The Surprise
The shrill alarm spliced the serene silence of the dawn. Though I had hit the bed only a couple of hours ago, I felt the urge to part my eyelids and abandon my soothing bed. Weighed down with fatigue, I slowly lifted myself and headed to the balcony to catch a glimpse of the rising sun. As I waded across the room littered with clothes, I caught a glimpse of the clock. On the black background, I could see bright green numbers on the clock indicating 5:45 AM. The first rays of the sun had not yet banished the thick fog clobbering my vision from the fourth floor balcony.
I lived on the highway that connected Bangalore with the smaller cities of Tamil Nadu. Buses dropping off passengers early in the day was a routine in this part of the city. In fact, this usually was the busiest part of the day. From the top, I could see diligent auto rickshaw drivers swooping down on drowsy passengers disembarking from the buses. There were little children running around, trying to sell small cups of chai.
However, today seemed to be awfully quiet. A couple of buses stopped, some people got down, and the buses sped away. Her father was not among them. I would have to wait for some more time. She had called me up last night to tell me that her father would be in town and I had to play host. Her tone made me hope that she was also planning to come down and surprise me. Three more buses and I was already feeling my torso resting on the balcony wall, begging to be let loose.
The sun was starting to peep through the trees in the horizon. Just then, a bus passed. It halted a little ahead of the actual stop. An elderly man alighted, and the bus started to speed up. I rubbed my eyes hoping to see a beautiful angel emerge out of the cloud of fog. Nothing happened. A few steps later, the elderly man waved in my direction. I was too numb to react. Just then, I felt a delicate hand on my shoulder. She was standing behind me, waving back to her dad.
I turned back to see the first rays of the sun cajoling her bright face. A couple of years ago, the occasion was the same; she was standing down there with her father, as a surprise....I don't know what I miss more; her, or her surprises...
