A one fine coward morning!

There's this one fine morning, there's this one fine pile of whatsapp messages on muted groups that waited, here's this not finding time or energy to check them anytime before noon.

My old school friends group - one random out-of-ordinary message - read like this:

- "Do you remember that girl called X who used to be our junior, used to date Y, used to travel by school bus route N?"
- Erm, not quite! Why?
- Well, she passed away last night.
- Oh! Sad, indeed. What had happened?
- Fever.
- Fever?
- Yeah. Swine Flu perhaps. Can't say"
- Hm. RIP.

Thus had ended the trail of messages and to be honest, the traces left the minds of most pretty soon as well.



Today, I didn't know how many days old it has been. A tag yet another tag and some commenting and sharing by some friends of friends, and I suddenly get reminded of her through her picture this morning on my Facebook Timeline.

Such are the perils of machines that has made life too easy to stop to think before doing, I instinctively reach the profile of the girl X before I have stopped to ask myself whether I wanted to and for what. But then, here I am!

There - her kid, I don't know how old, but doesn't seem much, with a toothy smile having lost a few from the front row, right on the cover picture!

For her profile image, one where the kid, a girl, is wrapping her with two tiny hands from the behind.

Last update from her - just about 2 weeks back. Exactly fourteen days, if you count. A pretty well drawn pastel-colour painting of a village - huts, mountains in background with the orage sun rising from behind the perfect triangle cliffs, a river in the front and not without a few birds which are sort of undecided between swans and ducks - just, just the way we used to do it back in our days. "A drawing by my sweetie" - X had posted.

The previous update, only a few hours apart. The one before, also within a day's range. The whole timeline, as far as I could scroll down, full of stills and moving moments from a life so normal, so usual! The one I stopped at was called "Celebrating Valentine's Day" - she was on a movie date with the husband.

Her photos - one with her kid, another with the family, a few selfies here and there. Nice rich clothes, jewelry, and a smile of a happy household.

I stop here. I surrender. Yes, I lack the courage to navigate any further, a coward that I am.


Really, is this thing called Death as usual as this?