ASHES OF THE MONSOON 💝

CHAPTER 7 ( The Last Monsoon )

The season came early that year.

By June, Mumbai was already drowning again—streets filling with black water, the skyline blurred by grey. From his balcony, Aarav Mehta watched the rain slide down the glass like tears he no longer felt.

He hadn’t painted in months. The critics called it a “creative silence.” He called it truth: the canvas had finally outlived the heart behind it.

Then came the news.

A literary magazine announced that Mira Sen’s upcoming book, “The Fire Beneath Glass,” would release that week—her first novel, dedicated to “the one who turned storms into mirrors.”

Aarav read the dedication again and again.

He knew what it meant.

It wasn’t forgiveness. It was farewell.

---

That night he walked through the city, hood up, shoes sinking into puddles. Every corner of Mumbai still whispered her name—the café in Bandra, the flooded lane where they first met, the warehouse where she’d read her poems.

He ended up at the sea face. Waves hammered the tetrapods, rain slashing sideways. The skyline shimmered behind a curtain of lightning.

He closed his eyes and whispered,

> “If she can let go, so can I.”

But he didn’t believe it.

---

Mira stood on her own balcony that same night, the manuscript still on her desk. She’d spent years writing him out of her veins, and still, every sentence came back to the rain.

When her phone buzzed, she almost didn’t look.

Aarav — 1 missed call.

Her throat tightened. For a moment she thought of calling back. Then thunder cracked, and the lights flickered. The city plunged into a brief, eerie blackout.

She stepped outside into the downpour. “It always ends like this,” she murmured.

---

By morning, the rains had subsided. The newspapers were full of the usual chaos: traffic jams, power cuts, a flooded underpass—and a brief mention in the corner column:

> Local artist found unconscious near Worli Sea Face after storm; rushed to Breach Candy Hospital.

Mira’s hands shook as she read. She didn’t finish the article. She was already out the door.

---

At the hospital, everything smelled of antiseptic and wet earth. Aarav lay pale against the sheets, oxygen mask fogging with shallow breaths. His hand was bandaged, streaked with paint that hadn’t washed off—smears of crimson and grey.

He opened his eyes when she entered.

“You came,” he rasped.

“I always do,” she whispered.