Brave souls never DIE

They were a newly wed couple. She was pregnant, carrying a baby when he was asked to report at the border. He worked as an army pilot and had to report on an urgent request. There were discussions throughout that night and they were discussing on why he should go and why he should not go. Finally he had won the battle and had convinced his wife. He had decided to leave the next morning. The next morning, it was raining heavily when he took his bag, promised her to be back in few weeks and waved at her. She waved back at him with an ever smiling face, with fear and hope deep down her heart as he moved away with his army bag.

Three weeks had passed and he was on duty that day. He had already killed many across the border and was flying menacingly across the border when his flight was hit by a rocket launcher. He was struggling to land the plane. He tried all that he could before he realized it was too late. He didn’t panic. He had already done enough damage across the border.  He was happy to die for his nation. He was feeling proud. He was proudly looking at the sky for one last time, but was a bit worried about his wife and his family. He wanted to talk to her one last time. He wanted to hug her one last time. He wanted to see her one last time. He wanted to see their kid, he wanted to kiss his kid and he wanted to hug his kid for the first and last time. He knew he was going to die when he whispered

“Dear! I may not see you again. I’m not blessed to see our kid. Please let our kid pursue what he wants. If he wants to become an Army pilot like me, make him one”.

She was sleeping when she heard a voice whisper in her ears. She woke up panicked, had a glass of water and was completely lost in thought. She was wondering if it was a dream in which she heard that voice. She feared if something was wrong with him. She prayed for him and slept after spending a long time trying to sleep. She was very tired when she woke up in the morning. She opened the door, looked  at the sun and prayed when a lady from the neighboring street came running towards her and told her with a lot of hesitation that her husband had passed away. For a moment, she didn’t hear the voice of the lady. The lady was trying to console her, but she didn’t hear her, she didn’t see anything around her, she didn’t know what was happening around her. She was lost in deep thought. She never knew there was a bad news waiting for her that morning when she woke up.

In few hours, her home was crowded with relatives and people from the neighborhood.  The place had ceased to be her sweet home. The next day, his body was brought to his house, his last rites were performed and he was given a grand farewell at his funeral. His body was put to rest with bullets fired as a means of paying him respect. The next day, she had decided to kill herself when she realized what had happened on the night two days before. She, then knew that it was his voice that she had heard two days before. She had a challenge to live up to. She had a promise to keep up. She told herself that he has not passed away from them. She believed that his soul and his love was still alive and she believed that his soul and his love would help her bring up their son.

Twenty five years later, a twenty-five year old-young man was packing his bag. He was waiting for his mom to finish her pooja. When his mom was done with the pooja, he sought her blessing. She blessed him with a smile, but out of nowhere two drops of tears fell down the cheeks of this old woman – the cheeks that had dried up long before. The young man convinced her saying “Mom!! don’t worry. I’ll be back. You know I always wanted to be an Army Pilot and you always wanted me to pursue what I wanted to be. Why do you cry now. Bless me”. The old lady wiped away the tears, smiled at him and whispered “Dear, I have kept up the promise. I’ve made our son an Army Pilot. He always wanted to be an Army Pilot like you. Bless our kid. He is the only reason why I’m alive on this earth”. It was raining heavily when he took his bag, promised her to be back in few weeks and waved at her. She waved back at him with the same  smiling face, with fear and hope deep down her heart as he moved away with his army bag.

There are still a few brave souls out there. The brave souls – that never give up. The brave souls – that never DIE.

PS:The post is completely fictional. Any match, if found in real, is a complete co-incidence.