A Lesson by the Dead !

She had known all along that it was all over because she had seen him walking towards a perilous cliff. It all came back to her then; when all those times he had come to her with troubled looks, she was too concerned about her big date. All those times he cursed himself for doing it all wrong, she was too busy finishing her work right. All those terrifying nightmares he had, all his broken relationships, all the hints of suicide, his slightly scary need for comfort, the times he cried and complained about his unfair life, she was too busy living hers to the fullest.

Why had she not saved his life? What made her withdraw? She had decided to save him but had cold feet and her instincts told otherwise. She knew she would only be heightening his miseries by saving him. The only ways to help him was by releasing his caged soul from the mortal body. She had dome a good deed and he had suffered way too much. She had to let him free. He was her best friend and she felt indebted to him. Then why did she feel so miserable? The rawness of the pain inside made her go numb. How ever much she dreaded it and denied the truth, it was plain: she had killed him! No, She had not ! Yes, she had !

"I am loosing my mind," she thought. Inhaling deeply she gingerly got up only to get a full view of the cold face of the deceased. She felt faint but caught herself just in time. To her right his mum sobbed on her husband's shoulder. For the first time, she realized that she had not only robbed a friend from another, but also a son from his parents. But did his parents really love him?

They never called him on his birthday nor did they send him a Christmas Card. All they did was put money into his account and occasionally send him a post card to remind him of their lavish.

Money can never buy love and the example was right in front of her. How he had longed for their hugs and wishes, how he had waited for their calls. When neither arrived, he had simply shrugged and gone into hibernation. Teary eyed, she looked at his still body and sent a silent prayer for his soul to rest in eternal peace.

The elegance of people's attires caught her attention as she walked out of the church. One looked more expensive than the other. Men with sleek leather shoes and women in perfectly shaped pumps- ans in shades of black. She had not bothered to dress up because she was at a funeral after all, not attending a ball. At the entrance she stood, slowly taking in memory the funeral of her only best friend.

She wondered, Don't the people gathered here realize that one-day they will also be attended just like this? People bicker and fight, mock and kill, betray and cheat solely for materialistic pleasures which they will leave behind when they die. All her life she had struggled to get the best, only to realize how momentary those things were. This reminded her of all the things her best friend had left behind. She would not hold on to it; "No," she decided. They would only remind her of his every waking second of her life and silently torment her. Charity! Yes that's right. They would all go to the needy.

Laws of nature work in strange ways, she thought. When Mother Nature decides to teach you something she teaches you the hard way. Life and death are also a part of the universe. The only difference - one brings happiness, the other grief. But either ways life goes on. She had seen and learnt enough. Be it the hard way, but she would leave a changed person. A dead man had taught her how to live. Wondering at the irony, she slowly turned and walked home.