She was walking on a jetty on a breezy morning, she could see a yellow flag indicating unstable water conditions and a red flag displaying ‘not to enter the water’, after a couple of minutes a figure was seen falling into the deep waters from the jetty into the sea. A young man standing with the fishing rod waiting for a fish heard the thud sound and rushed to see who it was. He saw someone drowning, without giving a second thought, he also jumped into the sea to save the person whose red dress could be seen under the crystal clear but turbulent sky blue water. The tide was strong, it was windy outside the waters and the same furiousness could be seen inside the sea. He gasped for breath, he swam hastily and his shoulders hurt, his mind racing and wondering will he be able to rescue the person, he struggled hard to catch the drowning figure. Fortunately he grabbed the girl by her arm and made a huge effort to pull her to the shore , it was a gigantic task, she was unconscious .
He saw her face, she looked calm, she was wearing a red dress with a small chain clinging on her neck. He put her on the sand and swept her mouth to remove any foreign objects in her mouth and placed her head tilted upwards, he placed her in a recovery position and checked her pulse, she was breathing. By then people having a stroll on the beach had gathered to have a look what was happening there. One of the athletic built man in the crowd, came forward and looked at the girl’s face, he immediately called the paramedics for emergency not waiting for the beach lifeguards who had also reached the scene but they saw that quick action of this young man had already saved the girl. In few minutes the ambulance arrived and the girl was lifted to be taken to the nearby hospital. Police also arrived immediately and they were seen taking statements from the people who had witnessed the scene, specially from the young man who saved the girl.
Was it a suicide or someone pushed her into the sea? Was it a betrayal, depression, loneliness.. ..nobody knew. Who was she , Where she came from, were the questions at the moment.
Whole hour had passed by, she laid still on the bed. After half an hour she opened her eyes with lots of effort and felt weak, she looked around not able to comprehend where she was, was she dead or alive. She heard the whispers and looked towards her left side, the doctor was speaking to the Police Officer. Her throat felt dry and she licked her lips with her tongue, she was feeling as if her body was in acute pain after a huge beating. She recalled what had happened couple of hours ago, she had fallen into the waters. She did not die and was left to be further embarrassed at the hands of strangers who were going to grill her on her private life, why was she not successful in doing what she went for. Why someone had to jump after her and risk his own life for her, they don’t let you live and they don’t let you die, her brain winked while uttering this awkward statement. She touched her pendant with her lips and kissed it. The Doctor noticed her moving and asked her not to, and instructed the nurse to bring water for her. She gulped the water as if she was a camel in the desert getting a snatch at the glass after ages. She saw the Police Officer gazing at her and then moving out of the room. He waited outside for the doctor’s instruction. Her brain was running fast to recollect the reasons which she has to tell the Police Officer, why she did what she did.
The doctor came close to her bed and told her that the officer would be interrogating her shortly about her identity and the incident, and advised her to be calm and to talk to him. After a while the Police Officer came in and enquired about her condition .
‘ How are you feeling ?’
‘Better’, came the reply.
‘What’s your name and where do you live.’
‘Sharvi, Sharvi Kapoor is my name, I live in Coffs Harbour.’
‘Did you jump into the water yourself or someone pushed you?’
She very well knew it was coming, ‘no, it was neither of it’, she said.
The police officer was amazed and in a sarcastic tone said , ‘ Were you then taking swimming lessons on your own without an instructor at a beach with a sign “Not to enter water”, you were drowning and this obviously indicated you didn’t know how to swim, the witness had confirmed this.’
She kept quiet for a second after the question, looked the officer in the eyes and said ‘No’, I wouldn’t dare to do such a stupid thing.’ ‘Then speak up what was the reason girl, why this drama.’ She took a deep breath and began, ‘ I had come here to take a stroll on the beach and was walking on the jetty, it was a beautiful view and I decided to take some photos , I stepped up on the railing on the jetty taking photos of the crystal clear water and in excitement stretched a bit far out of the jetty, it was windy and my hair just flew into my eyes , while I was trying to hold my hair behind my neck, still on the railing I lost my balance and fell into the sea, the water was deep at the end of the jetty side so I started drowning.’
‘Hmmmm, so this was just an accident.’
‘Yes ,’ she said to the officer
‘Are you giving the statement knowing the consequences of it, if it is false it may lead you into the problem.’
