Ligo Haibun Challenge – 01/11-07/11
Hello friends and readers,today make my debut in another new arena-the Haibun. Encouraged and gently guided by none other than Managua Gunn,am ready to take my first tentative steps in this genre of writing.The picture prompt for this Haibun is below-
Hope my submission below is not too disappointing 😛
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
A thing called life
She shivered. “Is it the autumn chill or the chill in my heart? Or maybe I am getting old!” She smiled ruefully at that thought.
Fitting a lifetime of memories in cardboard boxes and packing cases is not an easy task but he managed to go through the paces. With the last bit of memory rolled up and packed away, the house resonated with an emptiness that had made its home in his heart, the night it all ended.
Life is so like seasons, she mused .Everything is same, yet all is new. Only our perspective changes, just like the leaves changing colour. Nature shows us the way, but we human beings resist change.
Standing outside on the busy road, he looked up and for a moment saw her at the window, leaning out and laughing .His blinked his eyes. His treacherous heart was playing tricks-again. The once familiar neighbourhood, felt so alien today. It seemed just yesterday, when he had carried her in and gently set her down in the hallway of their new home. How her eyes had sparkled, proud and happy to be beside him.
Promises really don’t mean anything, do they, her mind probed. We just trade words for possible dreams, probable hopes, for a future unseen. Just like the tree has no idea which of the leaves will change colour in autumn or be the first to detach itself, none of us know what will stop breathing first-a relationship or life..
Their life had been so full-of love, of happiness, of unbridled joy and all because they were together. The children, when they came brought in their share of blessings, which just strengthened their bond. What he did not foresee was the cruel blow that fate was planning, for he was bewitched by lady luck’s limitless bounty.
The evening gloom had begun to permeate the garden outside, she observed.Within, the icy tentacles of despair were curling around her hapless heart. Counting slowly to ten, she eased her breathing and told herself, “Don’t be a ninny! You need to be strong. You have to tell him that you are leaving-he deserves that much!”
Why she kept it a secret till the last moment, he failed to understand. She had always been so open. He had panicked and chaos had ensued. He felt betrayed-it was so unfair…he had had no time to even grieve her loss…
Flurry of seasons
momentary joy-deaf to
the tolling death knell
——————————-X——————————-
@Zebra Crossing 