ArYa OS: Moments in Time - COMPLETE - Page 5

Originally posted by: luv_lvndr

Nice start

Thank you Luv-lvndr.

Originally posted by: Surish

Thank you Surish.

Originally posted by: taahir004

Part 1 - already is so interesting can't wait to get more parts of this story

Yet again another Master piece by yourself

Thank you Taahir.

Two more parts, hopefully today and then its done.

Originally posted by: jojo1986

loved it

Thank you Jojo.

All those who reserved - thank you for reading and bothering to reserve. If you ever come back and un-reserve, i promise to revert back to you 😆.

"We know Arti. Par kuch bhi ho, woh kaisa bhi ho, hai toh hamara beta." (Whatever it may be, however he may be, he is still our son).

"Stay here then! But I am going. I don't want to live with you. Why should I shackle myself to you??"

"Why are you still here?? Can't you see no one wants you here!?!"

Arti tossed in her sleep, trying to claw her way into wakefulness.

"The truck! Bauji! Look out!"

She woke up gasping for breath. Her fingers touched a small, warm hand and she clutched his fingers. She looked at Ansh, his face angelic in sleep. "Thank God" she sent up a silent prayer.

Why tonight? Why now, after so many months? She hadn't had the nightmares for a while now. She knew why though. The question from Yash, the only real friend she had.

She got up and went to the window. She opened the panes and let in the night air. As she stood breathing in the lightly scented chilly air, her phone on the night-stand beside her beeped.

She hesitated as she saw the familiar, long unused email address. Then, unable to stop herself, she opened the message.

"I am sorry Arti. Old wounds still hurt don't they? I didn't mean to rake up the pain. Forgive me?"

A warm feeling spread through her as she read. She typed back, "I am sorry. I didn't know. Forgive me?"

In his bedroom, not too far away, Yash smiled slightly as he read her reply. She still could not answer a question without asking another!

[The following are the emails they exchanged that night]

Yash: Nothing to forgive. Why are you still up?

Arti: I just woke up. Nightmare.

Yash: Oh? Tell me.

Arti: Let it be. Why are you still up?

Yash: Couldn't sleep - didn't want nightmares.

Arti: So...what do we do now?

Yash: Switch to a chat program? Will be faster.

Arti: Heck no! Email is fancy enough for me!

Yash: Still scared of technology?

Arti: Scared? Of course not! Why would I be scared?? I just don't...trust it.

Yash: Let me guess. You print out whole books and make your edits by pen.

Arti: So? What's wrong with that?

Yash: Nothing. It would just be faster if you did the edits in the software itself.

Arti: Faster be damned. Its more important to do it right!

Yash: Language Arti Sinha! There are children in the room.

Arti: Are the girls asleep?

Yash: Like logs. Ansh?

Arti: Like a log.

An involuntary yawn escaped her. She typed: Thank you Yash.

He smiled and replied, Goodnight Sakhi.

There were no more nightmares that night or in the nights to follow...

Arti was in the middle of a meeting when her phone buzzed. Surreptitiously she checked it and was not surprised to see another email from a now-very familiar address.

"Have dinner with me tonight."

Before she could reply, the meeting claimed her attention.

An hour later as she sat in her office reading through the latest submissions, her phone buzzed again.

"Have dinner with us tonight. Please?"

She had forgotten about his email! She responded with a "It will be our pleasure" as she smiled to herself.

"Mere Bhagwan ki kasam! Toh yeh hai Arti!", exclaimed an elderly lady as Arti and Ansh entered the house. (So, this is Arti).

"Arti, this is my Buaji" Yash introduced, signaling to his aunt to stop.

Completely ignoring him, she looked Arti over from head-to-toe and then nodded to herself. "Come in, come in. Don't stand at the doorstep. Ashubh hota hai." (It's inauspicious).

Yash rolled his eyes at that as Payal giggled. Palak held Arti's hand and took her inside.

The girls gave Arti and Ansh the grand tour before they dragged Ansh off to play. It was a large bungalow, simply decorated. It felt lived-in, but something was missing...a warmth, a sense of home.

Everyone sat down to dinner together - a simple meal, but delicious.

"Thank you Buaji, that was wonderful" Arti said as they cleared the table together. To her surprise, the elder lady blushed.

"It was a simple meal beta. I did not have time to make anything elaborate", Buaji said.

"We don't need elaborate" Arti replied with a smile.

