Prerna moving out of Basu Bari (after paternity test to let the bad Basu boy know his worth and antics) and married to Bajaj?

Pretty please!

PS: Commendable job! Why you hide your talent for so long?

Originally posted by: Pori

Aaaayyyyyyyyyyy

Where were you hiding your talents Ms Manzilmukul??

Hey, thank you for the shout out🤗 There's no talent, just some scribblings as I wanted to give RB a Tarantino flick slant after watching him with the RAY-BAN glasses😈

This is amazing!!!! I’m rolfing at the description of Menaka 😂 never could I imagine her the way you described. But it’s brilliant.

Haha, I wanted to add some SHOCK value to Menaka and I am glad that you appreciated it❤️

My baby, Bajaj 🥰🥰🥰 man, he’s something. Well the wheels are turning and I hope this guy shows Prerna the way. She does not need to be in that marriage with bad Basu. What an asshole!

Manilal is the typical chauffeur character 🤣 waiting for some juice during this trip.

Continue soon please!

There's a lot of juice coming up in the END. hope you aren't disappointed. Do let me know what you feel about the END too.

Thank you for your kind words of appreciation🤗