[POV: Ananya]
They told me I was lucky.
"Just two months."
Because I was young.
Because I "showed remorse."
Because I cried at the right time, in front of the right people.
But the day I walked out...
I didn't feel lucky.
I felt hollow.
The sunlight burned my eyes after so long.
The air smelled like jasmine and petrol and smoke.
A constable handed me a small cloth bag.
Inside:
My bracelet.
My diary.
And a letter from Mama.
"We're shifting to Mysore."
"Your old friends don't need to know."
"We'll begin again."
No I miss you.
No I forgive you.
Not even I love you.
Just silence... and shame.
When I reached home, nothing looked the same.
Mama had packed up most of the house. Papa's pictures were gone.
Only one remained — tucked behind a dusty vase, almost forgotten.
His smile still haunted me.
His eyes, sharp and proud.
She didn't hug me when I entered.
She just said,
"You can sleep in the guest room."
I stood there with my bag in hand, staring.
"Not my room?"
She looked away.
"That room... smells of him."
Dinner was cold rotis and colder silence.
I tried to speak, once.
"Mama... I'm sorry—"
She flinched.
"Don't."
So I didn't.
That night, I stood in the shower, letting the water run for too long.
I stared at my wrists, my knees, my reflection in the foggy glass.
I didn't recognize myself anymore.
But somewhere deep in my chest... something stirred.
A flicker.
A voice.
"You're free now. But are you really?"
The next morning, I asked Mama something simple.
"Did anyone ever talk about Rohit?"
She paused.
Then said coldly,
"He vanished. No one's seen him since."
A slow smile crept across my lips.
Because I knew what that meant.
He's hiding.
And hiding only means one thing.
Guilt.
For weeks, I tried to go back to being normal.
Reading. Schoolwork. Yoga with Mama.
But nothing tasted the same.
The food.
The sunlight.
The wind.
Everything felt like ash in my mouth.
Until one day, I saw a news notification flash on Mama's phone.
🗞️ "Boy Found Dead in Abandoned Railway Quarters — Suspected Overdose. Identity: Rohit Malhotra."
My breath hitched.
I stared.
And something strange happened.
I didn't cry.
I didn't scream.
I didn't feel... anything.
Except a slow, creeping warmth curling up my spine.
And then...
A smile.
Not a sad one.
Not a relieved one.
A sinister one.
Because karma had finally come full circle.
Or maybe...
I helped it along.
YOU ARE READING
Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi
Short Story"Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi" - a collection of stories that capture love in all its colors. This book brings together different shades of a lover's heart - the joy, the pain, the longing, the warmth. Every short story offers a unique perspective on...
