Thursday, April 27, 2006

CACHE OF MEMORIES

She had woken up from her sleep long before dawn. She lay on her bed enable to go back to sleep again. She got up, sat on the bed and let out a long sigh. She reached for her walking stick and stood up with difficulty. Age had multiplied the effort required for simple things as this.

It was a cold winter morning and she felt the chill hit her bones. She lit a fire and slumped into the comfort of her favorite rocking chair beside the window. It had snowed the previous night. The white ground that seemed to stretch into eternity looked as if it were painted… as if the sky was floating gently on earth.

She could hear the sound of the wood cracking in the fire. She watched the flames dancing in the air and the shadows of light dancing to its tune. It is fascinating how darkness could evolve from something so brilliant. She could feel herself crawl into the warmth that filled the room. That room was full of memories. She looked around the room that was witness to her kaleidoscopic world. She glanced past her children’s medals and trophies, past the drawings they had made a long time ago, to where the collection of photographs was kept. She picked up one framed photograph out of them.

A man… a smile… a solace for almost a lifetime… Now just an image in a faded photograph. She ran her wrinkled hand over his face. It had been years since he had gone… years since his hand had held hers in the paths trodden.

The first sun beam that was to break the darkness that dawn, would mark her 80th birthday. It was hard for her to believe that eighty years of her life had passed by in an eye blink. The few days ahead seemed like a struggle, with the present hanging onto a bunch of forlorn dreams.

She closed her eyes and drowned into a panoramic rummage of her mind’s cache of memories. Images flashed before her eyes… images of her wedding day… her first child… her children’s first steps… their laughter in that very garden… her grandchildren… The thoughts brought a smile to her face. All that she had been through in life was worth holding her grandchildren in her arms. But they were all away in different corners of the world. Maybe they would send her a card wishing her happy birthday or maybe she would receive a phone call.

She looked at the other photographs of her family. They were moments of life captured for eternity that never grows old and never ceases to look back at you. You never see the bad days in a photo album; life simply seems to travel from one happy snapshot to another. Time in all those years had revealed the beauty in the multiplicity of patches. The time ahead was marked by the wait to ultimately become an image in a faded photograph.

She leaned back in her rocking chair and closed her eyes. Slowly everything around her vanished into nothingness. When the sun rose in the horizon of the slate blue sky, its sunrays kissing the sleeping night awake, she was asleep clinging onto the faded photograph of her beloved.

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

like the concept....but the ending comes very soon...or rather not when expected

i like this line..."fascinating how darkness could evolve from something so brilliant"

Anonymous said...

Brilliant!!!!

U seem to have multiple facets to urself.

PN

Unknown said...

great post, thanks for wishing my bro.

Anonymous said...

Shadows dancing to the tune of light......
the darkness with in the brilliance of light.......


hmmmm....

Rohan Shah said...

nice post

It was great built up to for the first scene of an play...

hope the rest of the story follows in the next posts...

curious said...

awww..beautifully written!

Raj said...

really nice :)

Shekhar said...

*Smiles*

Ships said...

I'm awed.... It's almost like fast forwarding ur life 60 yrs hence....
Brilliant piece of work. :)

starry said...

Facinating post. A picture does tell a story.

jac said...

Cute one, nice imagination.

Unknown said...

Oh Rose! This was so beautiful! I loved the part about photoalbums...
one happy snapshot to another..
and u so well described the heartache of a lonely lady..

Invincible said...

The sight of an old lady clinging onto her beloved's photograph, streched into time.
Very nicely written.

Ali Thanikkal said...

nice... :)

d4u said...

A picture depicting the gentle passage of time...beautifully written!! Nice post title too!!:)

pm said...

such a nice post Rose.. liked it.. reminded of my grandma who wakes up before dawn too..

Raj said...

i really think u need to blog more often :) u have the sweetest things to say:)and so gracious with ur comments:)

ജെയിംസ് ബ്രൈറ്റ് said...

Wonderful..! I really loved it. I don't know I was with that lady for the whole time..!
Life is still in a photograph and it never grows old ..!
What a beautiful concept..!

Ethan said...

"The time ahead was marked by the wait to ultimately become an image in a faded photograph.".

That's darn good writing.
Thomas Hardy fan?

Thanks for stopping by my blog..

All Is Whole said...

Really a nice one.....
hats off.........

Anonymous said...

cool one still in awe at a good piece of literature....

are u sure there is no kavaya happening here right? just kiddin...

good ones,, but please keep the story longer

Vipul said...

clinging onto her beloved's photograph, streched into time.

Wow tats so beautiful:)

S said...

awesome... yesterday my great grand mother celebrated her 88th birhday, and i was wondering how it would be, to be her.....u kind of put it very nicely

Inkblot said...

yes, wish the story had continued

~*. D E E P A .* ~ said...

Hey ...

thanx for stopping by :)

nice writing style :)

and then what happens ? does she get a call / postcard ?

btw , ur other blog : " Figments Of Imagination " .... that was the name of our poetry text at school .. and my friend had written a poem with the same title

Saumya said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Saumya said...

Hey thanks for stoppin by at my blog!...really like ur blog... am adding your link on my log!

Blue Athena said...

Nice descriptions. :)

Mr. J said...

Wow.. neat stuff. Yeh in a way life is so short. Hmmm.

the clairvoyant said...

:-)touching

BlueByrd said...

Awesome write up, liked it lots...you'd become a gr8 story teller soon someday ! Wishing you in advance :)

I had a full-length video of the scenes running in my mind as read until the end !

A song i can relate to from a man's perspective is on my blog bearing the title Forever & Ever Amen !...
You might wanna have a look :)

Look forward to your next post ....keep em comin :)

BlueByrd said...

Sorry i gave u the wrong title...

Its.."When a man loves a woman" - Like I do ...rather..

A great song by Randy Travis :)

the lone sailor said...

awesome!!!

dharmu said...

hey,
nice post dear, very interesting.
will land here more often!!!

SeePearrl said...

very nice post !

thanks for dropping by!

Scoot said...

aaaw...that was so touching and a brilliant display of emotion

milieu said...

Nice post and beautiful writing. It's a sad theme and on this note, will just say something about Naushad, a great composer who died yesterday. He was 86 and yet recently he said that his best works are yet to come! Alas it was not to be so.
Another way of dealing with old age.

Shriedhar said...

OMG u write in a NOVEL way!!
it was a profound write up.

its me said...

woooow. that was awesome.

"You never see the bad days in a photo album; life simply seems to travel from one happy snapshot to another." how very true....

that was super.

Anonymous said...

Dear Rose,
Brilliant piece of writing. I wished you wrote more, and didn't end it abruptly. Is there more coming?

Your style of writing is quite professional, and it's a thrilling read.

Hope to read more posts written with your magic ink.

Regards,
Gaurav

Anonymous said...

Dear Rose,
Brilliant piece of writing. I wished you wrote more, and didn't end it abruptly. Is there more coming?

Your style of writing is quite professional, and it's a thrilling read.

Hope to read more posts written with your magic ink.

Regards,
Gaurav

Jackal said...

hmm nicely written......

Karin said...

Beautiful story, brilliantly told!! May I invite you to my blog to take a tour through Munich, my hometown with me? You're most welcome anytime ...

dearbharat said...

I never retain any photographs. In fact I never carry camera anywhere. For me, memories remain deeply etched in me.

Possibly after 60 years when my ability to remember weaken, I may need them. But then I can visit those who carried the camera with them.

Anonymous said...

// … as if the sky was floating gently on earth.


GOdgiri!!

(i know its late, but this post deserved my comment!)