Indelible memories of a night

Based on a true story

#Completestory

#RhituparnaChakraborty

Disclaimer: This is an original work by Rhituparna Chakraborty. There is no intention to hurt or rebuke anyone or any profession through this work. This story/episode cannot be copied, published or reproduced without the permission of the author RhituparnaChakraborty. The names, age, place and all the personal details of the characters have been changed.

Shobhna was 30. She was married for 9 years now. She had a 7 year old daughter. Her husband was self employed and was doing well in life. Shobhna always wanted to pursue higher studies and then work in some reputed organization. Her husband was immensely supportive. He told Shobhna to go ahead with her dream of pursuing a course in business administration. This city had the best colleges and Shobhna made it to one of the renowned colleges of the city. Her husband helped her find a good house on rent. Samiksha was already staying there as a tenant. Since the house had two bedrooms, one bedroom was available for Shobhna.

It was a cozy house. The kitchen had all the amenities. The rooms were spacious with comfortable beds, clean curtains, and attached bathrooms. Shobhna arranged her bed right near the window. Shobhna liked the soothing breeze coming from the window. She fixed her study table adjacent to her bed. She then organized her books neatly on the table. The classes were to start the next day. Shobhna was thrilled. A new journey , a voyage to her dream.

Shobhna went to the kitchen. Samiksha was already there. She was making tea for Shobhna and herself. When she saw Shobhna, Samiksha smiled and said, ‘It’s so nice to have someone around the house. I moved in yesterday. I am so glad that you came.’ Shobhna smiled and said, ‘I am happy to meet you too. I am sure we will get along well.’ Samiksha gave Shobhna one of the cups of tea and said, ‘I believe we will be in the same college, same batch.’ Shobhna replied, ‘Supreme Management College? Department of Finance?’ ‘Yes’, replied Samiksha. Shobhna beamed, ‘Oh, that’s super cool.’

Next morning Shobhna woke up early. She quickly made breakfast for both Samiksha and herself and went for shower. When Samiksha came to the kitchen, she was elated. Breakfast was ready. She then made two cups of tea and poured one cup of tea in the flask. Shobhna can have it with breakfast after shower.

After breakfast, the girls went to college. It was a beautiful day out there. New friends, new teachers, new journey. Shobhna was the only married person in the class. She was way senior to the rest of the students. Her ‘Mangalsutra’ was prominent in her pretty neck. Made of gold and tiny diamonds, it was angelic. After all the classes were over, the girls walked back home.

A week went by. The girls were busy with assignments, back to back classes and so on. They were enervated to the core. Nonetheless, they loved their new life in this new city. Well, things were certainly not the same like their small town, but they were very happy with the change.

Today, after coming from class, Shobhna quickly finished her assignments and then went to sleep. She was missing her home, her kid, her husband. The fresh breeze from the window lulled her to sleep. She dreamed of her son playing with her mobile phone. She told him to be careful or else it will break. The kid then went on to play with Shobhna’s wallet kept in her bag. He took out the money. Shobhna kept on telling him, ‘Keep the money back.’ Then she felt a cold sensation on her neck. It was her husband touching her neck gently. His hands were cold. She tried to stop him because he was tickling her. Just when she did that, she felt a sharp piercing sensation on her neck and woke up. She looked around. No one was there. She was dreaming. She touched her neck with her hand. She felt something wet. It was blood. There was a knife wound on her neck. Her necklace was missing. She screamed at the top of her voice. Samiksha came running. Shobhna’s mobile phone was missing from the study table. Shobhna’s wallet was missing too. One of the iron rods of the window grill was cut. The landlord and the land lady came running when they heard the commotion. The police was called.

Apparently someone had been observing Shobhna for long. That someone had been cutting a part of one of the rods of the window grill every night. And last night, he/she sprayed chloroform on Shobhna and stole her necklace, mobile and money. The thief had apparently used a knife to cut the necklace. Thankfully, Shobhna’s neck injury was not bad. Otherwise she could have been killed.