Continued in following order:
Part 1:Him
Part 2:Her
Part 3:The Other Her
Writing in pronouns can be a bit confusing especially when addressing multiple characters. So in this one 'She' refers to both, the character from 'Her' and ' The other her'. For most of the post 'She' is the character from 'The Other Her' but it changes near the end. The change is marked with a note. I hope you don't find it too confusing :)
He pressed the elevator’s call button. He couldn’t risk being stuck at another floor. She was worried and waiting for him. He gave her enough trouble already. The elevator door dinged and closed quickly. His nightmares were contained for now as he prepared to play the role of a calm, jovial person once again.
Part 1:Him
Part 2:Her
Part 3:The Other Her
Writing in pronouns can be a bit confusing especially when addressing multiple characters. So in this one 'She' refers to both, the character from 'Her' and ' The other her'. For most of the post 'She' is the character from 'The Other Her' but it changes near the end. The change is marked with a note. I hope you don't find it too confusing :)
His ever slackening
pace came to a halt on the 8th floor. He took a long look at the
crowded road visible from his building; considering the usual concrete jungle
he lived in, the view was beautiful. The hustle bustle on the road below had an
undertone of chaos in it, just your regular Monday morning. He could predict an
impending traffic jam and the following pandemonium. The daring bike guy
wiggling through lines of car caught his attention; his theatrics bought back a
few memories. He missed those.
Reluctantly
he made an unsuccessful attempt to wriggle out of his stupor and get going. He
was still engrossed in the memories evoked by the careless bike rider. They
pressed against his consciousness, inducing a scathing pain. He flinched and
tried to move once again but remained rooted to the spot still browsing through
his mixed bag of memories, one in particular. She was ironically the most
painful yet a cherished memory of all those gone by years.
Even after
all those years he could never really pinpoint why he liked her. Maybe because she was almost
everything he wasn’t, and much more. She was definitely neither the most
attractive of her peers nor the intelligent one and definitely not the kindest
one. Whoever she was he was instantly smitten from the moment his eyes rested on her. He still remembered the turmoil she caused within him, the
endless debates he held against himself trying to convince him of the futility
of it all. Needless to say all of them ended without the logical conclusion which
he wanted to opt for. Not surprisingly after each such lengthy, one-sided,
fruitless debate he was even more intrigued by her.
It took
weeks of deliberations and every available ounce of courage he could summon to
take that decision. He decided to let go of his constant internal conflict, to
ignore the lengthy list of rational arguments he has compiled, to rise above
his deep rooted fear. He desperately wanted it to end, for better or for worse,
he had to put an end to it before it subsumed him into nothingness.
Despite of what followed he still felt proud for combating his fears and rising
above them. Unfortunately it was a marginal by-product of a brutal act of
decimation.
Courage can
be such a double edged sword. Tackling our fears and transcending them seems
like such a noble idea but it is often accompanied by devastating consequences. Maybe
that is why only a few of us are truly courageous.
He never understood why she
made him the target of her vicious whiplash, it was almost like she wanted to
make an example out of him, and she did. At worst he expected a quiet somber
rejection but compared to what happened that would have a far more
humane outcome. His annihilation was not a civil act. His young impressionable
mind never really recovered from it. The reverberations of the event haunted
him even now, she haunted him even now.
As a testament
to widely recognized cruelty of fate, live never let him really forget her. For
some insane sadistic reasons it kept throwing them together, from college
projects to common friends to the shared workplace, she always hung around like
a painful memory refreshed regularly. Over the years he did got on acceptable
terms with her. She apologized and he also tried to accept it and move on,
feigning friendship along the way. He noticed her softened expressions in the
last couple of months, almost to the point where he mistook them for misplaced
affection. A part of him wanted to retrace his steps of past and the make the same bold mistake
once again but the painful remains of his wound made it impossible. Maybe that
is why he gave in to his mother’s repeated pleadings and concluded it was about
time. He was sure that his middle class values along with the institution of
marriage will help him move away from her, finally. Once again he was……
Note: 'She' is now the character from 'Her'.
The harmonic
melody of his neoclassical ringtone perturbed his chain of thought. He looked
at his phone. It was her.
He glanced at
the time, 10:00 am. It’s been 30 minutes since he left the house and he was
still on the 8th floor. He answered to a panic stricken voice.
“Where are you? I am already waiting by the
care. Are you all right? “. Her voice conveyed her genuine concern. He couldn’t
understand how she can have an ounce of affection for such a distant person.
“I am okay.
I forgot something so had to go back, will be there in 5 minutes.” He lied,
unconvincingly, and disconnected the call.
He looked at
the same expanse of urban clockwork. The traffic jam which he predicted was
already in its full glory and the usual bedlam was being exhibited all around. His
eyes searched for the daring bike guy. He was stuck in between the same cars
which he was effortlessly maneuvering through. His helmet was off and he
sweated profusely. His eyes were searching for an exit route in all this pandemonium.
There was none to be found, he gave a disappointing shrug and waited for opening
which will allow him to get free and be the daring bike guy once again. It was
a painful and agonizing wait.
He pressed the elevator’s call button. He couldn’t risk being stuck at another floor. She was worried and waiting for him. He gave her enough trouble already. The elevator door dinged and closed quickly. His nightmares were contained for now as he prepared to play the role of a calm, jovial person once again.
