There she was, once again, beyond the fence, standing alone. Once a while, I would see another girl walking with her, talking to her.
Every time I look at her, I am mesmerized by her beauty, spellbound by the bright blue eyes, by the most perfect nose, by those cushiony lips and the fluffy pink cheeks. They say, 'Perfection is a moving target, a mirage,’ but, I see her, everyday, with all the perfect features. God might have been drunk while creating her as he provided her with his own grace, his own beauty and all the other inhuman characters; all the characters of an angel.
Once, while she was talking to a girl, in her yard, I had the opportunity to look closer into her prettiness, into her charm. There I saw, the perfect pair of lips. I watched, when time stopped, when the petals slowly part, almost reluctantly sticking together, making it unnecessary for words. And when she stopped talking, I felt like I was sliding, along the perfect symmetry of her cupid bow, vanishing into the abyss in the sides.
She is the reminder of fertility of life, a hope for the best things that exist, she is the longing for all the beautiful objects and contains within her, a war that is fought in the mind of every beholder. Her aura is so exquisite that I fall head over heels for her, every passing day.
I never looked at her in the eye but I knew that she noticed me, walking my dog in my yard and around, every evening. I knew she looked at me and all I could do was, wait for her to look the other way so that I could have the slightest glimpse of her, a glance that would make a field day for me.
Perfection is a myth but I would have missed her perfectly shaped eyes and the flawless eyelashes. The day before, our eyes met, just for a fleeting millisecond and my heart skipped several beats. In that ephemeral glance, I witnessed the world, my world, collapsing in her beauty.
I had read somewhere, that 'Beauty is as evanescent as a rainbow,’ but hers was eternal.
Today, is my birthday, and I am going to confess my love for her. I will tell her, that her smile has meant the world to me, that I have been looking at her for a month now and my love for her has increased by each passing day.
So, in the evening, I feed Bruno with pedigree and fresh meat and walk out towards the fence. I scan the yard, but she is nowhere to be seen. I cross the fence and jump in and walk towards her home which seems more of a mental asylum. Despaired by her absence I turn back on my path, only to see her coming out of her home. She is walking towards me.
Is she here to confess her love as well? Has she been waiting for this as well? The only way to find out, is to wait. She looked in my eyes and I could see my heartbeat through my T-shirt. I could feel my heart being banged in my rib cage. I will stand here, wait for her and when she comes I’ll pour out everything.
She is only a few steps away and my ears are red hot, I can feel the chaos inside my brain, there is a rush of adrenaline in my stomach as it turns and everything is gone for good. She walked past me, as if I never existed. Everything is quiet now, as still as the starry night.
No, I can’t lose hope. If not now, then never.
'Hey! I'm Mittul,’ I could feel my stomach twisting as I walked up to her.
She turned and her hair made a wave in air, but her face was still, stupefied.
'You must not be able to see me.’
'What? Why? Are you a ghost or something?’
'You must not. I am a part of an experiment and I must not be visible to any human eye, she said monotonously, expressionless.
‘But, the previous day you were talking to that girl-' but before I could complete my sentence she started running, towards the thicket behind her house. I ran behind her into the woods and she stopped abruptly.
‘Stop following me!’ she yelled. You must leave. Go before they get you as well,’ she said, half angry and half despondent.
'What? Who's coming? And what do you mean by 'They will get you as well'? she motioned me to be quiet just I was about to burst again. I could hear footsteps and breaking of twigs on the ground. Her face dropped.
‘I told you to go away and now you will face the same fate as Isha did,’ she said in a humdrum. 'You too will be a part of the experiment now and your parents will never know what happened to you just like mine , just like Isha's don’t. You will be lost Mittul,’ and everything went dark and I couldn’t breathe but her voice echoed in my ear. 'Forever.’