Take me to the sea

Looking over the balcony and down at the sea, she took in all the views of her life. The coral reef raked in the sea at the left and a lone beach blistered its sand gloriously in the heat. Sea gulls flew over and beyond. Sometimes when the sun set, shark fins would be perceptible.

"Haya!" called her father and awakened her from her blissful reverie. The morning mayhem gradually resurfaced, the waves receded over the surfs and revealed the mid-rise buildings of Dhaka. A mailman whistled into the air with his usual gaiety. The song reverberated and reached to the groggy-eyed growing pupils and ever-so-involved sales vendors.

"Why aren't you ready yet?You ought be leaving now, young lady."Haya's father warned. She looked back and grimaced, grudgingly going back to her room. Haya pulled open her wardrobe and found her wedding attire congesting all of the little space that she had in her wardrobe. With difficulty she pulled out a jumpsuit and left for work.

For hours she fiddled on her project. Anxiety ate her up as her deadline came nigh. And subsequently would come the big day. A bittersweet taste left her mouth and she was reminded of the bouquet of dark chocolate Afnan gave her. Usually his thoughts were a boon however now she was only strained owing to them. Afnan would be oblivious to the albatross around her neck but she was only surviving the suffocation. How would he find her recklessness if he came to know, she mused.

"Oh boy, if this goes on you are gonna gain some pounds before the wedding,"remarked her colleague, Mili.

"Yeah, talk about it,"Haya rolled her eyes. "I would help you if it wasn't for my event organization task,"Mili explained.

"Or if you didn't have a boyfriend,"retorted Haya, smirking. "Not him again. You know that's not true,"she protested, abashed. "Well congrats, you finally moved on,"Haya replied.

"Congrats to you! I am not the one tying the knot,"Mili insisted as she scribbled on her paperwork

................

Once in a while, the ebbing of cyan waves would ring in Haya's ears and she would close her eyes to listen. Stuck in the traffic that's what she was trying to do. She never thought she would need a coping mechanism but this has always helped her meditate in the most unruly of situations. Over the past week she have been needing saving from the reality of her life and she inadvertantly chose to go on excursions to the audible aides of her memories. And not before long dark clouds soon shrouded over the gentle blue ripples and grey eyes began to venture over the surface. She threw open her eyes and gasped. Giving her head a shake, she tried to catch up with the traffic. She thought of inquiring about the sea to Afnan once she went home.

.................

"The sea levels are declining, the sun is creeping away. There's not much we can do about it..."he trailed off, then continued,"My friend in the navy says his team has been working on it since 1998 but he's tired of it and wants to abort the mission. Speaking of him, he's actually coming back from Cape Town. We haven't seen each other in years, I can't wait to see him again. He's actually my senior, we met in high school. You would like to meet him too, actually. Anyways how was your day, you sound off.

""Uhhm.. yeah, it's nothing much. Don't worry about it,"Haya tried to hide, following a dead silence." Oh! Cards-Invitation cards, did we miss anyone?"she queried in remembrance.

"Yeah Dad made sure everyone got it, he tried to reach out to extended family overseas as well. Just to make them feel included you know.." he answered, explaining.

"That's a nice gesture. It's sweet that we are not making anyone feel left behind." Haya felt happy.

"I am hanging up now, Grandma's calling." "Sure bye,"Hanging up, Haya sighed and started to take out her files. Sipping on her late-night coffee, she almost set to work. But her thoughts casually drifted and the crashing waves worked like lullaby to her ears so that the coffee failed its job. That night she dreamed of her time at the beaches in Cox's Bazaar and she immersed herself in the sea of memories.

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