Sweet Mystery

It was a day like any other.

December, it was as I remember.

The gray mist had muffled up,

The blue vale with shaggy pines.

Cold, biting numbing cold it was.

Which invariably made our teeth chatter.

A bright, cheery fire was what the heart sought.

To warm up our blue fingers,

Tingle our parched lips,

And caress our cold breasts.

So, a fire was thus made,

With brittle twigs and rotten brashes,

That we had foraged when the day was a little gay.

Then we, the sly six, as we liked to call ourselves,

Sat around it with childish laughter,

Nursing hot wispy cups of home-brewed tea.

In the winter of 2006.

Those were the times,

Of carefree days,

And sluggish nights,

Of endless talks,

And puppy loves.

So, it was such a day.

Where we young souls,

with a million dreams and a zillion desires,

but with utterly clueless minds,

Sat around that blissful bonfire,

To utter sweet nothings,

Watching little clouds of breath,

leap out from our mouths,

Like a spirited deer

galloping away from an insistent hunter.

Sad Soul, as we called him so in the group,

Not that he was sombre or glum,

But was always in a mood of his own,

He read and read,

and thought and thought,

He was seldom without a question.

A question that made us sombre

and made us ask questions.

Now, Sad Soul began his discourse

About loving and losing,

Of mysteries ever lingering.

It made us serious, as usual.

To make him quiet,

I decided to tell a tale.

I thought it then,

which was the best recourse.

While ten eyes regar

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ded me,

with an unsuppressed grin,

I pulled up a long face,

to lend gravity to my tale.

Thus, I began gazing on,

Holding my slowly cooling tea.

Not so long ago, there was a girl,

who was adored by many.

she was the essence of spring.

A fragile being without her fairy wing.

she never was someone to trifle with,

So I never tried flirting.

But her smile beckoned my heart.

However, I pulled the reins,

Of my rampaging heart.

And it was always better,

To be alert than sorry.

But, call it perchance or providence,

We ended up becoming best of friends.

When I look back now,

it was all for the better.

It so happened that,

two of my classmates,

Fell in love with her

at the same time.

What was even absurd,

They chose me to play Cupid.

As good-natured as I was.

I decided to go along.

When I eventually did,

She turned them down,

definitely yet graciously.

I tried to bugger her a bit,

Heaven knows why!

Tried to plead one’s case,

with a fervent resolve.

She looked at me with a resigned look,

Held my nervous gaze.

for a little more than usual

and ever so slowly spoke,

“Do you also feel like them?”

I blushed like a fool,

And denied with a sheepish grin.

She half smiled and turned away.

That was where it stayed.

Now as my monologue ceased.

I asserted with unknown confidence,

To my Sly Six.

Some mysteries are better left alone.

What could have happened,

Had I been bold?

I ask myself quite often.

But my heart flutters,

Never ever knowing her answer.