A soldier...²
577 Words
5 years went by but there was no trace of Roop being back from the war. Shan's Father had now lost hope. He didn't want to but he had to do something about this.
He contacted the vicholan and told her that he wanted his lado to remarry .
The vicholan pained by this , asked for a respite of two weeks to which Shan's Father had no disagreement.
The vicholan set off to Roop's house the moment she bid her byes from Shan's village. She was in deep trance about how to tell this all to Roop's family.
.......
The moment she reached , she asked for the whole family to gather and she reluctantly filled the family in about everything. Roop's mother wailed in the sorrow. The grandfather was now left in thoughts if Roop would be back. The father, however had a neutral expression on his face.
He said , "Guru Granth Saab di hzuri vich laiaan ne laavan mere Roop nal Shan ne, hun oh kise hor de Ghar di shan nhi bann skda!"
(Shan took laavan with our Roop in the presence of Guru Granth Saab, now he cannot become the splendour of anyone else's home!)
He afterwards sighed deeply, before starting again, "Whatever may be the decision, it'll be Roop and Shan to take it, whether they want to remain tied to this relation or not, it's their own choice."
He deadpanned making everyone present silent and went to his room as he couldn't stop his tears from welding in the remembrance of his beloved son.
.........
The Sun hit it's rays on the open yard as a certain figure approached Shan with a bag hung on his shoulder and a name tag that suggested , "Roop Singh" above his chest pocket that shone brightly under the Sun.
He hugged Shan tightly, kissed his forehead and started disappearing out of the blue.
Shan, being too stunned to speak, just looked at Roop disappearing motionlessly with tears running down his cheeks.
"I'll come back" said the man before disappearing completely.
Shan ran to his father, muttering nonsense while crying badly. The man's heart shattered seeing his lado crying like no tomorrow. On asking Shan countless times, he finally spoke clearly about what he had just experienced.
The father somehow managed to gather courage, helping Shan calm down and then put him to sleep.
He then sent for the vicholan asking for Roop's whereabouts as only a week was left for Shan's Father to initiate looking for a suitable groom for his child.
......
A bright summer morning, everything was perfect. But what all this perfection paled infront of was Shan's beauty. Though he dolled up everyday , thinking about his husband returning from war and taking Shan with himself , today was different. He was looking extra cheerful today and elegance dripped from literally every cell of his. He felt like today was the day , Roop would definitely come to take him for sure.
He was all smily until he suddenly heard some wailing noises and couldn't help but feel restless. He came out of his room and the scene he met with left him in all tears. His eyes gloomily wet at the sight in the front. His heart dropped to his stomach seeing his beloved husband finally back but wrapped in the Tirangaa.
'He then realised his husband was not a fallen soldier but a risen one!'
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- Writer
