A Twist In The Tale : Story 1 : GRAVITY

Nina was dozing under the apple tree. "Plop" fell an apple on her head and rolled away from her. She woke up with a start. "Dratted apple! Was having such a wonderful dream!" She picked up the apple and said, "Did you think I was Newton about to discover gravity??!" She sighed, got up, and sauntered homeward. Her head felt wet at the place where the apple had landed. She wondered if a bird had mistaken her head for a chamber pot and taken care of its business. Hmm, it seemed like nature was pelting her with stones of every kind. She smiled to herself and continued walking. 

The day was wearing on and she had a lot of work to do. She had to collect her grand mom's medicines from the store. Her grandmom was fighting rare cancer, which was getting to be increasingly difficult considering her age. Her medicines were not easily available and the store had taken a special order that had to be picked up today. What made it more complicated was, she had to be given the medicines on time, or she would have seizures. Grandma's ailment was taking a toll on the entire family, especially her mom. She was clearly counting her days as the doctors had said and Nina wished that her big sleep would come soon. She loved her grandmom dearly, and given a choice would have wanted her to live for many more years. But she could not bear to see the suffering around her. And whenever things got depressing at home, the apple tree park was her retreat. 

As she took the bend that led to her house, she could see it at a distance. She saw something strange. There was a throng of people. Why had they come? And more importantly, how long had she been asleep? She hastened her steps. 

As she reached her gate, she saw her sister, head in her hands, crying and mumbling to herself. "Kriya, what happened?!" "Oh, Nina! You knew Granny had to have her medicines on time. But this!!...."Kriya said without looking up. Nina's heart started fluttering. Had she really slept for that long? Did her delay in bringing medicines lead to… Dear God! I know I wished Granny's end would come soon, but I feel terrible! She hurried inside. She saw her Granddad, sitting stone-like, in the veranda. "Gunny… "She said going up to him. But he didn't lookup. He was staring into space and his expression scared the wits out of her. He loved his wife dearly. Oh! What had she done! She went into the drawing-room. She saw her dad, crying inconsolably, surrounded by neighbours. She went near him, tears streaming down her eyes, and said," Dad… I'm so sorry!!" He sobbed, "Nina. Oh, Nina..!" Nina wanted to hug her dad, but she had to see her grandmom first.

 She went to the inner room. What she saw left her dumbfounded. There was an open casket, in the middle of the huge room. Her mom was nowhere in sight. But what shocked her most was the feeble figure of her grandmom sitting on her wheelchair in a corner of the room. She saw her brother, eyes red from crying, leaning as if he couldn't stand on his own, against a cousin, whose presence surprised her even in her given state. Where was her mom?? She looked around the room, confused, trying to find her. She was not to be seen. 

She walked slowly toward the coffin, her heart pounding with fear. Every nerve, every cell in her body was in complete denial of what she thought would greet her eyes. A thousand forbidden thoughts crept into her mind. Mom! Please show yourself and put me out of my misery here! She walked like a snail as if she didn't want to confront her worst fears and delay the inevitable infinitely. Just as she reached the coffin, her eyes still desperately searching for her mom… She saw her in a dark corner of the room. Unmoving, unblinking. No tears, nothing. Her bewilderment reached its peak. 

She peered into the coffin and what she saw stopped her heart, if it were possible. At first, she thought she was looking into a mirror. But the figure, her figure, in the casket had its eyes closed, lying there looking as if she was asleep. Then suddenly in a flash, it all came flooding back to her. The hurried drive to the store, driving through the signal just as it closed, the big truck plunging into her car, the blinding pain, the sight of her own blood, and before she blacked out, her head ramming into the steering wheel, bleeding just where the apple had fallen and the bird had dropped. The apple had answered her question. She was about to discover the gravity of a different kind. The pull of 6-feet under.