He was in tears. I kissed him. I hugged him.

Bringing his head close to my heart, I whispered: “I will make you forget her. I will make your pain disappear.”

Her memory refused to leave him, alone. Like a ghost, she haunts him.

Crying my eyes out, I said: “I am sorry. I have failed you.”

He took my hands into his hands. He brought my hands to his mouth. He kissed my hands.

He said: “You should not blame yourself. Some things in life cannot be changed. They are fated. I am born to love her till my last breath and she is born to teach me, what pain is.”

.

******

.

The first time we met, she asked me to read her fortune.

“He tells me that your prediction is never wrong,” she said.

I have one policy where reading fortune is concerned. I never read the fortune of the people who are close to me.

“I could not handle it if I read something bad in his fate,” I said.

“Don’t you want to know if our love story will have a happy ending?” she asked.

Successfully, she had baited me. I took out my tarot cards and read her future. I learned the hard way there are some temptations you should resist at all costs.

.

*****

.

“Forget her.”

I was begging him to break all ties with her.

I said: “She will ruin you. Loving her is like going to war. You will never be the same again. My tarot cards have never lied to me. Her betrayal and your destruction were written all over the cards.”

He refused to believe anything I have to say. He loves her like a priest. For a priest, the God he loves has no flaws. And for him, the woman he loves has no flaws. He had put her on the pedestal of perfection.

.

******

.

She visited me. She brought me, flowers and chocolates.

She explained: “He loves me with all his heart. I will never betray him. No woman in her right mind will betray the man who loves her with all his heart.”

I was not convinced. For some women, love is not enough to keep them happy.

.

*****

.

She got a new job as a receptionist in a law firm. That was the beginning of her betrayal. Her boss, a young rich handsome lawyer, was totally smitten with her from the moment he saw her.

The young rich handsome lawyer bought her expensive gifts that brought sparkles to her eyes. The young rich handsome lawyer took her to dinner at classy restaurants where the menus have no price tag. The glitter of his wealth had captivated her heart.

And one fine day, down on his knees, with a diamond ring in his hands, the young rich handsome lawyer asked her to be his wife. When a man like him goes hunting, he seldom returns home empty-handed.

.

*****

.

His heart has a hard time digesting her betrayal. He was devastated. He was bitter. He burned everything that reminded him of her to ashes.

He shouted: “I will hate her for the rest of my life.”

Her name was never to be mentioned in his presence. He pretended she never existed. But some love stories are difficult to forget. My prediction has come true. She has ruined him.

.

*****

.

He was in a dark place where there was no moon and stars. But her life was shining with brightness like a beautiful sunrise over the mountain.

Her husband has joined the political world. Her husband had charmed his way into everyone’s heart. Her husband has become the youngest prime minister that our country ever had.

Success and happiness have showered abundantly into her life while his life is filled with pain and more pain.

.

*****

.

I thought we will never see the betrayer, again. But I was wrong. Out of the blue, she was standing at our doorstep, wanting his shoulder to cry on.

The moment he saw her tears, his hatred for her disappeared. He hugged her without hesitation. He kissed her without reservation.

She said to him: “I do not want to go back to my husband anymore. I want a divorce. I want to spend the rest of my life in your arms.”

They become forbidden lovers.

.

*****

.

A scandal had rocked her life. It was not an ordinary scandal. It was a scandal that had brutally murdered many lives.

The rich always want to be richer. Her husband was no different. Her husband had abused his power as the prime minister of the country.

Her husband sold a large forest reserve land to a large corporate company that belonged to him and his siblings. The timbers in the forest were worth millions. But the people of the forest would not allow him to harm the precious trees.

The people of the forest said: “These trees are the lungs of this country and the prime minister wants to pollute the lungs of this country with his greed.”

The people of the forest protested. They chained themselves to the trees.

Her husband shouted furiously: “I am the Prime Minister of this country. I can do what I want in this country. Some half-naked men are not going to stop me.”

Greed has always motivated men to commit the most horrific crimes. Her husband had sent an army to wipe out the people of the forest.

Mercy was not shown. Kindness was abandoned. Everyone, from the young to the old was slaughtered to death. Their village was burned to ashes.

.

*****

.

What happens in the forest usually gets buried in the forest. But some stories refused to get buried. A soldier who participated in the massacre could not digest his sinful participation.

The soldier said: “I have murdered thousands of innocent people. I have nightmares. They are haunting me. I cannot have a peaceful sleep.”

The soldier wanted redemption. The soldier needed forgiveness. The soldier spoke to a journalist about what he had done in the forest.

The soldier said: “I should be punished. Their killers should be punished. I just want my nightmare to end.”

The brave journalist put the story of the soldier on the front page. The readers were appalled over what they had read. The courageous ones protested on the street, demanding the resignation of the prime minister.

Her husband shouted furiously: “I am the Prime Minister. I can do what I want in this country. Some hippies on the street are not going to stop me.”

Her husband refused to resign.

Her husband kept saying: “I have done nothing wrong.”

The police were instructed to curb the protest. Water was thrown at the protesters. Some were beaten blue-black. And others were thrown in jail. Chaos was everywhere.

.

