Os: Whiskey Lullaby
Warning: Drinking is injurious to health
She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight
cigarette
She broke his heart, he spent his whole life tryin' to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night
Udayveer had proposed to her in front of the royals of Devgadh and JAigadh. But how could she love the man who had killed her first love, Akash. She knew that she loved Udayveer dearly and also had realized that Akash was nothing but a mere infatuation.
For the sake of Akash's soul and in the name of humanity, it was not right for Udayveer to kill him. So, she refused his love and rejected him. So what she loved him, she could never be with a killer.
It was the ego of Manyata that blindfolded her and didn't allow her to see the future she could share with Udayveer...a future with happy ending.
And she did what she thought was right. She did everything to hurt Uday. To break him mentally and emotionally. To make him guilty for what he did.
Years passed by. Memories faded away and Manyata still hated
Udayveer.
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the
trigger
And finally drank away her memory
Life is short, but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said, 'I'll love her till I die.'
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby
It was too much to handle for him. Her accusations had broke the lion, the strong Udayveer , to whom nothing mattered . He had no control over his body or mind due to the alcohol he had consumed. He remembered how his Manyata used to stop him to consume alcohol but in the contrast, now she was the reason why he was drinking. He laughed reminiscing the night his princess had caught him drinking and made him vow that never in his life, he will touch alcohol again.
But promises are meant to be broken and Manyata herself was the reason he had broken his promise. Suddenly, the alcohol was too much for his body or mind to handle. Flashes of Manyata accusing him started playing on his mind. The good memories that he had spent with Manyata, he remembered. How they used to talk for hours. And how she used to laugh. But the smile faded and instead of it worry and anger took place in her beautiful face.
'I can't see you like this, Manyata. I am the reason for your sorrow and your worry, right. I know you will not smile and laugh your heart out until and unless I am with you. I am going to end this .I am going to bring the old Manyata back. Princess, just don't be sad.' Uday whispered to the hallucination.
Manyata's problem was he himself Udayveer thought. He pondered over the idea of bringing old Manyata back. He could just leave the place and never come back. But where could he go? One thing for sure, he knew was wherever he would go, Manyata would always haunt him. An idea struck on his drunken mind. It felt so right for him to do that. To end his life for the sake of his princess.
He took a revolver from the drawer. Every member of the royals had a revolver stacked in their rooms for safety purposes. He wrote a note, clutched it in his hand and fired the revolver. The bullet went right through his head.
'Princess, I'll make you happy' , was what he kept on mumbling as he took his last breath.
The next day Uday was found dead with a note that read:
" I love you princess."
The dead body of Udayveer was buried in the willow of Jaigadh where his ancestors lied asleep.
The
rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself
For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath
She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night
She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short, but this time it was bigger
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees
We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life
We laid her next to him beneath the willow
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby
"The sudden demise of Yuvraaj Udayveer of Jaigadh" the heading of each and every newspaper and news channel read. The royals had leaked the news out but expressed it as a natural death. If the suicide of Udayveer was out, their reputation would be ruined.
The death of Udayveer became an international topic to be discussed on. People discussed, some believed it was a murder, some said what a great person he was. But to all, Uday was nobody, they hardly knew him. They had hardly talked to Udayveer or had even met.
The only people who were really disheartened about Udayveer's death was the people of Jaigadh. They shed their tears for their beloved Yuvraj.
Unnati had lost a brother, a brother she teased, a brother she cared and loved, a brother she tied rakhi until now. Griraj was a broken man now. He had lost his wife once and now he had lost his son too. Not a single tear fell from his old eyes because he was a royal who knew how to hide his feelings.
The royal of Devgadh were disheartened. Everybody loved Udayveer dearly and now he was all gone.
After a day or two of Uday's death, mahasabha was called upon and wedding of Unnati and Vijay was fixed. The wedding was done in a short notice and soon after Vijay and Unnati was announced the Yuvraj and Yuvraani of Jaigadh.
Manyata, on the other hand had stopped living the day Uday died. She used to stare at the empty wall and remain like that for hours. She was handed the note, the last note of Uday , by an angry Unnati, who didn't utter a word to her. She just handed the note and left and this time her heart knew she had lost her best friend.
*************
The night Uday was buried:
Manyata was a statue. She hadn't spoke to anyone else. "Uday's dead" rang in her mind and it was because of her, she knew.
She collapsed in her bed , her mind blank. There she saw a whiskey sent by an unknown person. She remembered the night she had gone to Udayveer's room and caught him drinking. He had said, ' Princess, I am not a heavy drinker. A little does you no harm. It just relieves you from anxiety and mental tension"
" A little does you no harm"
Without even thinking, she poured out the liquor and without mixing it, she gulped it. No sooner had the liquid gone through her throat, she started choking.
*************
The first night was a disaster. But it took no longer that she started consuming alcohol daily. She drank usually at night. Her mind would be occupied with the riyasat works at the daylight. But when the night fell and everyone fell asleep, her inner turmoil would be awakened. The guilt came. She could have saved him by not being so stubborn. By forgiving him for killing Akash.
So to stop these feelings , she would drink. But it only worsened the matter, the alcohol heightened the emotions and she would have no control over her mind. The alcohol triggered the hidden feelings.
*************
That night too she was drunk when it happened:
It had been 2 months that Udayveer had died. She knew it, why??
Because she was counting. Each moment passed by, and not a single second went when she thought about him.
She remembered the encounter with her sister Jay today. She had only smiled at Jay for formality. But had to face her outburst. " Manyata, how can you smile by killing someone. I loved him, Manyata. But he loved you and what did you do, toss his love in the garbage?"
"Toss his love in the garbage" Jay's voice echoed in her mind.
She took out a picture of Udayveer from the drawer and said "I am so sorry, Udayveer. I didn't mean to. I really didn't."She saw a revolver in the drawer.
" I was foolish...insane
But now I know my flaws
It was me who neglected my fate
And hurt you in all possible ways
I was the reason our love failed
But now no one can separate us
Not even Death"
She caressed the picture of Udayveer for one last time.
The next moment she pulled the trigger and she was dead.
The next day the dead body of Manyata was found, clutching Udayveer's picture.
Her dead body was buried in the willow of Jaigadh, right next to where Uday was buried. And Unnati forgave Manyata for her mistakes and allowed the body to be buried next to her Dada.
*************
After Manyata was interred in the willow:
"Mission accomplished. Now I get to be the Yuvraani of Devgadh and you get to be the Yuvraaj of Devgadh, Akash" an evil Jay smirked to herself.
"Correction, your highness. It's Aryan." He said smiling back before pulling Jay for a kiss.
*************
Phew that was done at last
This os was inspired from the song "Whiskey Lullaby" performed by Brad Paisley
It was my first attempt in writting an os in IF. Hope you liked it. (Negative criticism is allowed.)
comment:
p_commentcount