Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A Tempest




They traveled in silence. He could not wheedle out from her a conversation except the occasional yes and nays. Sometimes his egging for a conversation was met with stony silence and tight lips. He gave up. They drove in silence. It was deafening!

He thought, “Damn this is hell and uneasy”. The tenacity with which women can bleed impatience in you is amazing, excruciating and has no latitude. Couldn't there be a conversation? The asphalt sped towards them as they continued the journey in silence. He wished he traveled alone rather than have someone you have been with for all years and the person slides all sudden  into strangeness and a kind of asphyxiating alienation. He disliked travelling with strangers by his side and it is suffocating when the strangeness is feigned and artificial. He saw that he was becoming distrait and consciously lessened the pressure on the gas pedal to choose to drive tardily. Her silence was oxymoron and the noise of the silence was tortuously painful to the ears and the mind.

She closed her eyes and wished she could sleep. He drove fast as usual and when he braked a couple of times swearing at the traffic ahead, she kept her eyes shut tight and tried to be not in the car. She took care not to glance his way since they left home.She barely wanted to respond even when he persistently began talking about trivial matters seeking to develop a conversation. She wished she was not with him in the car today. She would have wanted to avoid this journey and proximity to him. She felt sudden intense dislike for him. While watching him lie in bed and sleep with nonchalance the previous night, she wondered if this was the same person she loved, she wanted to live with forever. Instinctively, she touched his shoulders,repulsively pulled back and with a shudder. He betrayed her faith. Didn't he?

She confronted him at the dinner table and his defiant and seemingly outraged innocence could not assuage her. He exited the table in huff. And, that alternated her judgment - his behavior when openly confronted about his adulterous liaison, between desperate protestations and acknowledgment of promiscuity. 

“You are enjoying the luxury of perverse imagination.” he said in disgust.

She was furious and dabbing her tears with her palm, screamed “Perverse, imaginary, is that what you call?  I’m at the receiving end of infidelity and do you know how much it hurts? She faced him direct and said. “I should have known, I should have, but what a fool I’ve been, I could not notice her apparent overtures; your betrayal. I mistook sly for something not. And now you shamelessly deny that you did not cheat upon me? “She cried inconsolably.

“Now, this is getting far. And I beg you desist from fantasising wildly.” he pleaded.

The banter and the music on the stereo that accompanied in all their travels was absent. She tried not to think further and stubbornly tried to sleep. The car sped forward and there was nothing but silence within. She slid down the rabbit hole and deep down into sleep. Sleep, she longed would embrace her. The previous night was sleepless tussle with anguish and desperation. And she was tired emotionally, it was sopor.

He glanced at her reclining in the passenger seat by his side. She was asleep. He felt his fingers tighten the grip on the wheel. He sensed constriction in his chest. He glanced at her again and placed his hand on her palm. She was not aware of his touch she was dreaming.
And in the rabbit hole into where she slid into, while she slept, she dream t. She dreamed the life she wished and prayed would not forsake her. Could it be true that she has imagined a mountain to bring forth this tempest?

20 comments:

Arun Meethale Chirakkal said...

Powerful narrative. And yes, it leaves something for the reader. May be that elusive masterpiece will soon cease to be elusive. I really hope so.

NRIGirl said...

Wow! I almost believed it was a true incident you are narrating!

Yes, of course she is imagining things!

Now that you have shown us how good you are with story telling, we want more...

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Powerful stuff indeed. More of this please.

Ramakrishnan said...

Gripping & riveting till the very last sentence ! Well written in your own potent inimitable style !

Rama Ananth said...

A really beautiful story, it seems to come effortlessly from you.

RGB said...

Very realistic. Building curiosity to know what what have happened before and after, and leaving behind something for the reader's imagination!

Insignia said...

This one challenges the reader. One of your best Anil. Grasping the reader; and leaving it in the imagination :)

Insignia said...

The theme of the story - no one would want to get into such situations but its so common isnt it

Balachandran V said...

Like Insignia said, 'it challenges the reader'. Maybe I am 'mentally challenged', but I could not make much out of it!:-)

Happy Kitten said...

Wow!

U are a story teller.. do continue..

the times in the car reminded me of my own drive with Hubby after a silly martial discords.. it is always the men who wants to make silly conversation to draw in the other and it so irritating :) but that is how men are.. they wont leave you until you give in even when you are angry!
Did you write this incident from such drives?

very real indeed!

nd did she imagine it all? Hopefully..

anilkurup59 said...

@ Arun Meethale Chirakal,

Arun , just an attempt of story telling. Thanks for the encouragement.

NRIGirl,

Hi, did you want to believe that she was imagining things? Well may be , may be not. Thanks.

@ Petty Witter,

Thanks for the encouragement. Well, well certainly a mediocre piece as I see. but thanks

@ R.Ramakrishnan,

Thanks for the appreciation. Just attempting as you see.

@ Rama,

Oh my goodness! anyway thanks.

@ RGB,

Thanks for coming here after a long absence. Yes I did try to leave unsaid. Hope it has worked.

@ Insignia,

You know one thing, appreciatiopn or not from some Bloggers are always apart. And a critique from you is valued . Thanks. I hope I tried to leave things to one's imagination. perhaps not well enough for Balan to not comprehend.

@ Balachandran,

Dey, imbecile and mentally challenged are we when now the walk down from the plateau is on. Hence this.

@ Happy Kitten,

You are right men would want to take up trivial conversations to keep the mood easy. They cannot take the agony of frozen moods. They would want to thaw .

Yes ofcourse we have had our share of various moods in our travels. And it irritates me when she is off her colours.

I would leave things to the imagination any which way.

bliss said...

Anil this narration flows so effortlessly like a true incident great man looking for more

bliss said...

Anil this narration flows so effortlessly like a true incident great man looking for more

Shilpa Garg said...

Amazing is THE word!! You are a master story teller!! :)

Meera Sundararajan said...

Lovely.. and most descriptive! The language of silence!

anilkurup59 said...

@ Shilpa Garg/ @ Meera Suindarajan,


Thanks for the appreciation. But come on this was a novice writing. Nothing much for the accolades you wrote.
but again thanks.

Betty Manousos said...

you're a great story teller!
love your writing style.
brilliant!

anilkurup59 said...

@ Betty Manousos

Thanks. But I'm afraid you too have given more than my due of appreciation.

ousu said...

Anil - I loved the silence in the car..as Balan would say, the pregnant silence :)

some observations and quite interesting ones as well I find in the comments is about the men thing, of being uncomfortable around silences, soon after a rift...men prefer the peace after an eruption rather than a cloudy sky forever..

about ur mastery with the english language, I can only be awed..i admire ur skills and the way you make the lady dance :)

and a final note about the story..if it aint too much of intrusion into ur privacy, was it an incident from ur life?? just a curious notion that people tend to write with more flair and brilliance, when its stories shared from the real life..

oh boy my comment ended up being only few lines shorter than ur post ;)

anilkurup59 said...

@ Ousu,

Come on friend. I get nervous with these comments on my Anglican language. I'm a novice please understand that. There are fellow bloggers who are exemplary.
By the way good to know you are fascinated with the story. And Ousu, is it not o0ften true that life is stranger than fiction?