Editor: Anshika Raj

As they walked hand in hand, these roses caught her eye.

On a metallic bench in a dirty corner of the bus stand, abandoned, the pretty blooms spoke a very poignant tale. 

He stopped too and could read her thoughts, “They’re just roses. Somebody forgot to take them along.” 

“Hmm. They could be somebody’s incomplete story too.”

“Why do you make such a big deal? Keep it simple. Somebody forgot roses. End of topic.”

“Yeah. Flowers given with love. Somebody left them behind or maybe somebody ended what could have been beautiful.” 

“Ugh. The thing with writers. They will dramatise hell.” She smiled and let go of his hand. He kept talking, “This could happen with anyone. With me too. I could forget flowers while in a rush to board the bus. They will dry anyway. People forget. It’s natural to forget.”  

She looked up at him with an eerie silence. Her steps seemed heavy as she walked to the bench and sat by those flowers, still showing some signs of life. The dying fragrance wafting through the hot summer breeze. 

“Yes. People forget and sometimes leave things behind. People sometimes leave people behind.” 

Hello dear reader, hope you loved reading this short story. If you want more such stories from the author, please make sure to like this post and share across your social media channels.

Megha is a dental surgeon by profession and loves to work around words too. She has been writing short stories and poetry in English for a while.

She completed her education in Bangalore and presently lives in Raipur with her lovely family. She is friendly, loves talking to people, an animal lover and a traveller.