The twilight sky was dark gray as the rain poured down.
He watched her giggle and dance merrily in the garden, her wavy hair messily framing her face. She ran around, enjoying the sound of the splashing water. Her prized glittery pink umbrella lay abandoned beneath a huge fir tree, currently sheltering a squirrel. Noticed the tiny creature, she ran towards it. The squirrel climbed up the tree, scared.
"Aw." she pouted.
"You scared it." he laughed.
"I am scary?" she questioned, surprised, her eyes bulging out.
"Of course not, my princess," he answered, "the squirrel is just paranoid."
"Oh." she grinned, "Silly thing! I mean no harm." she danced away again.
She continued having fun in the deluge while a cold wind started blowing.
His body shuddered involuntarily. It was getting too cold.
"Let's go inside now, princess." he caught her from behind.
"Already? Why?" she pouted, again.
"It's getting colder, sweetheart. You'll fall ill." he said softly.
"But, but... What if it does not rain again?" her face showed genuine fear.
"You'll see many such and more beautiful days," he hugged and kissed her, "But we've to go inside now."
She continued to pout, jutting out her lower lip as far as possible.
"We'll watch your favorite movie, come." he pulled her gently.
Her beautiful black eyes lit up once again, she smiled and dimples adorned her cheeks.
"That sounds fun! And, I want popcorn and cheese and nachos and cheese and..." she prattled on as they went inside.
"Why don't you change while I get your popcorn and cheese and nachos and cheese and-?" she ran away to get into dry clothes just as he started speaking.
By the time he returned to the living room from the kitchen, she had already settled on the sofa while the beginning credentials rolled up on the TV screen.
"More fun time! Yayie! Come here, quick." she called out to him, patting a spot beside her, her favorite soft toy clutched to her chest.
"Lemme get a blanket as well. We don't want to catch a cold, do we?"
She shook her head, grinning.
"You munch these till then, munchkin." he smiled, giving her all she had asked for.
When he returned with the blanket barely a couple of minutes later, he found her sleeping soundly, curled up where she was sitting.
He switched off the TV, put the blanket around her and carried her to the bedroom.
He lay her gently on the bed, his shirt held in her tiny delicate hand. He kissed her hand as he pulled away his shirt from her grasp.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he was reminded of someone. The incident had happened many years ago, but it was still fresh in his mind, as though it were just yesterday...
It was the same bed to which he had brought her when she had fallen asleep on the same sofa, in the same spot while watching the same movie, on a similar rainy evening.
He had been feeling restless all this evening. All the events had only made her absence even more unbearable.
"Daddy?" said the little girl who had woken up as quickly as she had fallen asleep.
"Yes, sweetie?" he asked, trying to hide his tears.
"Are you thinking about mommy, again?" she asked, sitting up, tears in her eyes.
"Yes." he sighed and he could not stop his eyes from spilling forth his emotions.
"Please don't cry, daddy." the little girl said, wiping his tears with her tiny hands even as she herself sobbed.
"She loved you, daddy, a lot. And, she loved me. And we love her, and we won't ever forget her." she said.
"Yes, we will never forget her." he tried to smile as he kissed her little hand and hugged her.
Aadhya, their daughter was only five when her mother, his wife, had died two years ago. Her name, Aayushi, seemed ironical to him now.
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