******

.

He wanted me to rectify the situation. He wanted her husband to remain the prime minister of the country.

He said: “She smiles the best when she is in the arms of her husband.”

I was not willing to follow what his heart wanted. I wanted to see her husband put behind bars for the horrible crimes he had committed.

“He is a liar,” I shouted.

He said: “All politicians lie. Some lie more than others.”

“He is corrupted,” I shouted.

He said: “All politicians are corrupt. Some are more corrupt than others.”

“He is a killer,” I said.

He said: “All politicians are killers. Some kill more than others.”

He threatened to jump in front of a moving train if I refused his request. I did not want him to die. My hands were tied. I had to fulfill his desire.

With his knees on the floor, he was begging me: “Make the world forget what they remember.”

.

******

.

Three youths break into her apartment. Violently, they raped her. She was traumatised. Every night, she has nightmares about the robbers returning to her apartment and raping her, all over again.

She said: “I am slowly going crazy. I want my sanity back.”

I put my hands on her head and she forgets that she was raped.

.

*****

.

A son is supposed to bury his mother. When the situation is reversed, the pain is unbearable.

She says: “The image of my son hanging himself from the ceiling fan never stops dancing in my mind. I just want the image to disappear.”

I put my hands on her head and she forgets that she was a mother.

.

*****

.

Her husband was too young to die. Her life was completely shattered. She spends all day in bed, wishing she was dead, just like her husband.

“Please save my daughter,” her father said, with tears in his eyes.

I put my hands on her head and she forgets that she was ever married.

.

******

.

Reading someone’s future is not my only gift. I can make people forget what they do not want to remember…. And when you forget what you do not want to remember, your pain gets erased. …Your pain disappears.

I have never announced my gift to the world. Some gifts are sacred. You should not flaunt them. I have only used my gift on people who I trust will keep my gift a secret.

.

******

.

Late at night, when the city was quiet as a ghost town, I walked towards the ocean. I put both of my hands deep into the sand. I shut my eyes.

The soldier who saw the killing of thousands of innocent lives in the forest has forgotten what he has seen.

The journalist who heard the story of the killing of thousands of innocent lives in the forest has forgotten what he has heard.

The nation who read the article on the killing of thousand innocent lives in the forest have forgotten what they have read.

Nothing is remembered. Everything is forgotten.

.

*****

.

She did exactly what you would have expected from a betrayer. She abandoned him, once again. She no longer needs his shoulder to cry on.

Her husband is no longer the prime minister that everyone hates. She prefers to be in the arms of a powerful man who deals with other powerful men from different regions than to be in the arms of a mechanic who only deals with grease, oil, and dirty tyres.

Pain was dancing on his face. But his eyes have no tears. This time, he was more prepared for her betrayal. In his heart, he knows between love and wealth, she will always choose wealth.

“Some women are born not to have a simple life,” he justifies her betrayal.

.

*****

.

“Do you hate me?” he asked.

I have stopped talking to him, completely. My silence was killing him, slowly.

He said: “You have every right to hate me. I have forced you to abuse your gift.”

He was in tears. But I could not see his pain anymore. I hugged him. I showered him with kisses.

Bringing his head close to my heart, I whispered: “I am your mother …and a mother can never hate her child.”

.

*****

.

I have put my hands on his head, so my son can forget her. When he forgets her, he will forget the pain in his heart. Unfortunately, my gift has not worked on my son.

I was baffled. I was shocked. I was surprised. I was disappointed. For the first time in my life, my gift had failed me. Desperately, I wanted to end the suffering of my son. But I failed miserably.

Slowly, I learned that my gift is far from perfect. My gift has flaws. I could not perform miracles on my own flesh and blood. I cannot make my flesh and blood to forget the pain of their lives.
My son holds no grudges against me. He understood the limitations of my gift.

Laughing with tears, my son said “Some pain is not meant to be forgotten.”

.

*****

.

Initially, I was furious at my son for abusing my gift… For allowing a corrupted prime minister to escape from his crime…. For dancing to the dreams of a selfish woman who loves power and wealth. But in the end, like most mothers, I forgive my son.

I have justified to myself that my son had committed those sins in the name of love… and love can make you do the craziest things… Love has the power to snatch away your sanity.

His happiness comes from her smile…. And she smiles the best when she is in the arms of her husband… My happiness comes from my son’s smile… And my son smiles the best when he sees her smile… We will go any length just to bring smiles on the faces of our loved ones.

.

*****

.

There are some nights I hear their screams of agony. I wake up with sweats all over my body. What I have done to the people of the forest was cruel, heartless, and unforgivable.

I have made the world forget about their existence and their suffering. It is only natural their restless souls want revenge and justice. They enter my dreams. They torture me in my sleep.

The pain of my nightmares is intense and excruciating. But I have never told my son any fraction of my nightmares. The last thing I want is for my son to feel guilty for what I am going through.

I, truly, believe my son should not be blamed for my predicament. Some things in life cannot be changed. They are fated. I am born to love my son till my last breath and my son is born to teach me what pain is.

 

Cover image by Juno Jo on Unsplash. The copyright of this piece belongs to the author of this literary work.  

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