The overcast skies vented their fury on Kasol, a quaint town in Himachal. Padmaja watched the stubborn drops coat the glass windows of her little cottage in the assisted living facility. A tingle of anxiety crept up her frail nerves at their monotonous drumming. She looked around for something to clean them with.
“Let it be, Amma.” Anju, her helper, called out from the kitchen.
Padmaja ignored her and rubbed the windows clean with a large brown envelope lying on the table. It was a registered post marked ‘URGENT’ in Padmaja’s name.
Anju lived with Padmaja since she had been afflicted with Alzheimer four years ago. Now, she didn’t intervene as she knew that Amma was a ‘clean freak’. Padmaja threw the envelope into the waste paper basket and slumped in the chair to calm her trembling self. She was hardly capable of any strenuous physical activity nowadays.
“Amma, this envelope arrived yesterday. There are some documents inside. Did you check what they are about?”
“Really! Who on the earth would send me anything? See, it has become crumpled and wet because of the rain.”
Anju threw Padmaja an exasperated glance but knew it was futile to build a bridge between deliberation and happenstance through reasoning.
“Amma, this has the map and documents of a property and a note which reads- Dear Paddu, this is your home now. Hope you find the keys. –Prashant.”
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Padmaja slept peacefully through most of the bus journey to Choutla, a town approx. two hundred kilometres away. Anju crossed her fingers nervously. Though Padmaja had been indisposed towards this adventure, Anju’s intuition nudged Padmaja’s creaking bones and failing mind to undertake this journey.
The bus rambled through the wilderness. Padmaja woke up to the woody scent of the cedars and pines that felt strangely familiar. The wet air caressed her dry skin and added a new muscle of strength and courage she never knew to possess.
They got down at the bus-stop indicated by the driver and walked slowly down a rugged path. Soon, a weakened structure in contrasting bright shades of pink and yellow loomed before Padmaja’s dimming sight.
The gates groaned open in her welcome.
“Nice house,” Padmaja spoke quietly. She looked around, then made her way to the backyard.
A skeleton structure with a few hanging, rusted chains of a non-existent swing held her attention. Faint tunes of laughter stirred some recognition within her.
“Amma, the letter said the keys…….?” Anju faced her defeated.
“It must be in the post-box outside the main door.” Padmaja whispered.
A shocked Anju opened the lock.
The rundown interiors and dense musty smells embraced Padmaja. She strode into the kitchen and giggled as she pointed to one of the shelves, “This jar! My mother used to store my favourite lemon pickle in this. There was another one which cracked when I threw a slipper at Prashant and he ducked.”
Anju pressed the brown envelope, wet with tears, to her heart.
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This story is written for Artoonsinn Writers Room contest
#Five0025 #Butterfly Effect
(498 words including title)