As she took the plates into the kitchen she added, "It reminded me of Ma and the food she used to make for us."

"Thank you. Where is your mother now?" Buaji asked.

Arti's hands shook involuntarily as she replied, "She...she is no more."

Arti was surprised to hear the voice at the other end.

"Arti beta. Can you and Ansh join us today please? We have a puja and I would like to have you there" Buaji said.

"Buaji, I am so sorry, but it won't be possible today", Arti replied apologetically.

"Mere Bhagwan ki kasam beta, I would not have asked if it weren't important. It's the barsi puja for the family. We..." Buaji paused to wipe the tears threatening to spill out, "Beta, this is the most difficult day in the year for us. Main toh apne aapko sambhal leti hoon, but it's doubly difficult for Yash. If you were there this year, it may help him to handle his pain." (I can handle my pain).

Arti closed her eyes and when she opened them again, there was a sheen of tears lining them. "Where Buaji and what time?"

The answer calmed her a little. She could manage that.

Yash was startled as Arti entered the temple, holding Ansh's hand. As she came towards them, relief surged through him. At least this year he was not alone...

The panditji came forward and stroked Arti's hair, "Beta. You are early. I have to do the barsi puja for Yash beta's family now."

Arti folded her hands in namaste and nodded, "I know Panditji. I am here early for them. We can do ours after this puja is over."

Panditji nodded and started the puja. Arti attended the Scindia barsi puja, sitting beside Yash, helping him as required. To his surprise, immediately after theirs ended, Panditji started another barsi puja. This time Yash sat beside Arti, with Ansh on his lap and he guided the little boy and helped Arti through the puja.

Later, they sat together in the terrace of Yash's bungalow. As the children played, Buaji left them alone. Sipping the tea, Yash asked, "When?"

Arti knew what he was asking. "Three years ago. We were coming back from the temple and a truck careened out of control... They died on the spot. And I...I had a broken arm." The bitter twist to Arti's mouth told him how much she hurt.

"Who all were there? Everyone?" he asked, tension gripping his every nerve.

"Ma, Bauji, Ansh and I. Ansh was unscathed and I had a broken arm. Ma and Bauji..." she choked. He clasped her tightly clenched palm. Gathering courage from that touch she let the images play in front of her again, "Ma and Bauji were ... were mangled."

Yash closed his eyes as the old pain filled him again, with a new intensity now. The images ran through his mind's eye.

It was Arti's turn to hold his hand. She asked gently, "The whole family Yash? What happened?"

"A truck careening out of control...the only difference was all three people inside died." The horror of identifying the mangled corpses of his mother, father and wife had haunted his sleep for months.

Part - 3 (last part)

stalking this one too 😉😆

Awww what a painful past those two share, my heart was breaking for them I just wanted to hug them both 😭 🤗

Originally posted by: rutu83

stalking this one too 😉😆

one thing i'm noticing- don't know if it's on purpose- with djh the updates ended on happy notes. if not happy then at least positive. here it's ending with sadness that lingers in the reader's hearts. on purpose, too early or am i reading too much into it?

anyway, loved the update. i'm liking the buaji here 😊

didn't say it last time ( i know i know 😳) but loved the payal, palak and ansh pesonalities here. that little touch 👍🏼

and agree with aarti- whenever i write, i gotta print it out 😆

like i said, the end was so sad- feel for yash and aarti...😭

btw, no prtik and pankaj here? and, horror of horrors, no vidhi??😲

Ah my very own, my favourite stalker 🤗.

Hmm - you know, i never noticed that. I wanted to post this whole story in one update, but could not. So i just stopped at what felt like logical moments in time... i guess given where they both were, it was bound to be sad...but hey - the last part is done and it ends happily.

Lol - glad you like the troublesome threesome!

And no, horror of horrors - no Vidhi. This is not DJH 😉.

Thank you Rutu 🤗. And hold on for a bit - the next part will be up very soon.

Originally posted by: Zetter

Awww what a painful past those two share, my heart was breaking for them I just wanted to hug them both 😭 🤗

I'm happy that this year they had each other to share their pain and burden 😊...aww buaji sounds like fun 😉

Great update Dear 👏 👍🏼

Painful and similar. I didn't spell it out - but i see it as the same truck destroying both families at the same moment in time...so call me melo-dramatic 😆.

Buaji - she is a paradox. But a nice one mere bhagwan ki kasam 😉.

Thank you Zetter.