The Ring: A short Love Story

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It was midnight when I was standing by the gallery of my house. The stars were bright and it was all so quiet. The streets were empty, not even a single soul could be seen as far as eyes could wander. And here I was all alone waiting for something that even I didn’t know.

The floor was cold, I could feel it and so I sat down. Not thinking anything, just staring everywhere.

It was at this moment that I happened to see something weird, it was shining out of nowhere, the shine wasn’t bright, just enough for the eyes to notice its presence. It was a ring. The ring was near the tree where I used to play as a kid. Well, I still do.

I was constantly looking down at the tree which had this ring. It took me a few minutes to go down and grab it. I took it back with me to my room and back to my gallery. In those few minutes, I could feel the touch of the ring, the mud surrounding it, and the white crystal that decorated this piece. Everything about the ring felt real.

But what?

That’s the story which came to my mind as a flashback, a story I wanted to cherish all my life but because of passing time, it seemed to fade away.

It all started 4 years ago, I was 18 years old that day, it was a great day since it was the first day of my college and also my birthday.

I was sitting on my table looking in the mirror as to how I looked. My brown eyes wanted to speak a thousand words but only if someone could see. My pink lips were glowing not because of any products but because of the words they always wanted to say. My hair wasn’t proper but I didn’t care, they were as free as I am.

And most importantly I was happy, my face displayed that clearly. The reason for my happiness, well not only happiness but also my nervousness which could be felt through my heart which was pounding so loudly was a boy, Raj.

Raj was new in town; he came here because of his parents’ transfer and was staying for just a year. He was in my class, but I met him before as all my friends did. They enjoy all their holidays together, watching movies, playing games and eating a lot of different dishes.

During this kind of outing, one of our friends introduced me to Raj, actually introducing everyone to Raj. He was a tall and handsome boy but also shy. It was kind of cute though. I can’t say much about his physical appearance but what I felt being with him was wonderful. All our friends used to hang out together and he soon joined us. After a few meetings only we both used to spend some alone time together.

These meetings brought us close. I felt something for him and I thought he did too. He was my first-ever crush. I wanted to say everything to him but cared more about our friendship. I knew deep in my heart that he liked me too. The way he used to look at me and smile. The way he touched my hands with caution as if I was a feather to be handled carefully.

The way he laughed at every stupid thing I said or did. He respected me for what I was. And I admired him for each and every quality he possessed.

My father dropped me at the college and by the front gate, I could see all my friends waiting for me. But my eyes searched only one person, Raj. He wasn’t there. Why? Today was the first day and he still isn’t here yet.

It was time and we all went to our respective classes, I was sitting on my bench with my complete attention towards the door, in the hope that maybe just maybe he would come late. Soon seconds became minutes and minutes became hours.

I knew that he wouldn’t come today but I wasn’t ready to accept the fact. Hope is sometimes a bad thing; it asks you to believe the heart when your mind already knows the answer. And so the day passed, no trace of him. I went back home with dad.

I thought of calling him but I didn’t know what to say or what to ask. I just decided to wait for another day.

Another day came and the same thing happened, no trace of Raj. I was restless to see and talk to him, but my restlessness grew daily without any relief.

I decided to call him and I did. He picked up the call and seemed in some hurry. He asked me if I was free tonight, he was going to come to meet me at my place and I agreed.

It was dark when he came home, my parents greeted him and then we decided to walk on my lawn by the tree.

It was so weird starting this conversation, it seemed so. We talked about 100 things before but this seemed different, it seemed personal. I couldn’t take this awkward silence anymore and decided to directly ask him.

“So you aren’t attending college, why so?”

“Well, we have to leave town in the next 3 days, my parents got a new location and we have to shift as soon as possible. So I was busy with all that stuff.” Replied raj in a soft voice.

“I thought you were going to stay for a year or so, but you are leaving in just a month”.

“Oh, this wasn’t planned, it happened all of a sudden and I had no time to tell anyone.”

“It feels bad that you are leaving so early,” I said in a voice that was about to experience some tears.

“I have to say something to you, I have wanted to say this for a long time but had no proper words. I want you to listen to me carefully and think about it, okay?”. Raj seemed serious.

“okay”.

He was about to say those words, I was waiting all my life to listen. Those words of love, are so pure and sweet.

But as every story has some disturbing turns, mine too did. Mom called me from the kitchen to help her with something and it seemed urgent. I asked Raj to excuse me for a moment and he did. I ran to her to find out what the work was. I helped her with everything she asked me to do. I was really clumsy back then.

My mind was somewhere else and my hands couldn’t focus on the task. It took me around 15 minutes to complete the task.

When I was returning to Raj, I could see he was doing something around the tree as if finding some space to hide things. I didn’t pay much attention. I ran to him as fast as I could but it was already too late, it was evident from the words he said.

“My parents called I need to go home now; we have some guests coming over and I have to be there. I will come and talk to you later we anyways have each other’s numbers so we can talk anytime. Good night”. Raj said in a hurry.

I could see him go, I could see him becoming a shadow and then invisible by the end of the street. All I could do is just stand there, waiting for the next day to come. I only know how my night passed; I couldn’t sleep at all. The thoughts kept waking me up. I only wished for the next day to come.

The next day, I couldn’t pay any attention to my studies, my mind was occupied with different thoughts altogether. I waited for him in the evening but he didn’t come. I called him once, but he didn’t pick up his phone.

Many more days passed and still no sign of him. On his last day in town, our entire group decided to leave him till the airport, so we all went with him. I smiled at him, he did the same and then he left.

All these years, we stayed in contact with each other, like always we chatted about all sorts of random things but never came to that topic which we left incomplete that day. We are still close friends like we used to be. He is settled in a different town and made a lot of friends, we used to have long talks over them.

Today I noticed that there was a small hole in my tree, a little place that could hide little things. And there it was, the ring. Covered with mud but still visible to the naked eye.

Instantly I knew what to do and I called Raj, In the middle of the night and he picked up the call, he sounded asleep but he kind of knew that I wanted to talk about something serious. He got up and we talked for the entire night.

All the time my face had this big smile, the smile that comes to your face only when you are blushing. It was a wonderful night.

Oh, what happened?

I am about to tell you all. That evening Raj came to tell me that he loved me. He wanted to make me his girlfriend and so he had a ring ready with him. But due to the circumstances, he couldn’t say anything. We both remained quiet all these years because we valued our friendship over everything and weren’t ready to lose each other. Yesterday when I asked him about the ring, he told me that he purposely hid the ring so that I could find it and soon question him about it. But it took me almost 4 years to discover it. But time and distance haven’t reduced our love for each other. Our feelings remained strong. And now we are in a long-distance relationship struggling with all those obstacles normal couples face and still loving each other from the bottom of our hearts.

My name is Kavya and this is my short Love story surrounded by a ring which ties me with him and with his love forever and ever.