When I woke the next day, I felt a strange shiver; as I remembered the dream of the previous night. 

(We were walking hand in hand. Suddenly, we noticed a strange cave appear before us. It had an entrance which looked like an inverted heart. We were eager to get inside when a voice warned us. “This is the cave which test’s your love. Once you enter it, you will only be able to survive and get to the other end together; if your love is accepted. Or else, one or both would have to lose your life here. Remember! No one survived it before. It is your turn to test your love. All the best!” We looked at each other’s face. I was scared. He gave an encouraging smile. Reluctantly, we entered it. It was very hot inside. We found two stony paths on each side, enough for one person to walk, with a deep endless valley in between. We took one path each and slowly, carefully, started walking, still holding our hands. We could feel the heat, coming from the valley. It burnt our hands. But we didn’t take our hands back. All seemed to be fine, until I stepped on a loose stone and tripped. In a split of second, I was hanging in the valley. He tried his best to pull me up, but my palm slipped from his grip and our hands got separated. Radha!!!! That was the last I heard from him.)   

I shook my head to get rid of the fear associated with my dream. The world around me seemed completely different. There was a strange calmness. Everything looked beautiful. I wanted to enjoy each and every bit of it. My family looked happy. I wanted to keep seeing their happy faces forever. I wanted to enjoy each moment of my life. **Maybe such a moment will not return. Enjoy it to the fullest.** I told myself deep inside. 

As I decided, I enjoyed each moment of my life like it was the last. That evening, seeing him brought tears in my eyes. **I don’t know why!** I went and sat beside him. He gave a dull smile. 

ME: What happened?

HE: I had a dream yesterday night. 

ME: A cave; inverted heart; … was it that? 

His eyes widened. I smiled. 

ME: I had it too. By the way, what does it mean? 

He opened his mouth to say something. But my phone rang, interrupting our conversation. I checked it. It was from my parents. I picked the call. 

ME: Hello! 

Sister: Congratulations! 

ME: Why? What happened? 

Sister: My sister is going to get married. [Mom please! I want to talk to her.] 

ME: What? 

Mom: Ha dear! We met your future-in-laws.  

ME: What are you saying mom? 

Mom: His parents came to our house today.

I looked at him. He smiled. 

Dad: We liked them very much and everything got settled too soon. Since we knew you liked him too, we agreed for the match. You are fine with it right! We still have some time… so if you are not fine with it; we can still say no to them. 

ME: No! No! I am perfectly fine with it.  

I was blushing. 

Dad: Okay then! Come home soon. We will talk about it in detail later. Good bye! 

I heard a beep and cut the call.  I felt extremely happy. I felt shy to look at him or speak to him. **I am going to marry my husband. That sounds awkward. But it is necessary; till now it was a bond between our souls. Now with this marriage, it is going to be a physical bond. I am so happy; our parents have agreed for our marriage; which means we have their blessings. I love my parents. They have given me everything!**

Seeing me silent, he started explaining. 

HE: I told my parents that I love you. I showed them your picture and told them about you. They immediately accepted you as their daughter-in-law. They are the best parents you know! They gave me everything I wanted. So I asked them to talk to your parents and gave them your address. They must have to gone to your house today to talk to your parents about us. 

I smiled shyly. I wanted to know more about his family.

ME: Tell me more about your family. 

HE: Why? I will take you to my home. You can know them practically. Well yes, … I forgot to tell you about one person though… I promised to tell you about him.  

He took out a newspaper from his bag, opened a page and showed it to me. 

HE: Was this the one who troubled you? 

I looked at the picture. Yes, it was him. I remember that cruel face well. I was shocked to read the news printed under the picture. It said this person was encountered yesterday as he tried to escape from prison. He was shot dead by the police. I looked at him questioningly. He started explaining. 

HE: He is my mother’s younger brother. He was a very cruel person from childhood. He used to kill animals for pleasure. My mother tried to counsel him, and he seemed to be fine for some time. Later, my mom got married and gave birth to my elder brother and then to me. He got greedy for our property. He was unmarried, unemployed and was dependant on us for his survival. He tried to kill us kids many times, but by god’s grace we got saved. I still remember my childhood, when I had to protect myself every day. After I grew up, he sensed that I was strong and he couldn’t harm us, and he behaved well. We thought he really changed. But he was actually waiting for the right moment, which he got when I was out of station. He used the time to snoop around and plot a conspiracy against our family. In that attempt, he secretly read my diary; in which I mentioned about you. So he planned to make you sad. 

ME: But what will he get by that? 

HE: Pleasure! He wanted to snatch all happiness away from me. He wanted to make me sorrowful & weak by trying to separate us. But, Thanks to you, I understood his plan and spied on him. I caught him red handed when he tried to kill the whole family. He was sent to jail. And the rest of it, you read.  

He sighed. I felt my insides boiling. **Can people really be that cruel? HE really went through a lot… trying to protect himself and his family, expecting a danger every day. It must have really been depressing. I could now understand why he wanted to keep everyone around him happy. He didn’t want people to experience the sorrow that he felt.** 

HE: My mom couldn’t digest it then. But slowly she got over it. She doesn’t know that he is dead yet, but I am planning to tell it later. 

I placed my hand on his shoulder and he squeezed my hand. 

HE: That is why I want people to understand that no problem is bigger than death. I don’t understand why people cry for tiny things. So, the best I could do was to make everyone around me happy, to give them the strength to face every problem, to make them have what they need.  

**He didn’t look like a naughty playboy anymore. He looked like a philosopher, a tireless warrior and a protector. I understood that I can never find out the depth of his heart. I understood why his eyes were so deep and intense. I understood how much love, sympathy and care he held inside him. I wanted to show him how much I respected him.** 

There was a deep silence between us. I didn’t want to break it. He needed some quiet time for himself. 

HE: I didn’t tell this to anyone till now. You are the first one. 
He smiled, looking into my eyes. I smiled back.

ME: You had to tell me. After all, I am your wife. 

He laughed and pinched my cheek. 

HE: Already getting bossy, aren’t you? 

I bent my head. He was about to say something when his mobile rang. He picked the call. His face got a bit serious.  
HE: Okay mom! Yes, I will. Bye!  I looked up.  

HE: The bus is not going to arrive, there was some accident on the way and the road has been blocked. No vehicles are allowed in this direction. 

ME: What shall we do then? 

HE: Let us start walking, if we find a taxi or auto rickshaw on the way, we’ll catch it.  

I nodded. **Anything is fine if it is with him.** We started walking. It was already dark. The road was completely abandoned. This was an isolated part of the city, but it looked more like a jungle with all wild bushes and trees. There were very few houses scattered here and there, but half of them were abandoned. If it wasn’t with him, I would never have come this way. It looked like a dangerous place.

HE: Let us take the shortcut by the hill. 

ME: Is there a hill here? I never knew. 

He smiled. 

HE: Most people don’t. It is really isolated. I know it because I like exploring. 

ME: So do I! but I am scared to do it alone. 

HE: Let us do it together then. After we get married. 

I bent my head. The thought of marriage made me shy.  We walked ahead, enjoying the moonlight on the hill. It looked great. 

ME: Ouch! 

HE: What happened? 

ME: A thorn pricked my foot. 

HE: Let me see. 

ME: It’s alright. I will take care of it.

I bent down to pick  it  up .

HE: NOOOOOOO!

He  grabbed  my arm  to  pull  me  aside,  but  it  was too  late !