It was Divya’s second day in the Space Agency as a Junior Scientist. She sat confused on her bed in the staff apartment. Her heart was heavy. Last night she had a dream about her most intimate schoolmate Ronny. In the dream she saw him injured and lying unconscious on the stone bench of a park that was very familiar to her.
During her school days her family was in deep financial trouble. Her father owned a small shop. But he was a drunkard and never earned a penny for the family. Her mother was a piano instructor and her small earnings were the only source of income for the family.
Ronny’s home was in her neighbourhood. Both his parents were teachers at the school were they studied. He was always kind and compassionate to her. During those difficult times in her life, he offered unconditional support that she would never forget. He used to get her school fees settled by his parents.
There happened yet another incident, which she liked to recollect quite often. She was very fond of rose flowers. She had three rose plants in the narrow front yard of their home. One day her drunkard father destroyed all the plants. She cried aloud. Ronny was viewing the scene from the portico of his home. Once her father left the place, he came near the wooden fence and tried to pacify her. He pointed towards the rose plants in his front yard and told her “Don't worry Divya, those plants are also yours”
‘One day I shall repay my gratitude’ –she decided then and it became a never ending source of energy for her to work hard. Her ambition was to become a space scientist. She completed schooling with the topmost scores. Ronny was the person who celebrated her victory the most.
She got full scholarship to pursue her undergraduate studies in a famous university in their capital city. Ronny’s ambition was to become a pilot and therefore he went to another town to join his favourite flying school.
She completely devoted her college days for studies. After class time, she spent long hours in the college library. She stayed in the college hostel and seldom visited her home. During vacations she joined University’s vacation projects that awarded credits for higher studies.
Even after undergraduate examinations, she stayed back in college hostel because she was very confident of getting admission to MS in Astrophysics. When undergraduate results announced, she won it with gold medal and got admission to MS. She completed her MS also with gold medal. Finally she got her dream job in the Space Agency! Thus from the first day in undergraduate class to the first day in space agency, she was a restless warrior of her own destiny. During that time she got little updates about Rony.
Two hours later, while sitting in the staff cafeteria for breakfast, she rewound the scenes in her dream once again. ‘Yes I know that park’ – she ran out of the cafeteria to the street and stopped a taxi. “south circle park” – she instructed the driver.
While getting off the taxi in front of the park, she saw an ambulance rushing out of the park. Now her anxiety increased manifold. She ran into the park with a shivering body and mind. Inside the park she saw many policemen near the rose garden.
“what’s up there?” – she asked the park guard.
“a pilot was stabbed to death yesterday night. The cleaning workers found his body early morning today. It was sent to postmortem just now...”
She stood shocked when the guard told that. Every thing around her faded into the darkness that filled in her eyes.
#openfiction
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