The Park...

 They reached the park...

She held on to her purl beret as a gusty breeze almost blew it over...Huddling her jacket close to herself, she walked to a nearby seat, wiped off a few stray leaves and sat down...

He held his motorbike helmet under one arm and settled his creased cardigan with the other...His breath was foggy in the chill of dusk...He walked on, crackling the dry autumn leaves beneath his feet and settled down on a damp wooden bench...

Bright lights glittered outside the park...Pedestrians walked in a hurry, rushing on with their Christmas shopping...Somewhere, at a distance, they could both hear 'Silent Night' playing along...

'Where was he?', she thought...

'Where was she?', he thought as well...

A faint smile tugged at her lips as his thought crossed her mind...She looked up to see a pretty girl with bangs across her forehead sitting on the other side of the road, smiling back at her, probably sharing a similar predicament...Shyly, she looked down at her gloved palms and felt the gold band on her finger through the wool...She missed him so very much ! They were meeting after a year and she was desperate to see him...To hold his hand...To play with his hair...To cry on his shoulder...To fret and whimper and throw a tantrum...To be cajoled and humored...And he had said he had a surprise for her...She couldn't wait...

He shook his head and almost laughed out loud at a memory of her...What a drama queen she was ! But how could he have survived without her?As he had struggled with his vices, she remained his only hope...Now, he was a changed man...The future they had frivolously dreamt of, some distant day in the past, now had a hope of becoming a reality...He sighed and reached for his wallet as a guy came up and sat down at the other end of the bench...Exchanging a cursory nod, he glanced at his hooded sweater...She never could like windcheaters and he pursed his lips into a smile as he imagined her comic reaction over the other guy's attire...Then, as he looked down at her smiling face in the picture in his wallet, frayed at the edges, yet fresh in his mind, he felt a sudden strong surge of warmth and love...After all, she was his girl...

She fidgeted in her purse for her mobile phone and suddenly remembered that he wouldn't have his with him yet...She flicked it open and glimpsed through their photos...Happier times...When all the time in the world was theirs...When 'sweet nothings' meant more than mere words...When wildflowers and doodles on pieces of paper were more precious than gems...They were smitten ! And then, he had to leave...Life, all of a sudden, took a forlorn turn...She incessantly prayed for him...They could rarely speak and whenever they did, her words got muffled with tears...Smiling at the memory, she kept her phone back in her purse...She was puzzled that he was so late today...

He did have a cellphone with him today and reached for it to call her up...She was never so late...He remembered her sight at his doorway, the day he had left...She had arrived early, her eyes puffy, having cried all through the previous night...He had been so scared, uncertain about what the future held for him...She had consoled him over and over again and cried some more...And as he was led to the car, she had clutched his hand, promising that she'd be right there, waiting for him...Looking at the blank screen of his power drained cellphone, he hoped that today, she would keep her promise...

They were both worried now...The crowd had considerably thinned...She got up and looked down the road running through the park...A few joggers crossed her...She coughed in the cold, blowing mist into the hastening darkness of Christmas eve...Gathering her purse, she decided to walk down to the other end...

Hastily, he got up, realizing that she may be waiting at the other end of the park...Grabbing his helmet, he took quick strides down the road...

She had accepted her disappointment and given a million excuses to herself on his behalf, when suddenly she caught his glimpse...Her heart skipped a beat and her feet hastened their pace...She no longer hid her smile or restrained herself from crying...Her Christmas was no more white ! As she almost reached him, she bumped into a tall man on the road...'Hey, sorry !', he said...She couldn't have cared less, she was the happiest girl today...'Merry Christmas', she beamed at him and ran to her love, sitting on the park bench, his hood now over his head...

'Hey soldier' she tapped at his shoulder as he sat there fumbling with his army locket...He got up with a start and slowly turned towards her...She stood there demurely...Smiling and crying, not knowing what to say...He savored her sight for a moment, knowing well that he would treasure this moment for eternity...All the pain of war, the bloodshed, the grim realization that each day may be his last, suddenly evaporated...As he walked towards her, neither did he hold back his tears anymore...He knew, he was finally home...

Somewhere, at the other end of the park, a certain reformed drug abuser softly parted his girl's bangs with his scarred fingers and wiped her streaming tears before engulfing her in a hug...'Merry Christmas', was all that he could manage to whisper...