Musing; The Voice That Survived
"Please let's get out of here", she said to Guy. She had not expected what she did to happen. It spoke to her. She was hurt. Deeply hurt. And most surprising, she was not hurt by her own situation. Those women she had seen through her mind's eye, they did not have the opportunity she still had. A voice.
"Whatever you want babe. But promise you will tell me what happened?"
"I will. Let's just get out." They stepped out into the hotel compound. She wrapped her arms around herself. She suddenly felt cold.
"Where do you want us to go?"
"I would have said we take a drive, but the traffic at this time is unwelcoming to a visitor. Would you terribly mind if we sat in my car?"
"Of course not. Lead the way."
They got into her car. She turned on the engine and switched on the air conditioning. He wanted to ask her about the effect of that action on fuel consumption, but changed his mind. Before he said another word, she spoke.
"What do you guys think when you marry a woman you claim walked straight out of your dreams? You marry her and spend the rest of your married life making her the exact person you would never go near in a hundred lifetimes."
"Babe, please explain. You've lost me". Then, it suddenly dawned on him. When he saw her, he had noticed a dullness in her eyes. Back when they only had to worry about CGPA and dream of the future they now were living in, she always had this twinkle in her eyes. That was something he could not get enough of back then. She seemed to always laugh from her eyes. They had a life of their own. They always lit up. That twinkle was gone when he saw her this evening. Her eyes looked like an apartment illuminated by the rays of the full moon on a clear night of power outage. The light was there but it also was not.
She didn't expect what he said next. "Did he beat you?"
"Oh, no. No. He didn't beat me. He doesn't beat me. At least, not physically."
"Tell me. Tell me everything." She saw the marked difference in his visage. She knew he still cared for her deeply. But what she was seeing was not romantic affection. It was more like a sibling looking out for their own.
"I could have been one of those women." She spoke like one in a trance.
"Which women?" Whatever she was referring to, he had no idea.
"He could have silenced my voice that night." Guy became alarmed and asked in a raised voice, "Babe, what are you talking about?"
"The night he pushed me."
"Where? Why? Why did he push you? Was he high on something?"
"I simply wanted to celebrate him. I wanted to be the good wife I've been conditioned to be. Then, he pushed me. He asked me not to touch him. I thought he was joking. I went after him and touched him. He pushed me. I collided with the door frame. My toe took the impact. Before I realised my toe nail had come straight out from the root, it took a while. The pain went straight into my core."
"What?!" Guy exclaimed. "He did that?" He was visibly furious. He was clenching his teeth.
She continued like she had not heard him. "In there", she pointed at the entrance of the hotel, "I saw what could have happened had my toe not taken the impact that night. If it had been my head, I would be among the statistics today, on either side. Dead or mentally unstable, because of a man."
Guy was staring at her like she had grown some supernatural features. He could not recognise the person he was seeing in her eyes. The eyes are said to be the entrance to the soul. Her soul was not attractive at this time. He saw pain. He saw regret. He saw disappointment. He saw brokenness. He saw a shadow.
"My life got a new direction. I want to be the voice of those who can no longer speak for themselves. The mind of those written off as mindless, with nothing worth listening to except their constant blabbing and moaning about a love they expected to protect them." She looked Guy straight in the eye with a determination that frightened him. "I will spend the rest of my life seeing that the chains binding women is broken. The gag on our mouths must be torn out. It's time we are allowed to live long enough to not only plant but eat of the trees we have planted. Not on my watch will another woman drop dead in the name of love".
Guy tried to speak. He could not. All he wanted to do that very minute was find he that had done this to his friend and give him a resetting slap.
"Whatever you want babe. But promise you will tell me what happened?"
"I will. Let's just get out." They stepped out into the hotel compound. She wrapped her arms around herself. She suddenly felt cold.
"Where do you want us to go?"
"I would have said we take a drive, but the traffic at this time is unwelcoming to a visitor. Would you terribly mind if we sat in my car?"
"Of course not. Lead the way."
They got into her car. She turned on the engine and switched on the air conditioning. He wanted to ask her about the effect of that action on fuel consumption, but changed his mind. Before he said another word, she spoke.
"What do you guys think when you marry a woman you claim walked straight out of your dreams? You marry her and spend the rest of your married life making her the exact person you would never go near in a hundred lifetimes."
"Babe, please explain. You've lost me". Then, it suddenly dawned on him. When he saw her, he had noticed a dullness in her eyes. Back when they only had to worry about CGPA and dream of the future they now were living in, she always had this twinkle in her eyes. That was something he could not get enough of back then. She seemed to always laugh from her eyes. They had a life of their own. They always lit up. That twinkle was gone when he saw her this evening. Her eyes looked like an apartment illuminated by the rays of the full moon on a clear night of power outage. The light was there but it also was not.
She didn't expect what he said next. "Did he beat you?"
"Oh, no. No. He didn't beat me. He doesn't beat me. At least, not physically."
"Tell me. Tell me everything." She saw the marked difference in his visage. She knew he still cared for her deeply. But what she was seeing was not romantic affection. It was more like a sibling looking out for their own.
"I could have been one of those women." She spoke like one in a trance.
"Which women?" Whatever she was referring to, he had no idea.
"He could have silenced my voice that night." Guy became alarmed and asked in a raised voice, "Babe, what are you talking about?"
"The night he pushed me."
"Where? Why? Why did he push you? Was he high on something?"
"I simply wanted to celebrate him. I wanted to be the good wife I've been conditioned to be. Then, he pushed me. He asked me not to touch him. I thought he was joking. I went after him and touched him. He pushed me. I collided with the door frame. My toe took the impact. Before I realised my toe nail had come straight out from the root, it took a while. The pain went straight into my core."
"What?!" Guy exclaimed. "He did that?" He was visibly furious. He was clenching his teeth.
She continued like she had not heard him. "In there", she pointed at the entrance of the hotel, "I saw what could have happened had my toe not taken the impact that night. If it had been my head, I would be among the statistics today, on either side. Dead or mentally unstable, because of a man."
Guy was staring at her like she had grown some supernatural features. He could not recognise the person he was seeing in her eyes. The eyes are said to be the entrance to the soul. Her soul was not attractive at this time. He saw pain. He saw regret. He saw disappointment. He saw brokenness. He saw a shadow.
"My life got a new direction. I want to be the voice of those who can no longer speak for themselves. The mind of those written off as mindless, with nothing worth listening to except their constant blabbing and moaning about a love they expected to protect them." She looked Guy straight in the eye with a determination that frightened him. "I will spend the rest of my life seeing that the chains binding women is broken. The gag on our mouths must be torn out. It's time we are allowed to live long enough to not only plant but eat of the trees we have planted. Not on my watch will another woman drop dead in the name of love".
Guy tried to speak. He could not. All he wanted to do that very minute was find he that had done this to his friend and give him a resetting slap.
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