Lovely Smile

Going Alone. Digital image. Chennai Voice. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.chennaivoice.com/2015/01/travelling-alone/>.

Sally told me that she had a wish, since the loss of her right leg and her family from the fire when she was eight. She wanted to travel to the seas, mountains, and any other places far from Prague. She didn’t have anyone who could accompany her until now, and she wanted us to travel together. I told her that I would surely go if that was her wish for her birthday, and she replied back with a lovely smile striking my heart. I was starting to love her.

It was her birthday. I went to a store to buy a hat for her as a birthday gift. I asked the assistant to help me in finding the most attractive hat ever. Sally and I promised to meet up at the central bus station by 1 P.M. but she wasn’t there when I arrived. Then, I saw a horde of people in the middle of the crosswalk. Sally was lying down. It was the crosswalk right in front of the station, and she couldn’t make it. God was too harsh on her. He took everything away from her, even her eager wish. She had been hit by a truck while she was crossing the road driven by a careless driver. She was moved to a hospital. Lying on a bed, she was unconscious.

“She won’t be able to survive over the night,” the doctor said pessimistically. “Get prepared.”

I couldn’t believe what was happening. Sally’s thin breaths thumped on my heart. I felt like my world had stopped after I saw her lying on the ground. However, her world still went on and it tried to kill her. I hoped that the time would stop if I couldn’t save her. I did really want the time to stop. At that moment, something peculiar happened. The I.V. stopped dropping, Sally was frozen and the people and the scenery outside the hospital all froze. It was frightening; my wish had actually come through.

A long time had passed. Everything was still frozen. My wish made me alone. I was secluded from the world. Yet, Sally would’ve died without this confining wish. I realized that to best fulfill her wish; I should travel. I ran up to a store and grabbed packets of post-its, a small notebook and a pen to keep records. I was going to prepare the best birthday gift ever. I went to the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

At last, I came back to the hospital. I didn’t know how many years had passed. However, not even a second had passed in the real world. The time affected only me and it made me old.

Coincidentally, the world thawed at that moment. The world was back at place, with great sceneries, with the life revived.

Sally was still lying on the bed with beauty. I started to tell her about some great places around the globe, such as Eiffel tower in Paris, Statue of Liberty in New York and the Chinese Great Wall. I told her about lots of fantastic places for quite a long time, referring to my worn out notebook. When I reached to the last page of the notebook, I didn’t have anything left to tell her. I stayed silent for a while.

On T.V, a news anchor was delivering the news about my post-its. I stuck birthday memos for her on each of the famous monuments wherever and whenever I visited. After the world unfroze, those notes appeared at the same time in unison, and that was my gift. It was the most unique and special gift I could give her. I told Sally, “Thank you Sally, thanks for listening to this old man’s long story and I hope you’d appreciate my gift...” Her heart started to beat slower and slower. Last moment before it stopped, she replied back with a lovely smile, which struck my heart once again.