Melo, A Precious Story

 The day had just begun for Rudra after a day-long trip from her hometown in the hills to the quaint town surrounded by beaches and glistening ocean waves. A beautiful hotel, its name whispered “bonheur de l’ocean, which means ocean bliss!, welcomed her with a warm hug. Wooden floors, marbled dreams and a balcony whose view looked like a gentle kiss from the ocean. All her wounds, momentarily swept away by the rhythm of the sea, which calmed the ever-anxious rhythm of her heart. She slumbered into the comforting embrace of nature like an infant in a mother’s arms. However, her slumber was awakened by a sudden uproar of sounds from the garden. Intrigued by the noise, amidst the chaotic intern group, she peered out and caught a glimpse of a strikingly stern figure. Her vision though hindered by the decorative vegetation, still, the grace and majesticity of his robes, a traditionally draped dhoti and his build almost caught a heartbeat of hers as she smirked and went back to savour the rest of the day. As the night deepened and the canopy of twinkles slowly revealed, her curiosity was sparked by the drumbeats afar. To her eyes, it looked like a secret cult performing a ritual. But among the dancing crowd was a figure, a familiar sight. She sneaked closer through the covers of drying clothes to catch a glimpse of this intriguing man. A strange feeling of belonging and enticement raised her heartbeat like a sports engine with an F1 driver behind the wheels. Held back by wounds from her past and fear from the uncertainty of the future, she retreated to her calm abode. Little did she know fate had other plans for entangling their paths. The introverted dreamer was drawn to his solacing light. The next day, the silence of her solitary morning walk was broken by a stalwart voice and without a second’s thought she knew who it was. He invited her along for a short sail to the neighboring corals. It was his cruise designed by the Fincantieri, glistening in the sunlight on which she stumbled clumsily with a mix of emotions and cautiousness. Steadily and gracefully the boat glided through the waves and halted at a point with rocks and clear waters that gave a glimpse of the floor of the shallow sea. The coral’s hue captivated her as she leaped without a second’s thought. Terrified watching her slowly cascade to the depths, he leaped right after. The whole crew was awe-struck in shock as to what had happened to these newly flocked love birds. He gushed out of the waters with her, giving relief to the poor crew who had gone into paralysis after losing the captain and his partner in a matter of few minutes. Both reached the small island that had risen due to low tide and Trilok swam back into the waters to find something he had been waiting for a long time. He resurfaced with a sea snail, exclaiming it is very rare to find it in these waters as it is native to Vietnam and that he had been trying to find a special pearl from this conch for many years called Melo. Holding the shell, her eyes gazed deep into his, for this was the first she had ever felt so far away from her wounds and closer to her soul. His lips uttered “I will now no longer seek the pearl, for I’ve found something more precious for a million lifetimes” as though he spoke her thoughts aloud. The union of these two souls was written on the whisper of each wave that touched that shore and emerged a bond more precious than all the stars in the sky.