Entwined

The book was Jaya’s soul, without which she would be no more. It had consumed her, her thoughts, her feelings, even her actions. It was as if the book had a mind of its own… but it was that very book that changed the little girl’s world, the only thing that brought about some feelings of happiness.The contents of the book were unknown by all , except me, Elizabeth, the betrayer of Jaya’s soul.

Jaya had always been rumored to be strange, and mysterious. She shielded herself from the rest of the world and the rest of the world shielded itself from her. I was always different, not girl like in any way at all. Brash, boisterous and errant, I broke free from the shackles of being the same… broke away from the stone hearted people I was surrounded by. I wanted to enjoy life for as long as I could,  and I didn’t mind if I had no friends in the process, I just wanted to be me.

It happened to be a caliginous day when I met Jaya for the first time. Mouse brown hair dancing to the song of the wind and her lean body bent over a small book. The only sound made was of the rough scratching of a pen on paper.Curiosity had always been one of my specialities, and like all natural talents , it was put to use quite regularly.So, as I progressed towards the lean figure writing in the dark, my heart started racing. It was not everyday that one saw someone writing in the dark,  which by itself seems like a scene from a horror movie, yet the thing that had truly given me goosebumps was the fact that the girl had not looked up a single time , even as I was progressing closer to her.However, during that doomed moment, my fears became volatile. It was as though I had had no suspicion about the scrawny girl a few minutes back.

With my courage restored, I continued my amble towards the girl who was busy scrawling into her book.

I perched myself right next to her, not even bothering an introduction, yet the girl still had not looked up from her book. Now it was upto me to break the silence, slowly , I moved my grubby fingers towards the girl’s shoulders, and as I made contact , the girl recoiled in fear and disgust. I had broken her penance with the book, forced her to reveal her identity which she was trying so hard to hide...but for what reason I could and can not understand. She was different , just like me and as my eyes made contact with hers, the start of our death-marked friendship had begun…

Before I had come along , Jaya had  had no one to talk to. Her thoughts and feelings were all bottled up in her mind… overflowing and waiting to be told. Having neither a mother nor a father, Jaya was lost in the world, stuck to face reality on her own.With no one to turn to , she used a small book she had bought to depart with her thoughts and to be the mother she had never had.As days became months, and months became years, the book never seemed to change in any manner , and neither had Jaya. However, as I came into the picture, things started to change , and for the first time Jaya got to experience feelings of friendship and a sense of belonging. For the first time she got to know how it felt to be loved.

However, the book was always in the picture, but in the begining I did not mind that.Jaya’s treasured book accompanied us everywhere be it the park or to parties, and as my friendship with Jaya grew, so did her admiration for the book.As time flew by, though our  friendship was strong , her amity with the book grew stronger.

The book had cast a spell on Jaya,every waking moment of hers was spent burrowed between the pages of the book.I was soon forgotten, just a small fragment of Jaya’s memory .I knew that the friendship that I had built with Jaya was too good to be true, but still I wanted it to last. In the same way that Jaya had depended on me for support, at the beginning, I now depended upon her. She had been my escape from the cruel world that I was born into, surrounded by those who looked down at me. Every step I took was followed  by eager eyes,prying into my heart, finding ways to crack my tough exterior, planning my downfall.Trying to make me like one of them.

I only wanted good for Jaya… but good can  be perceived differently by different people.I had not meant  to break Jaya’s heart as I snatched the book from her hands and ripped the pages apart  ...ripped her soul apart .