Alone with a guest

The taxi dropped me right in front of my building. Got my luggage and took the elevator to my apartment. The sheer thought of being alone for the next few days was quite depressing. An emotionally draining experience many expats go through especially in the Middle East. This happens during school holidays when the families go back home and you are forced to live as a bachelor. This will be the eight time I am destined to feel this agony. Little did I know that things were going to be different this year!

I turned the key and the apartment door opened unwillingly as if it woke up from a long sleep that lasted for two weeks when we were not at home. I switched on the air conditioning and looked around to see the layer of dust that has quietly creeped in while we were away. I reached out to the windows and pushed it open by turning the dusty latch. A sudden gush of air came in as if someone was waiting impatiently outside the door to be let in. The breeze brought with it some more dust which blinded me for a few moments. By the time I could open my eyes, the room was back to normal with the breeze nowhere to be seen.

I unpacked the bags quickly. Soon enough I was ready since it was a working day and had to head straight to office. I closed the main door behind me as I stepped out of the apartment. Just before the door got fully locked I felt the breeze again, the same wave of air that greeted me when the windows were opened earlier.

It was a busy day. I returned home a bit late. The empty house that welcomed me back, gave quite a gloomy feeling to the evening that was soon getting darker. I took a shower and stood in front of the giant mirror we’ve in our hallway to comb my hair. While I was thinking of what to have for dinner I thought I saw in the mirror a flash of movement behind me! I swirled back, but saw nothing. I blamed my tiredness from the flight last night and headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

Soon after the dinner, I emptied the trash can and headed to the chute on my floor to dump the trash cover. The hallway was completely empty and there was an eerie silence with most of the houses devoid of kids. I deposited the trash cover inside the chute and closed the door back. That’s when it happened! I was quite sure this time that I heard a sound. The sound so distinct that I could clearly identify it as a flutter of wings. What was strange was that I couldn’t see a bird anywhere nearby. Did I really hear that or was my mind playing games with me? I felt the silence thickening around me and decided to head back to my apartment.

Shortly after the prayers I hit the bed with a book and soon my eyes were becoming heavy with the weariness from the long day. Before I fell into a deep sleep I thought I heard someone whispering a soft good night wish into my ears. I was pretty sure that my tired body and mind was making up all these and with a smile I embraced the depths of the much needed sleep.

I woke up quite fresh and before heading to the bathroom noticed something lying on the floor of the bedroom. It was a long and beautiful feather. The building complex was home to a few pigeons and had occasionally found one or two small feathers in the balcony. But this one was unlike anything before. I’d never seen a feather like that in my life and was equally surprised to see that inside my house! It even had a very peculiar fragrance but I couldn’t figure out what it was. I kept it away and got myself ready for office.

Though there were enough tasks to keep me busy at office, the thought of the feather came back to me once a while. I mentioned this to my sweetheart when I called her, but she didn’t seem to give much importance to it. I reached home and headed to the shower. I thought a warm shower will save me from my thoughts and was enjoying the feeling of hot water on my skin. Suddenly I thought I heard a noise at the bathroom door. I parted the shower curtain slowly. The bathroom was half filled with steam from the hot shower. Through the mist I watched with horror the handle of the door turning quietly! Time was standing still. The door opened and to my pleasant surprise I saw a golden haired girl with beautiful blue eyes coming into the bathroom. For a moment I even forgot that I was half way through my bath!

When I managed to get my senses back, I asked her who she was. She smiled and said, “I’m Angel”. Then just like that she vanished! The door remained closed. I couldn’t make any sense of what just happened. Did I really see a girl who forced her way into my bathroom? Or am I going crazy from all the loneliness that surround me? The night was eventless but was quite startled when I woke up the next morning before the alarm went off. I felt someone wishing me “Rise and shine”. No feathers were found that day though.

With a confused mind, I headed to office. I spoke to my wife about all these and after a while she made me feel at ease. Reached home, but no one came today in between the bath.

I sat on the couch with my dinner to watch a TV show. As I was about to change a channel there she was! Sitting right next to me. I could see the bright blue eyes shining even more. We started speaking and topics were so varied that everything related to my life especially from the day I got married kept flowing. Interesting enough she never let me ask more about her personal life. I finished the dinner and got up to wash the dishes. She vanished again.

This continued for the next few days. Angel gave me company at home. We talked a lot and laughed even more. I didn’t even realize how quickly days went by. I told my sweetheart about what’s happening here at home. She sounded amused at my story but surprisingly her reaction was not quite what I expected. Strange were the days.

One of these days my wife called and said she and our little one both developed a fever. They met the doctor and got the medicines. It took a couple of days before they got better. It was quite a chaos with all the confusion back home that only on the third day when I returned home and saw Angel, I realized that I didn’t see her for the last two days. Though I asked where she was, she avoided giving me a straight answer.

Soon the day came for me to head back home to bring my family back to Dubai. As I locked the door to head to the airport I could see a pair of bright blue eyes and a hand waving at me wishing me a happy journey. A few days later along with my wife and kids we were back in our apartment again. I opened the door with a pounding heart, half expecting to see Angel there greeting us. But nothing happened.

Days went by. Life was usual. I realized Angel was only a figment of my imagination. One evening my wife and I were having a conversation in the hallway where the giant mirror was placed. Our little one while riding her cycle accidently hit the thick border of the mirror. The impact was quite high that the mirror got off the hinges and started falling towards my wife. My reflex told me to reach out to the mirror. Though I could get hold of one of the edges it was too heavy for me to balance it. The other edge of the mirror was bound to hit my wife’s head and with a splatter of blood, the glass was to break into zillions of tiny pieces!

What happened instead was nothing short of a miracle! She had raised her hand in reflex and it almost touched the other edge of the mirror. As I tried my best to balance the mirror, I could see her hand barely touching the edge on her side. That was the moment when I felt a breeze, the same breeze that came through the window a few days back when I was home alone. I looked at her eyes expecting to see a deep shade of fear as she struggled to hold the mirror.

What greeted me in fact was a beautiful blue tinge in her usually brown eyes. As the mirror was getting balanced I could see the eyes sparkle even more in blue. I looked deeper into them and there she was! Angel. I asked her, “Where did you vanish?” My wife’s lips moved and out came the words, “I was always here where I am to be. I am your sweetheart’s guardian angel. Last week when you were alone getting lost in a sea of despair she was the one who prayed for bringing you peace. I couldn’t help but hear her prayer and loaned myself all those days except when she really needed me back when there was a bout of illness back home”.

We placed the mirror back on the hinges safely. I turned around and hugged by sweetheart. I then heard a flutter of wings. As the sound faded, a beautiful feather descended and landed softly on our palms. It had the same unique fragrance.

The fragrance of love!