The Green Overall

I had kept you, all locked up, inside a trunk. Yet, you made your presence felt in some way or the other. Be it as a commendation badge on my uniform, or the present rank ribbons on my shoulders, you made yourself visible to the world.

I thought I had had enough of you around, but knowing you, I could never be too sure. I knew you had something up your sleeve. I tried harder to lock you out of my sight, but finally got cornered by my own tryst with Destiny.

The world wanted an overall, and I had no choice but to seek you out. I could visualize a smile on an imaginary face, a smirk with an 'I told you so' writ large on it.

I went with halting steps to you. After all, I had to take you out of a steel trunk that had been locked up three years ago. My hands shivered and my heart cried. I searched and searched through the painful reminders of moments that would never return.

Newspaper clippings, a pair of flying boots, a book on 'Chicken Soup For Fathers and Daughters', broken goggles, a collection of neck ties and scarves, mismatched pairs of uniforms that had been thrown in randomly, were all that I could sieve through. I was shocked. I became a patient of partial amnesia. I simply couldn't recollect where I had kept what I badly wanted that moment. I silently scolded you for playing a prank on me, and that too, at a time, when I was busy doing what you had always loved - working.

I put back all things that I had taken out, this time, in an arranged manner. I closed the trunk. I was devastated. How careless I was, to have not handled your belongings properly. It was then, that my hand decided to move on its own. I felt a suitcase by my side. Yes, it was the one that alway accompanied you on your journeys long ago, like a beautiful girlfriend. It had my stuff in it now.

My fingers groped with the lock. I sighed, and lifted it up to place it on your trunk. It was going to be a mini battle, I had forgotten about the pass code. I raked my brain for the safety number. A hussle here and a tussle there. I was about to give up when suddenly, there was a click. I had finally managed to crack the code.

When I opened up, I could see my clothes, the ones you had gifted, safely packed for our daughters to use later. With no hope, I was about to close it when I noticed an odd piece of cloth. I quickly removed my saree that was on top. There it was. Neatly hidden between the folds of that saree, was what I had been looking for.

You and your green overall. I had always complained when I saw you wearing this as compared to your jeans. In fact, you had lived....and died in a green overall.

Tomorrow, I will be wearing your green overall. I will be You...