She felt a prick of a sharp needle on her arm. Again they were drawing blood; tears emerged and slowly rolled down from the corner of her eyes.

She opened her eyes to find herself alone in her room. She looked at her arm and found a small cut that she made yesterday. It tingled when she touched.

So it was that. She thought and wiped her tears.

She stared her left arm. It had four long cuts and one deep bleeding slash. The sight of dripping blood gave her a queer sensation. Her arm was hurting. The feeling of new tingling pain was overwhelming. For a while, she forgot what was tormenting her. The sour memories and harsh realities ….. such thoughts were so painful that they had cut her to the soul.

She held her arm and closed her eyes. The pain of this bleeding arm is better than the pain of my bleeding soul. She said to herself.

He said nothing. Silence said it all. His uncaring manner irked her to no end.

She promised herself to not even let him come near her heart and assumed he would never make it so far. But like a warrior, he besieged the fortress and marked his territory.

He stood up and walked away. She realized that he had taken a piece of her with him. But then she shook her head to clear her thoughts, because it was she who let him in her.

She studied her reflection in the mirror and recalled what he had said. He admired beauty and had always been lavish with compliments.

She broke the mirror. She was just one of his beauties.

He was tracing patterns of crisscross lines on her palm. She looked at him and wondered which special line made her so lucky to get someone like him.

She felt her pulses fluttering in rhythm.

"Teacher, you look ummm…… nothing," the girl stopped when I looked at her with my wet, swollen eyes.

"Yes, do you wanna say something?"

"No, all I wanted to say that your eyes look pretty," she seemed intimidated, I am a strict teacher.

"But you look sad today," another one blurted out. "Are you sad, teacher?" the sincerity of her tone filled the air. Everyone looked at me and I could read the same question in their eyes. Their innocence and naivety engulfed me and all miserable feelings disappeared.

"Not anymore." I smiled.

Distance of time

The party was in full swing. The lawn was full of guests. Everyone had put on the best attire, ladies in dresses of chiffon, embroidery and watered satin while gents in dark evening suits. Food had been served and people were enjoying the banquet. The atmosphere was warm and jovial. Exchange of greetings with beaming smiles, shake hands and usual ‘hellos’ was taking place. Everyone seemed to be engrossed in the soirée except … him. His eyes kept slithering along with her. She, … dressed elegantly in black, unnerved by his bold glances, was moving around turning heads wherever she went.

He was alone and furious. His female companion had left him and he could see her talking to other mates. He was fuming with the feeling of neglection and jealousy. More than that, he was upset with himself. All his efforts had gone futile. She had appeared so calm and composed despite of his ceaseless ogles. He wanted to talk to her but couldn’t get her alone. And…. Above all, she had dressed to kill. She was taking it out and he knew it.

Though she enjoyed subjugating his mind and holding his attention but his surveillance had started to irritate her. He followed her everywhere she went. With a plate of food in her hand, she started to stride towards the corner making her way between the gorgeously dressed and bejeweled ladies.

She felt herself at peace. He was nowhere to be seen. There were few people around her and luckily, all of them were strangers who were engaged in their personal conversations. She was glad to have found some place to collect herself, and started eating her food. Suddenly, she was aware of observation. She looked up and encountered the… gaze of his dark intense eyes. Her heart started pounding.

There they were, just two of them, standing in front of each other surrounded by the echoes of silence. She felt that time had stopped, and the lawn had become void of people. Everything seemed to have faded away except him. Memories began flooding back. The love, the desire, the temptation and …. the betrayal, the torture, the pain …. the scenes continued until she shut her eyes in anguish, and tried to blot out those memories. She collected her shattered thoughts and then opened eyes to see him. He was watching her, with regret and longing in his gaze. That appeased her wounded ego and the agony of her heart. He seemed to be intimidated by her. She realized that he wouldn’t be able to come near her. Apparently, they were few steps away but the distance was of thousand miles. And with that beautiful realization, she smiled and walked over towards crowd.