Time-11.45PM
Date-Dec 31st, 2000
Location-The interiors of a broken down house in New Hampshire.
“Tic Tock, Tic Tock, Tic!!!”
The reminder of the awaiting time echoed heavily through the wretched shack while the bent silhouette of a shabby man could be seen disheveled, through the damp penetrating darkness. The sickening gloom of the intensifying silence except for the faint ticking of the clock closed in on the agitated man. His disprortionate emerald green eyes seemed to permanently arch his spine reflecting on the years of agony that seemed to bent down upon him. His eyes were moist and usually kind, but his entire demeanor had maniacal laughter about it. His gaze seemed lost and mirrored the emptiness of the surroundings as his thin lips curved into a smile that seemed out of proportion like his remaining posture. - A smile that he had possessed five long years ago.
“One, two, three….um….eight,nine and ten” bellowed a tall lanky dark haired man in his late thirties. “I am coming Ariana”, the man called out on finishing his counting in a flourish.
“Where are you, little Ariana? I am going to find you. Hiding behind that curtain, are you not? Aren’t you ,little Ariana?” The man sang melodiously, as his emerald green eyes swiftly moved about his carelessly handsome face.
A low girly giggle erupted from a distant room but the seeker kept his distance, pretending to desperately search the front rooms.
The house looked clean and polished with no second thoughts on the caresses it was drowned in. It had eleven rooms with a kitchen at the far end with a door that directly connected the house to the less amiable street outside. The Hatchards had chosen the house at a time when Mrs Hatchard had been alive. It was the only memory of his wife for Mr Hatchard who had been struck by a sweet bitterness of it all- his wife had died giving birth to their daughter Ariana.
Since then, father and daughter celebrated their new year’s first praying for little Ariana’s mother and setting out a game of hide and seek when they would each wish each other a ’prosperous new year’ when the game ended.It had seemed silly at first when Ariana had proposed it but later on it seemed impossible for Mr. Hatchard to fluctuate from the tradition. It was a little bond he and his beloved Ariana shared- he could not let it fade.
After what seemed like hours, the father meandered his way towards kitchen, enacting a dramatic encounter in his mind when the daughter would be seeked out of hiding.A worried line creased his forehead as he found the kitchen empty. Then he saw it.
‘Tic tock tic tock ’
The clock showed ten minutes to twelve. The emerald green eyes spotted a matchstick in no time as the man, still bent, conjured a candlelight and advanced towards the kitchen and out into the street. The air was jubiliant .Everyone seemed to be celebrating. The usual New Years decorations were put up everywhere and loud music boomed through the air and infectious laughter hung in the couples’ breadth. Love was portrayed everywhere around as lovers danced to the lilting music and families went out to enjoy a sumptuous meal. Nowhere nobody seemed to notice the strange starved man who frantically searched everywhere, his unseeing eyes relenting to fall into the tempting depths of the world beyond. He had wanted the pain to stop, had wanted the nightmares to vanish, but they kept haunting him. His “I’m coming Ariana’, he muttered under his breath .His feet lead the way and he escaped the peal of laughter momentarily as he took in the familiar place. A board a little distance away read “St. Paul’s cemetery”. The man brooded over the little grave (with bent knees) where his precious Ariana had been laid to rest. The grave seemed painfully tiny as compared to those which surrounded it. His grip on the candle released and it tumbled extinguishing the little light. His parched lips kissed the mud covering the grave and he silently sobbed into the earth. ‘Daddy’s here, dear! No need to worry. Daddy is right here”.
11.59 pm. The world outside seemed so unreal, so far-fetched to reality to this man who lay beside his daughter. He had lost his wife at the same time he was gifted with a daughter. He had cherished all her memories even to this day and to let go seemed to kill him inch by inch. He had not been content with the five years he poured all his love to her while greedily accepting her’s. He craved for more time.
Five… Four…Three…two…One- “Happy New Year” bellowed a surging crowd at a very far distance, the echo reverberating through the dead night. The man’s hair swept back and he sat up straight. It was time at last. He groped for the piston carefully tucked inside the jacket and brought it to his heart. It was game over. It was time to seek his daughter out of hiding. He had to see her.
A loud “BAM” disappeared into the depth of the trees in the nearby premises. “Happy….New…Year, Ariana!!” -an almost inaudible whimper erupted from the lonely man.