He held the conch-shell close to his ear and the sound of the sea filled it…He concentrated on the sound and tears came to his eyes…
As he stood facing the sea, watching the sun drown into the horizon, he shivered, not with the cold, but with the memories of the fateful day which haunted his mind and seized his heart with fear. Who could have ever thought that a lovely, breezy evening such as this one, could end in an appalling disaster, as a giant wave, a Tsunami, struck the Coromandel Coast? This boy of thirteen could have never imagined that something as tranquil as the sea could angrily take away everything, everyone he loved, away from him…leaving him lonely, shattered and devastated.
He closed his eyes and saw his mother, his father, his kid sister and himself laughing and playing on the soft sand of the beach. He remembered how beautiful his mother looked as she faced the sea-spray in the twilight of the setting sun. He remembered how warm his father’s hugs had felt even when the chilly gale from the sea, swept across the shore. He remembered how he held that conch-shell close to his sister’s ear and how she had giggled and innocently asked, “How did the sea get into the shell?”
Soon the sun went down and the beach bathed in the serene glow of the moon. He gazed at the clear, crisp Coromandel sky. He could almost hear his mother’s voice, “When our loved ones die, they become stars in the night sky. These stars would guide us at every step and love us just as they did when they were with us…”
Three of these twinkling stars were dearer to him than all the others. Smiling at them, with tears in his eyes he wrote their names in the sand. As he moved away from the salty waters the waves washed out those names…
And as he walked he whispered a little prayer…
“Memories are all you’ve left behind,
How you loved me, how you were kind;
The conch-shell murmurs in my ears,
Mamma, Papa take away my fears.
Stay by my side- through and through,
Tell my kid sister, I miss her too.
Your souls would watch me through the night,
Until I wake in the morning bright.”
As he stood facing the sea, watching the sun drown into the horizon, he shivered, not with the cold, but with the memories of the fateful day which haunted his mind and seized his heart with fear. Who could have ever thought that a lovely, breezy evening such as this one, could end in an appalling disaster, as a giant wave, a Tsunami, struck the Coromandel Coast? This boy of thirteen could have never imagined that something as tranquil as the sea could angrily take away everything, everyone he loved, away from him…leaving him lonely, shattered and devastated.
He closed his eyes and saw his mother, his father, his kid sister and himself laughing and playing on the soft sand of the beach. He remembered how beautiful his mother looked as she faced the sea-spray in the twilight of the setting sun. He remembered how warm his father’s hugs had felt even when the chilly gale from the sea, swept across the shore. He remembered how he held that conch-shell close to his sister’s ear and how she had giggled and innocently asked, “How did the sea get into the shell?”
Soon the sun went down and the beach bathed in the serene glow of the moon. He gazed at the clear, crisp Coromandel sky. He could almost hear his mother’s voice, “When our loved ones die, they become stars in the night sky. These stars would guide us at every step and love us just as they did when they were with us…”
Three of these twinkling stars were dearer to him than all the others. Smiling at them, with tears in his eyes he wrote their names in the sand. As he moved away from the salty waters the waves washed out those names…
And as he walked he whispered a little prayer…
“Memories are all you’ve left behind,
How you loved me, how you were kind;
The conch-shell murmurs in my ears,
Mamma, Papa take away my fears.
Stay by my side- through and through,
Tell my kid sister, I miss her too.
Your souls would watch me through the night,
Until I wake in the morning bright.”
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