Promise

Not many days have passed since I have shifted here.One Tuesday I was already late from work and I also missed the last train to my station. It was almost somewhere near midnight. I had to take a taxi but thanks to my immense bad luck that even the taxi got one of its tire punctured.It was a remote area and I had no other choice but to walk. It was near to impossible to walk home like that but I couldn't find a house either to put up for the night. So I kept on walking.

I was in the middle of a remote area and I was scared, tired and irritated.My family always says that it's not safe for girls to stay out late at night and therefore objected a lot to my doing this job but my taking up this job was the only way to support my family. Thinking of all such things I kept on walking.After walking some fifteen minutes , I noticed some people coming from the opposite side. They seemed drunk; just the thing I was afraid of. Well, I had no intention of showing them my taekwondo skills, so I quickly took a U-turn and started to walk in the direction I was coming from.

Yet again thanks to my utter bad luck they had already noticed me and that got me into a whole new trouble.They caught up to me in no time and pulled me by my hand.At that very moment, like a miracle, a lady appeared, an old lady and started to beat them up with a stick.Those people ran away. I thanked the lady and told her my problem. She suggested or rather insisted that I should put up at her place for the night. I somehow felt relieved. She took me to her cottage which was a little far away from where we were. Judging by the look of the house, I understood that she was really poor. She gave me a bread and apologised for not having anything else at home.

After a while, a girl came out from inside a room. She was more or less my age. I wondered how both of them managed with such financial conditions.The next morning when I was about to leave, I said," Thank you so much for yesterday.if possible then I would like to repay the kindness i owe you.I am leaving my phone number and address here. I will try and look for a jib for both of you.Be sure to call me and visit me whenever you like." The old lady held my hand and replied," I don't think that will be possible dear but there is one thing that you can do for us. Nobody comes to visit us.It feels very lonely. will you come to visit us?" I nodded with a big smile,"Sure." She continued," But not here. I actually live in a neighborhood two kilometers ahead.The place is called Pamaru.Just go there and ask anybody, they will show you the way." I left with the promise that I will visit them often.

A week later on a Sunday, I decided to fulfil my promise. I also took a friend and a big bouquet of flowers with me. I did as I was instructed to do. I asked a local person about the lady but his reply completely shocked me.The person said, "Excuse me? It has been three months since that granny and her daughter had passed away." I never expected such a reply.I said ,"How can that be?I just met her a few days ago." He said," It might be a misunderstanding. You must have met someone else.Three months ago ,on their way back from the market, her daughter was assaulted in the middle of the road by a group of people. May be when the granny protested , they stabbed her and also killed her daughter.Their dead bodies were found the next morning on the street, somewhere at a distance of 2 kms from here."

I was so indulged in my thoughts that I did not answer. The person said," If you still want to see her, then follow me." We followed him without a word. he took us near a forest and showed us the place where they were buried. He continued," They had no relatives, so there was no one to pay for their burial in the graveyard outside the church." He left after a moment.Their pictures were kept on their graves and they were undoubtedly the same people I had met a week ago.

I had no feeling of being scared but I guess I was sad, really sad. Without my trying or noticing, tears began to roll down my cheeks. I could stand no longer, so I kneeled down and began to say ," So is this where you wanted to meet me, is this why you said that visiting me won't be possible?" I didn't want to but I ended up crying my heart out. Somewhere it felt as if I had known them for a long time. Somewhere it felt there was a deep ache in my chest; no not in my chest , somewhere much deeper inside.

My friend somehow tried to console me and take me home. I left the flowers with them just as I had intended to. I also made up my mind to visit them once a week to fulfil the promise that I made. Today I am supposed to visit them. I wonder which flowers should I take.