Seven months ago, they had moved into this flat in Noida, chosen by Teesta’s grandma. Her maternal grandmother, a sprightly old lady who lived just across the road, was only too happy to find a home for her favourite granddaughter. They were always very good friends and enjoyed the other’s company. Teesta would often spend her evening at grandma’s teasing her about the fairy tales she made up for her when her stock ran dry. All her stories had a princess and a prince and they inevitably got married and lived very happily with plenty of children. As Teesta grew up, she requested her grandma, with a very straight face, not to let them have so many children as getting them into good schools would prove to be a challenge for the not so young prince. Her grandma’s home was a place to hide for Teesta, from where Akash had often fetched her when she was unhappy for some reason.

Teesta and Akash did not have a child. Somehow, it hasn’t happened. They were far too much in love with each other to worry about it and both agreed that it would happen sometime and the waiting would be worth it. She was waiting for him today, when she fell asleep in the couch. He had to meet an important source early in that morning and had left without waking her up. Teesta turned in her bed trying to nestle up to him and rest her head in the crook of his arm. He always adored her soft silky hair a natural gift of an Assamese girl from the northeast. The emptiness startled her, as she sat up in bed.

Maybe he remembered but would surprise her later, as he had done so many times. Maybe he had forgotten about it. Maybe, maybe, maybe… It had never happened in the last seven years. All alone in a new city, with only grandma around, she needed Akash. Didn’t he realize it? The questions eddied in her mind. Slowly she calmed herself. She needed to be busy. She had to call the florist and get fresh meat. He liked her cooking, and she wanted to prepare his favourite Chinese menu for the evening. The day had passed swiftly in a passionate swirl of activity.

The food was there covered in the table. The unlit candle stood forlorn in the stand. The flowers were carefully arranged around the room. Teesta was curled up in the corner of the couch. A roar of a speeding motorcycle startled her. A few minutes later the calendar will change to April 21. The loneliness swallowed her. Quietly she stood up, opened the door and stood watching the night traffic speed past her door. There was light in grandma’s window, across the road. Grandma always slept late. Silently Teesta stepped out of her door and started to walk over to her cocoon. Almost in a trance, she hadn’t noticed the headlights. Akash saw her from his car. It was in slow motion, almost as if he was watching a movie. Teesta stepped on the road. Akash felt like in a dream where you are frantically running but not going anywhere, when you are screaming silently, when you are gripping onto the ledge for your life and yet slipping into a void. The truck sped past. She lay huddled in the curb. He cradled her head in his arms, she was fast asleep, a thin stream of crimson from her nostrils was turning black. Was blood black? The calendar was still April 20.

She hadn’t uttered a word. He clung on to her in a hopeless attempt to wake her up. He knew she was just pretending to be asleep and would wake up any moment with her willowy arm around his neck, as she had always done. He screamed out her name, but didn’t make any sound. His lungs were bursting, the lonely street a silent onlooker to a shrine of angst. As he touched his lips to her forehead the tears fused with the black blood. The raindrops washed away the blood and tears. A radiant white light, like a beam, bathed the street, the row of houses.

A disembodied voice like a forgotten friend’s that comes over the long distance phone, spoke softly to Akash: “Your life will go back three days from this moment. Only you will know. Go home with Teesta… for just 72 hours.” It couldn’t be true. Who is it , shouted Akash in a blind rage at himself. Why wasn’t he home a few minutes ago? The voice came back again with a tranquil whisper; “Trust me, go home. Your lives have been turned back to where it was at this very moment three days ago. Go live it again…for 72 hours”