‘Yes,’ she said and signed the statement, she then looked at the officer and smiled, how good an actor she was, and she is jumping into the sea here instead she should be trying her luck in the acting industry. Her thought process going wild, keep calm baby she said to herself. The door closed after the officer and again opened, the doctor walked into her room and said there is a man who is waiting to meet her, this is the man who saved her by calling the paramedics, one heavily built man came in and enquired about her health, the doctor said she is fine, she looked at the man quite surprised, regained her composure and winked at him, the man winked back and smiled. He conveyed his best wishes and walked out. After completing all hospital formalities she was discharged and ready to go home. Walking out of the hospital, she looked at the sky and thanked God, she touched her pendant and kissed it. Tears were flowing and she was walking fast to the hotel room where she had the cure for her problems, she went into the room 207, rang the door bell, the room opened and she said “Sharvi…I accomplished my mission, she was handed a big bulging envelope, she left the room immediately and took a taxi and rushed to her home. It was drizzling and wind was now calm, her tears were saying ‘hi’ to the drops of rain outside the taxi. She reached her home and knocked at the door and the door was opened by a young man, she said thanks to him , without waiting to hear him, she rushed to see her mother. She was in acute pain and seriously ill, she needed an immediate surgery, she was rushed to the hospital. In minutes, she was in taxi with her mother and with the same young man who opened the door, her friend, who was at every step to help her in need except money, as they both were in the same boat, boat of paupers. Sitting in the car her mind played the flashback.
Her mother was the only soul she knew since she was born, her only relative. Her mother lost her job due to redundancy two years back and then fell seriously ill, she was a Uni student who worked part time, Sharvi was a fighter in these adverse conditions. She was a girl who was alone with an ill mother at home, she worked late nights in a local hotel ‘Solitaire’. With dedication, she worked daily to earn her money with a big smile on her face. No one knew what she was going through in her life. One heavily built man was a frequent visitor to this place, he was into horse race betting, his horse was a winner in every race till this date since it started five years back. He used to be very happy to be served by Sharvi and always gave her good tips, this used to make her day. Today Sharvi was smiling but there was something missing, he noticed it and only he did. He was about to leave when he asked for the bill, Sharvi got the bill and when he kept the tip for her, she forgot to say thanks to him and even forgot to smile. She was in a different zone , thinking about her mother, mother who was her shadow since she was born, since her father tortured and left her alone after two years of marriage in Sydney at a young age. Her mother endured everything for her but she did not remarry and chose to look after her daughter, she was her pride and the only purpose in her life.
The man, James, his name was, called Sharvi.
‘ Sir, do you need anything.’
‘ I think you need something , is there something which is bothering you,’
‘No, just the routine stuff’, but after much asking, she relented and cried in front of James
‘My mother is seriously ill and I need $ 7500 for her treatment which I do not have and her operation is urgently required .’
‘I can give you this money if you want but………,’
‘I am sorry but I am not ready to take undue favour from you, I am not that kind of girl…….’
‘but………..’ before he could say anything she said ‘ If you want to do it for charity, then I am no beggar, I am a self respecting girl.’
‘Huh, what an attitude’, thought James, ‘ let me ask her something which she cannot do and see if she relents to do something which is against her principles’ , he said to himself. Though it was not what Sharvi was imagining.
I am into Horse Race Betting and you can bet with me at any time that I am no selfish man….betting.. betting he thought, ‘ why not bet with me and earn money from me, if you win, you earn $7500 but if you lose you will work for me without pay for six months after your college hours.’ She agreed.
‘If you win you can collect the money from the room 207 of Hotel Grandieur. The deal closed. She was happy to hear all this, but then her mind said “ idiot ask him what is the bet, he may ask you to take poison , will you take ?’
‘Sorry but what is the bet, James ‘
‘Well, you will have to jump from the far end of Jetty on the beach at 10:30 in the morning tomorrow into the sea, the weather forecast is windy stormy morning…you ready for that”
“If you come to Room 207 after that and say ‘Sharvi..Mission Accomplished’ , you win the money, if you lose either you die or you do the job”.
James was seriously a helper at this time but a notorious one who just thought of heartless betting but was well known for his word, what he said, he did.
‘Yes’ , she said but still wondering why he want to have a bet like this , why not something else but her brain stopped thinking beyond her mother’s condition.
‘Yes, deal closed’ , James knew she had never swum in her life and Sharvi knew this is the only way to save her mother.
She wore a red maxi that morning, with a smile on her face, she walked hastily on the jetty and saw two guys fishing, she stepped on the railing on the end of jetty and in next second she plunged into the sea, the man jumped behind her to save her….the rest is history now.
