She sat all by herself on the bench near the lake waiting patiently for him. It was a chance delay in getting to the bus stop on time that fateful afternoon after her classes that resulted in her meeting him. Although it was more than an year since then, she couldn't help but smile each time she thought of it.
She had never missed her bus until then but that day, destiny had willed otherwise. Realizing she had missed her bus, route no.204 and with the next one due in an hour, she could only sit on the bench waiting. That was when she noticed the other person waiting like her.He was neatly dressed, the bag slung across his shoulders meant he too was a student just like her. Having nothing else to do, she began observing him, trying to discern more about him from his appearance. He seemed like a regular college student who had a liking for gadgets for he had what looked like a blue-tooth hands-free, but she was unable to place it against any of the popular models she knew. He was fiddling with his cell phone, probably playing a game or messaging someone constantly she thought. He suddenly looked up and she realized she had been staring at him long enough. She gave a smile hesitantly not knowing what else to do and he returned it before returning to his cell-phone. Soon the bus came along which they both boarded. While she managed to get a seat, he was not that lucky.
She forgot all about him until she saw him again at the bus-stop the next day. This time she avoided looking at him and took out her cellphone and pretended she was busy till the bus arrived. This continued all through that week and even the week after that. And then it was the dreaded day of the year , the day the world seemed to remember love existed and celebrated it. It was "Valentine's day", the day she would love to remove from her calendar if she could. She detested all the candy-floss hullabaloo for she felt she would never be able to sing her way into someone's heart. Curiously enough her new-found silent companion at the bus-stop was not to be seen that day. He must have skipped his classes to be with someone she thought.God!! How she hated that day of the year the most.
He was back the next day though and she went back to her "pretending-to-be-busy-with-cellphone routine". The routine would have continued for weeks after that, but he seemed to think otherwise. That day when the bus arrived, he got in right after her and managed to grab the seat beside her. He smiled at her and said something about the weather but she only smiled at him and looked out of the window as if enjoying the sight of traffic. But he didn't give up. He began talking about himself and his classes and the subjects that he loved and the classes that he hated. It didn't seem to bother him that she was not even looking at him for he knew she was listening inspite of herself. What happened next was something she would not have dreamt even in the wildest of her dreams. He told her he knew why she was not talking. When she turned towards him surprised, he spoke to her in a language she would have never guessed he knew, her language. He had spoken to her in the sign language that even her family had learnt so that they could speak with her for she could never speak their language, at least not the way they could understand.
The wait at the bus-stop soon became something she looked forward to. They spoke animatedly about anything and everything. They both had special education background which explained how he knew her language. He had been diagnosed with Auditory Neuropathy , a type of hearing loss even before he joined school and was lucky to get special education that enabled him to seamlessly integrate into the mainstream student life to pursue a degree in digital forensics. She was learning animation in the special school, it had been her dream to be a part of the world of her favorite cartoon characters. She was happy in her world where her friends too never had a voice of their own just like her, for she had been born into strange silence. Little did she know fairy tales happen in real world. While she liked to read and could spend days on end by herself at home, he was the kind of guy who could not stay indoors for long even if his life depended on it. With his group of friends, he loved to trek spending days or even weeks in wilderness away from the worldly din. They were so different in their likes and dislikes, yet they enjoyed each other's company. How did he know that she spoke a special language, now that was something he never told her.
While she sat reliving the early days of their friendship, he arrived with a bouquet of her favorite flowers, charming white daisies. As she smiled while caressing the flowers, he cupped her lovely face and kissed her gently on her forehead.While his loving eyes smiled at her, her heart sang
"
Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so..." , the song she would sing if only she had a voice...
Pictures are from Google images
