Crimson Love

Not very long ago, I was lying in a closed dark room with my friends. They were all from different countries and each of them had their own stories to tell. I had mine too. All of us waited in that room for someone to come and take us along with them and spoke silently to each other. I wanted to travel, see the world and be with different kinds of people, just like how my friends did. 

One day, a man walked into the room. He lifted and held me tight. 'Ouch!', I thought. He looked at me with pride and said, "Gorgeous! You are going to fetch me handsome money some day!" He made me sit on a chair and left the room. My friends said they agreed. I was quiet attractive and definitely stood out. I wore a beautiful dress which was a splash of crimson red, yellow and orange which made me look even better. I was the talk of the town and everyone wanted to own me. I was a mystery and people wanted to know more about me. 

A few days later, the man walked in again. Every time he came in, he took one of us along with him.  I had never seen him this happy before. Not even when he sold my friend Emma. They said she fetched him a lot of money and made him rich. I was sitting on the same chair where he left me last time, staring at him. He lifted me, kissed me on my head and smiled. He immediately took me out of the room. After a long time I had seen so much light. The warmth from the sun rays felt good. I knew the time has come for me to leave this place and my friends. I was happy that, finally I was going to be in the real world. But the thought of leaving my friends made me sad. I neither knew the person who was going to buy me nor the life I was going to have. I wondered if I would be treated like a precious possession or just get thrown away in some corner of the house after a while, as was the case with a lot of my friends. I  loathed the thought that people these days don't care much about us. There was a time when we were treated with great respect. I have heard that some of my ancestors were even worshipped. But well, times have changed and so has our role.

Coming back, when I reached the desk, I saw a handsome young man, probably in his mid 20s. He paid the amount and seemed very excited to take me along. He then took out a small piece of cloth and wiped my face. It had a nice smell to it. He made me sit next to him in the car, smiled at me and drove away. I think it was that dimpled smile that made me fall in love with him.  When we entered the house, his mother seemed quiet unhappy about him bringing me to the house. She scolded him for wasting money on me. He didn’t care a bit and took me to his room. I loved the fact that he stood by me.  I knew we would share a very special bond in the coming few days. He left me on his bed and went away. I waited and waited for him staring at the blank walls. His mother entered the room a couple of times but completely ignored me. It didn’t bother me anyway. I knew she would like me eventually.

After a long wait he came back. My happiness knew no bounds. He seemed pretty relaxed and at peace. He was in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. That combination, I must tell you, can never go wrong. He brushed aside a couple of curls that were falling on his forehead and sat opposite to me. After few hitches, we got to talking. Or rather, I was talking and he was just staring at me. His enthusiasm and eagerness to meet me every day after his work, his undivided attention made me fall in love with him even more. He took me everywhere he went and flaunted with great pride. He respected me and took good care of me, something which I always wanted. I knew ours was not going to be a lifelong relationship.  And yet I had a hope that he would not let me go and always keep me by his side. Over the next few days, I told him what I was all about. He never spoke much, except reacting to my stories in mono syllabic sounds. I made him laugh with my witty one liners. I had so much to tell him. He loved me because I made him forget all his sorrows and took him to a new imaginary world. I thanked my father for passing on his great sense of humour to me.  He said one day I will become very famous because of my ability to make people laugh. Slowly, my Mr. Handsome and I got closer. On the days he came back tired from office, I would just lie down next to him silently.  I knew he would make up for it the next morning.

After weeks of being together, I could sense our relationship was coming to an end. Now, it was just the matter of few days before it actually happens. We both knew that one day it would all be over. We needed to move on. He had a life beyond me.

A couple of days later, I heard him talking over the phone about sending me over to his friend’s place. I hated him for doing that. I sat next to him with a billion thoughts ringing in my head.  How can he do this to me? Break ups are really hard. This one was no different. He promised he would always love me but deep down I knew someone will soon take my place. He would never touch me again. But, wait, he loves me! So, probably he will still take me back from his friend and take good care of me. After all, we have been such good friends. I wanted to yell, please don’t send me. But I couldn’t. My train of thoughts was interrupted when his friend came in. My guy told him several times to take good care of me and send me back as soon as possible. I was right. He did love me a lot! His friend laughed and said, “Oh dude! It’s just a book!!”

Yes, I am book and I had a love story too. After all, its only words and words are all I have to take your heart away!