Fast forward, she came back to her senses, she realised she is in the taxi with her saviour, she smiled at him, hadn’t he jumped in the sea for her she wouldn’t have been able to collect the money from the hotel. Shravan said it is nice to be a friend of such a brave girl. She reached the hospital and her mother was admitted,
‘She’s got the surgery scheduled for tomorrow at 10:45 am’ said the doctor. She went to her mom kissed her forehead and said , everything will be alright now, comforting and touching her hands. She was happy that her only relative in the world will be healthier once again. She heard a knock at the door and was amazed to see someone who visited her in the hospital in the morning, the man who had called the paramedics, he was here also………the heavily built man smiled at her, she smiled back……..so you have won Sharvi, ‘yes James’, she said. They both walked out of the room leaving Shravan behind with her mom.
‘You are an intelligent girl who used her brain in such a critical time and set up everything before taking the bet ’,
‘Of course I had to, otherwise I would have lost my life and my mother too, diving into water without knowing swimming was a suicide and I wouldn’t have done that, I needed money and you were ready to bet on my helplessness, but you knew I did not know swimming, so it was bit heartless on your end………but I was helpless and needed money so said yes. I asked Shravan to be there to save me, the bet had no conditions except that I had to jump which I did, Shravan saved me but why did you call the paramedics, my death would have saved you $7500.’
‘Well, you are forgetting something Sharvi, when you were walking on the jetty, there were two guys doing the fishing, one was your friend, who do you think the other was, It was I, I was there to save you, I bet on horses and I have never lost in these five years and now I had set my bet with you, you think I have lost, no, I have won, I was there to save you without knowing you had made the other arrangement, he said with a wink… I would have lost able Manager if I had not called the paramedics, the girl who could use her disadvantages to her advantage in such critical time would make a good manager for my company, I appoint you as an Intern in my company for a year which would lead you to manage my company in future’.
She was shocked something of this sort is happening to her, every good deed of her mother is coming back to help her, she smiled at him.
‘Thanks for everything , James, for giving me the best lesson and the best opportunity of my life’, she bid him goodbye to be with her mother again in her room. She was grinning ear to ear, kissing her pendant in her chain, she opened the pendant, there was her mother picture smiling and resplendent.
‘Mom be ready to smile like this once surgery is done, you are my pride and purpose of my life’.
– Story by ©Rekha , Dec 2013
Reading your First One ….. Brilliant !!
All the Best Rekha and Keep it up
– jeasbe'
Thanks…its always a honour to have encouraging words from you!!
स्वागत रेखा इस ब्लॉग की दुनिया में 🙂
This is so good.. excellent work dear. Just keep it up..All the best. God Bless!!
Hey Topper, This is just great ..very good.. very nice.. you are indeed a mastermind. 🙂
Thank You Mukesh Ji , Trying to overcome the teething problems…still new on blogging 🙂
I cannot see your name..but anyways thanks for the encouraging words 🙂
Thx…was waiting to hear from you, your comment means a lot to me 🙂
अपने ब्लॉग से कमेंट पर वर्ड वेरिफिकेशन का सिस्टम हटा दीजिये, लोग कमेन्ट देते समय परेशान होंगे बेवजह… और फॉलो करने का ऑप्शन दिख नहीं रहा… वो करिए, ताकि पाठक बराबर आ पाये !!
🙂 , still to master this…struggling..
Fabulous..,a thriller..suspense element included.. Didn't look like first time writing.. Great effort should continue..
Thx dear for the encouraging words..will continue this as you have been one of them who wanted me to write 🙂
Superb Mam. !!!!!! I agree with PUNEET Sir.. It doesn't look like first time writing….
Superb Mam… I agree with PUNEET Sir that it doesn't look like first time writing….
Thanks Avni….keep visiting my blog 🙂
Hi Rekha, I just read your story, and I must say it got me involved until the end… if this is the first time you are writing this type of story, I think you have a lot of talent and believe you must keep going with this. 🙂
Thanks Jesus, what a coincidence, today is Christmas and Jesus has blessed me with his encouraging words….:), feeling blessed!!!
Very good beta..I am so proud of you. You are my Star. God bless you always.
Hi Rekha g. i knew you are very good with poems, but with this thriller,,'tusi ta kamaal hi kar dita'.Brilliant work………..
Thx hai ji 🙂
Thanks…I am blessed 🙂
I like this di. good story.
That is thrilling story. Very good.. you are a good writer.
Visitor Rating: 5 Stars
Nice n clever little story.