By
HUDA Ansari
She saw the ink from the tip of the pen being dragged in the shape of his signature, slowly soaking into the fine threads of the legal paper, and it was at this precise moment she realised that, with yet another signature, her life was about to change forever.
She remembered the first time they signed their names together. Everything was perfect that day. They were surrounded by their closest family and friends. They were scared but they held each other's hands and penned their names, sealing their love for one another.
With marriage came responsibility and they found themselves seated opposite a mortgage consultant. They tightly held on to each others hand's, looked at one another, and signed on the half dozen papers in front of them.
The next set of signatures possessed an odd blend of pain and pleasure. They never thought that they would ever find themselves in this setting. They had made it this far, it could only get better from here. They signed the adoption papers and sat in the waiting room nervously, her hand in his firm grasp. They brought him out and their past miseries faded as they held his tiny hands in their own and took him home.
It still hurt to remember their last signatures. She remembered how they stood apart when they heard the doctor's decision. She remembered how it hurt her to let him be released from his misery. She remembered how his hands shook when he signed the papers. She remembered how they spent the night in that hospital room, with them on either side of his tiny, frail, lifeless form. She remembered how they cried in their corners till morning drew near.
He had finished signing the papers. The lawyer was telling her something but she wasn't listening. Instead, she looked at him. He was looking at her. He smiled and held out his hand under the table. She smiled back, gave him her hand and signed the papers.
They walked down the stairs of the courthouse hand in hand. They stopped at the last step. They let their hands let go and turned towards each other. He leaned in and gave her a hug. She hugged him back, and kissed his warm cheek.
"I'll always love you," she whispered.
"And I, you," he replied.
They let go off each other from the embrace, but still held each another's hand, for the last time.
"Take care!"
"You too," she smiled, as they let go off their clasped hands.
They turned around and walked away from each other. Neither of them looked back, nor shed a tear at the closing of this chapter in their lives. They had realised that their lives were like train tracks. Their paths crossed and they became companions sharing a parallel journey. The train jostled and jilted and together they bruised. But the train had now come to a halt, and with it their shared journey. The tracks hence parted. Their destinations lay await elsewhere.
She saw the ink from the tip of the pen being dragged in the shape of his signature, slowly soaking into the fine threads of the legal paper, and it was at this precise moment she realised that, with yet another signature, her life was about to change forever.
She remembered the first time they signed their names together. Everything was perfect that day. They were surrounded by their closest family and friends. They were scared but they held each other's hands and penned their names, sealing their love for one another.
With marriage came responsibility and they found themselves seated opposite a mortgage consultant. They tightly held on to each others hand's, looked at one another, and signed on the half dozen papers in front of them.
The next set of signatures possessed an odd blend of pain and pleasure. They never thought that they would ever find themselves in this setting. They had made it this far, it could only get better from here. They signed the adoption papers and sat in the waiting room nervously, her hand in his firm grasp. They brought him out and their past miseries faded as they held his tiny hands in their own and took him home.
It still hurt to remember their last signatures. She remembered how they stood apart when they heard the doctor's decision. She remembered how it hurt her to let him be released from his misery. She remembered how his hands shook when he signed the papers. She remembered how they spent the night in that hospital room, with them on either side of his tiny, frail, lifeless form. She remembered how they cried in their corners till morning drew near.
He had finished signing the papers. The lawyer was telling her something but she wasn't listening. Instead, she looked at him. He was looking at her. He smiled and held out his hand under the table. She smiled back, gave him her hand and signed the papers.
They walked down the stairs of the courthouse hand in hand. They stopped at the last step. They let their hands let go and turned towards each other. He leaned in and gave her a hug. She hugged him back, and kissed his warm cheek.
"I'll always love you," she whispered.
"And I, you," he replied.
They let go off each other from the embrace, but still held each another's hand, for the last time.
"Take care!"
"You too," she smiled, as they let go off their clasped hands.
They turned around and walked away from each other. Neither of them looked back, nor shed a tear at the closing of this chapter in their lives. They had realised that their lives were like train tracks. Their paths crossed and they became companions sharing a parallel journey. The train jostled and jilted and together they bruised. But the train had now come to a halt, and with it their shared journey. The tracks hence parted. Their destinations lay await elsewhere.
