Fragrances of Memory 🌼🥀

Is it the fragrance of memory or the other way around? We all have a lot of memories tied up with some or the other fragrances. Few memories are sweet, few are bitter. If we recall, there are many common fragrances most of us love. The scent of soil after first rain, the fragrance of night jasmine during autumn, sweet smell of mango or jackfruit during summer or just the pleasant smell of rose. Hmm, Rose !

There are also some fragrances that are sweet but artificial, man made. Those are created to cover up the natural unpleasant smell.

It was summer, Robin had just turned 15. That age when youngsters are ready to explore their own feelings. Friends are everything at this age. Heart beats faster everytime someone beautiful crosses the path. It’s the stage when we young humans are not ready for heart breaks. Robin was quite mischievous, carefree but innocent. Robin had lunch and sat at the porch with a slice of mango in his hand. There was a strange crowd in his colony. People were curious and talking about a girl. It had already been 3 days since Sheena was missing. Suddenly Robin heard something from the crowd which shook him off completely. He ran towards the gate and saw an ambulance coming. The ambulance passed through him, all he could realise was a strong and strange smell. The smell was strong and good but seemed like it was trying to cover a bad odor.

“She jumped off the bridge," a man said. “Yeah it’s a clear case of suicide, someone saw her crying before she jumped" another man said. Another person just arrived and said “postmortem was done just for name sake. She was dead 3 days ago, I think she died the moment she fell off.” women were whispering “so sad… such a young girl .. gone too soon…”.

Robin wasn’t able to comprehend these things. As if it was a movie sequence. He threw the mango slice and silently went back to his room. He turned off the light, switched on the fan and closed his eyes.

It was 4 PM, everyone was waiting for the rain to stop. All the kids were excited to go home after a long day at school. But this rain! Anyway the good thing was the scent of soil after a few rain drops. The cool wind and Sheena standing alone next to the pillar. She has always been introverted and with a cute smile always on her face. Robin used to blush whenever he saw Sheena. He used to watch Sheena just from far. Robin bought ice-cream if Sheena did, he went on school picnics if She did. He enjoyed watching Sheena picking the night Jasmines in the morning at their colony park.

One day he decided to tell Sheena about his feelings, but he was scared. What if Sheena starts to hate him !

After 6 months of long wait he decided to propose to Sheena. It was of course valentine’s day. He bought a sweet smelling rose from the shop and waited for Sheena in front of the school gate. Sheena saw the beautiful big red rose in Robin’s hand and was sure that it’s for her. She kept on walking towards the gate and tried avoiding eye contact with Robin. Robin said “Sheena, I have something to tell you". Sheena asked “are you going to propose?” Robin being Robin, with a big smile he said “I love you". Sheena was a very mature and sensible girl. She took the rose and asked him to meet her on Sunday at their colony park. Robin was on cloud nine.

It was Sunday, they met at the park. Sheena got a chocolate for Robin. Robin was almost married to Sheena in his dreams. This chocolate was just like “I do" coming from Sheena. Without wasting time Robin started eating chocolate. Sheena’s perfume and the aroma of chocolate, Robin would never forget in his life. Suddenly She said “look! I am not here to spend time with you. Listen to me carefully, you are a kid and I am 2 years older than you. I have my board exams coming. I have no time for these things. So just move on and think that it was a dream. She left, Robin wasn’t able to gulp the last piece of chocolate. He came home, didn’t turn up for the tuition. He locked himself in his bedroom and cried. He cried the whole night. He wanted to die that day, that feeling was killing him. He went to school the next day and saw Sheena talking to a guy. He heard his friends saying that the boy is Sheena’s boyfriend.

Robin never looked at Sheena after that day. It was April, He was promoted to class 9. He exactly had the same feeling what he had for Sheena, everytime he met a new girl . Robin was doing great. After 2 months the board results were out. His colony people were gossiping about Sheena. She was a good student, how come she couldn’t clear her boards. He felt nothing about it. It was just random unimportant news for him.

After a week Sheena went missing. He heard from someone that Sheena eloped with a guy. Robin was sure, it must be the same guy he saw Sheena with. Police started looking for Sheena. Though he was curious to know where she might have gone, he never thought Sheena would kill herself.

After 3 days, who he met wasn't the same Sheena. In fact he didn’t meet, he couldn’t see her, could not say “Good bye" to Sheena. Many Sheena will come and go in his life, but these memories of fragrances will never leave his heart. 💔