Eyes Opened

The car swerved around the sharp mend giving a narrow miss to the on-coming bus.

    It was a near death experience. My heart skipped a beat. For a man in 20s I was never ready to die, but, I guess no one ever is. I felt like I had done nothing in my life. Not that I was expecting to make some breakthrough discovery and win a Nobel prize, but I wanted to do some small things that would make me feel satisfied when lying on the death bed.

The biggest thing I regretted was not saying a proper goodbye to my parents. As a child, I always thought my parents were strict. But looking back, I only remember the best bits. I wanted to hug them and say "You did your best, Mama and Papa. Because you are the best". I guess I would be never able to say that to them since they passed three years ago. But,  I keep saying that from my heart every moment hoping that they are listening.

Another thing I regretted was never able to propose to my childhood crush. She is a kind hearted girl. We studied in the same school.  We were batchmates in the college. We even work together now! I always wanted to say to her how beatiful she was and how much I love her but couldn't muster enough courage to speak to her. Now, that my eyes were finally opened, I decided to do that. I went to a store and bought a bouquet of red roses and went straight to her. I noticed I was sweating profusely when I rang the doorbell.

She opened the door with that same lovely smile, brushing her silky hair with her hand wearing a Lace Soutach dress with a golden embroidery. I bent down on one knee, took her hand in mine and proposed to her "I love you, my dear. I had loved you, I love you and I will love you forever. I will never love someone the way I love you. 

Tears started flowing through her beatiful black eyes. She bent down, held my hands, kissed me in the cheek and said to me in a soft voice " You are a nice guy. But I'm sorry." It was the most heartbeaking moment of my life. Everyone wants a happy ending, Right?, but it doesn't always roll out that way. I was unable to speak for a minute. But, I took a deep breath and pulled it together. I respected her decision as she was in a phase where she had to completely focus on her career. I accepted the rejection, politely said her goodbye and walked away. Now, I was not at all disappointed because I knew I did something which I was never able to do earlier and I would never regret when lying on the death bed that I didn't speak to her.