The Regret

The sky turned crimson indicating the arrival of fall but for the old man it was all the same. He lived in a secluded house on the skirts of the town. No one knew his name, 'the old man' that's what he was called. He has no one, no family no friends. He grows seasonal fruits and vegetables and sell them in the town's street market and during fall he would help pick apples from the apple field. 

It was another day for the old man as he grabbed his old ragged jute bag and sauntered to the apple field along with his Wooden cart. His life has become a chore, not like he complained. Crushing the golden leaves on his way he finally reached the centre of the field. He would hardly earn 6 to 7 coins a day in exchange of his help but it was more than enough for a man who has negligible expenditure. 

Positioning the cart near one of the tree he started filling it with the apples when suddenly someone called him"old man" he looked around trying to search the owner of the voice." Old man over here." The voice called out again but this time louder. The old man looked up at one of the tree branches and there he found a boy sitting, wagging his legs. He had a youthful glow on his face unlike the old man's aged and weathered one. 

"Old man you are old and weak. How will you pick all the apples? Let me help you." The boy asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Thinking it could be a naughty joke of another young mind he ignored him. Afterall he was used to these malevolent youngsters. There were numerous instances when for fun town's adolescents threw eggs on his window panes and dumped garbage in his yard and would even steal vegetables and fruits he grew. 

Not getting any response from the old man, he jumped from the tree and landed perfectly on his two feets, dusting his pants he went near the old man. " What do you say old man?" He asked but the old man refused to answer. " Come on old man say something." After a pause he asked "are you mute? You know I can understand sign language. Not much I am still learning. There is a certain someone I lov- know is mute too." The young man said blushing at the last part. "Start from there." The old man said in his usual calm and composed voice "but you will get no more than 3 coins." He continued. " Oh come on old man make it 4."

"Leave" the old man demanded. "Okay fine 3 it is." With that the two men started picking the apples.

After filling the cart to the brim the old man sat on the bench to catch his breath. Sitting there looking into the void, fingers brushing the metallic bench weathered by the quality of time. When his imaginary journey came to an end he came back to his senses, absorbing the view in front of him with a deep sigh he cares the cherry blossom right next to him standing tall giving the corroboration of the years that passed. on the other hand the river that flowed in front of him was the same. He chuckled seeing the duality of the nature.

After a while the young men join him munching on the Apple. "There are a lot of rumours about you in the town." The old man smiled. The boy was surprised seeing the Emotionless old man smiling for the first time. "I know." The old man replied. The boy sighed. "Young men should not sigh like that. There is something in your mind? tell me." 

"You will listen?" The boy asked hopefully. "I am all ears." the boy's eyes followed the old man's gaze to the flowing river. "There is a woman I love." The old man chuckled. "Young hearts, lovely! lovely! but what's the matter?" 

"actually she is mute a-and I don't know how to tell her that I love her or that should I tell her at all?" the boy confessed.

"Are you confused about your love?" The old man asked. "No! not at all."

"Then just tell her, if you can't tell her face to face write a letter."

"So you are telling me to confess?"

"I'm just saying to not regret in the future." The boy nodded, after a while the boy asked again " do you have any regret?" The old man's face changed suddenly and with a sullen voice he replied "I do my child, I do. A regret that changed my life forever."

"What is that?" The boy asked curiously. The old man's eyes gift to meet the boy's. "Do you my boy have the patience to listen to an old man's regret." The boy nodded "I want to know, tell me."

"So listen, it all started in the autumn of 1972 when I fell in love for the first time. she was lovely, kind, Innocence always manifested in her eyes."

"Well that's how I feel about her too." The boy said cutting him off. "But she was blind." the old man continued. "Quite similar to my situation." The young man interrupted again. "Do you have a knack for interrupting people or are you simply impatient." The boy mumbled an apology. The old man continued with a smile. "she was new to town she came to my father's boutique that's when I met her for the first time. just like you I used to hesitate to tell her my feelings we used to be good friends I became her eyes, I used to take her to the yearly Carnival she loved eating Crisp apples we used to go to mountain tops, it was fun. I would make her learn all the names of the fabrics through touch I even used to stitch dresses for her." Old man sighed. "I could do anything to bring a smile on here face, she would have been happier but could never get over her disability. She used to get so insecure sometimes that she started throwing tantrums but I was more than happy to bear them as long as she was happy." The boy was now silently listening to the old man. "one day her parents arranged a marriage for her it was such heartbreaking news for me but she was so excited while telling me the news that I could not help but be happy for her. I helped her in her wedding preparations. There were times when I even thought of telling her about my feelings but I was afraid that she would stop talking to me and that we will drift farther away from each other than we already are. Just like that the wedding day arrived the guest came, everything was ready, the bride in her wedding dress was looking no less than an angel, but her happiness was short lived and so was mine." A tear roll down the old man's cheeks. 

"What happened?" the young boy asked in a slow and calm Voice instead of his usual high-pitched one. "The groom didn't came but his letter transpired. he wrote that he didn't want to destroy his life by marrying such a girl so he ran away. She was devastated, we all were."

"What happened then?" The boy asked curiously. "I wanted to save her trust me. I n-never wished for something like that to happen." The old man cried out. Seeing the old man's sudden outburst he started patting his shoulders in the hope of calming him down . After a while he finally chilled out wiping his tears he continued "I wanyt to console her but she refused to see anyone. I decided to give her some time but the next day when I went to her house I saw her lying in the casket." The waited with baited breath for the old man to continue."From what I know she drowned herself in the river. I was devastated.I knew the moment I laid my eyes on her deceased frame that my life, as I had lived it, would never be the same. If only I told her how much I loved her, how much I treasured her, if only." The boy was silent a thousand thoughts running wild in his mind. "And that is the regret of my life." The old man concluded.

After a moment of silence the young man stood up abruptly "old man I need to go I don't want to have a regret."

"Right, here is your earnings." Old man said giving him few coins.

"Old man you gave me seven coins."The boy reached out give the extra coins he recieved.

"Well take them." 

"But you will be left with nothing ."

"I don't need anything also take the Apple cart use the apples for the autumn festival."

"You are coming to the festival?" The boy asked excitedly and happy that the old man will finally come to celebrate with others. But the old man did not answer. He got up and was about to leave when the young boy asked "you didn't even ask my name." 

"I don't need to know your name young man." And with that he left.

After a week the young boy decided to visit the old man. While standing in the entrance his eyes glanced at the house he pitted the old man after seeing how isolated It looked. He must have been so lonely the boy thought to himself. He knocked once, twice but no answer came finally he tried to push the door open and to his surprise it was unlocked. As he went in he saw there was barely anything in his house. "Old man" he called out. " Old man listen I have a good news for you. I finally confessed and she said she loved me too. I told her about you she wants to meet you." There was still no answer so he walked up the stairs. "Old man everyone enjoyed your apples and the rumours have died down. Why didn't you come to the festival? I was waiting for you." The boy came face to face with a big wooden door, he pushed it open and there he saw the old man lying on his bed. He went near him "old men wake up it is not the time to sleep." Getting no response he shook him. Cold ran down his spine the possibility of him gone forever made him feel dejected. "Old man get up please get up." The man cried out feeling desperate. He refused to believe that the old man was no more he shook him violently but his pale face had a different story to tell. The boy cried for hours holding his departed body.