I went to the medicine shop and bought a first aid box, band-aids, and some medicines for her treatment.
That shop was a bit over crowded so it took more time to buy than I had expected. I started walking back in a hurry. I walk passed some of those people from before on the street, but no one asked me a single question.
It felt like they have already forgotten about the incident.
Like nothing really matters, except for their own life, their own well being.
"This is so sad," I mumbled to myself.
After I cross the road, I started walking on the soft grasses. There were no one around anymore, it was already becoming a silent desert. I could only hear the sounds of crickets, shouting at their highest pitch.
When I was nearly a few meters away from the jasmine tree I saw something astounding.
"........…...."
The half-moon was a bit above the water level of the lake and the soft moonlight was getting reflected by the small ripples of the lake. With that, the yellowish light of street lights around the lake, mixing with the silvery moon light & the bright point lights of stars on the black background was creating a divine art of light full of mystery.
An art made by the collaboration of human and nature.
But that was not the only thing that attracted me as I had seen it countless times before; it was the focus of the whole setup that drew my attention.
It was that girl.
She was standing by the railing of the lake, facing at it with her loosened up blonde hair that was emitting a yellowish white radiance in the soft light while fluttering in the gentle wind. She was holding the camera near her eyes and was looking through it at the half moon with full of curiosity and a smile on her face; which were complimenting her tall slim figure perfectly.
"........."
After seeing her like that, I had become completely speechless. If I had my camera with me I would have taken a picture of her for sure.
"She is looking so...beautiful!" A thought came to my mind.
She did not notice me coming. So I put the things that I bought on the bench & slowly get behind her.
"What are you doing?"
"AAH!!!" After suddenly hearing my voice she nearly jumped in surprise.
"Haha," I laughed.
"I was about to get a heart attack!!!"
"Haha... Sorry!"
"Were you able to take a picture? I asked.
"N-o. I could not figure out how to take one" she told me with dissatisfaction.
"I can teach you how to take one, but first let's fix your wounds!"
"Okay!!" she replied with pure joy in her voice. If her legs were alright, I am sure she might have started jumping like a kid.
For a photographer like me, there is no greater happiness than getting an apprentice, who is as curious as me. She reached the bench before me while dragging her leg slightly. She was trying hard not to let me notice.
"Huh!!" I sighed.
Then I opened up the medicine packet & took out a piece of cotton and drenched it with some Dettol.
"Here, take it and clean those cuts first."
"…....."
It seemed like there was something on her mind that she wanted to ask me but she couldn't.
"Is there something on your mind?" I asked.
"No...no nothing." She gave me a prompt reply and took the wet cotton from me.
Then she started to clean her cuts.
Then I handed her over the band-aids.
"How...do I use them?" She asked.
"You have never put a band-aid before?"
"N...o"
"........"
"Ok, let me help you."
Then I kneeled on the ground did the remaining first aid. There were also some cuts and scratches on her hands& cheeks which she hadn't show me before.
When I was nearly finished, she asked me a strange question. Though it sounded strange to me back then, nevertheless, it was the right question to ask.
"Why are you being...so nice to me?" She asked.
"Well, who doesn't like to be a knight in shining armour and save the damsel in distress!!" I jokingly said.
"Hehe... That's a fair reason. But I am not a princess. I am more of an insect of the society who doesn't even have an identity." She said while looking at the half-broken moon. Her deep sadness could easily be noticed.
"Well, being an insect is not bad! How do you think the sweet flowers of this jasmine tree blooms if they did not help it pollinate?"
"......."
"As for identity, No one needs to give you one. You are who you are. You are Shreya. That's it."
"....."
She got silent and kept on staring at me intensely with her cold-looking grey eyes that were trying to figure out if I really meant what I had said or I was just sweet-talking.
"Thank...you," She told me while returning a smile that I had never seen before.
A pure genuine smile from the bottom of her heart with full of gratitude and happiness which was making her soon to be mature face the most attractive one I have ever seen.
Thump...Thump.
"..."
After seeing that smile my heart could not stop beating. I don't know how long I would have kept staring at her if she hadn't asked me another question.
"Is there something on my face?" She asked me while looking at my eyes.
"Nope, nothing" I promptly replied and stood up.
"Are you feeling pain anywhere?"
"No, I am alright."
"Are you telling the truth? Otherwise we will have to visit a doctor."
"I am fine! I am fine!" She answered me with a happy face.
"Here keep these medicines. If it pains somewhere you can take a tablet & apply the ointment."
Then I gave her the medicines.
"Don't forget to visit the health centre tomorrow."
She took it but didn't say anything in reply.
"What is the time now?" A thought came to my mind suddenly. So I checked my wristwatch.
It was 11:30 pm.
"Oh man, it is already 11:30! You need to go home now! Your parents might be getting anxious!"
"…..."
"And don't try to steal again."
"O...k," she answered without looking at me.
"I usually come here every Sunday afternoon. I will teach you how to take photographs next Sunday, if you come."
"Why...not you teach me now?" She looked at me while asking.
"I don't mind staying late here but you should get back to your home, it's gotten too late."
"You don't need to worry about that!"
"Why not?"
"I…...I don't have a home or a...family" She told me those saddest words with a smile on her face.
"I can stay here as long as I want. You don't need to worry."
"...."
I had gone completely silent.
Though she was smiling or rather trying to smile, I could easily see through that as I have already seen her real smile before.
The most beautiful one I have ever seen.
I sat down beside her.
"Where do you stay at night then?" I asked.
"Nowhere...particular," she said while hesitating.
"If you don't tell me for real, I won't teach."
"....."
After a pause of few seconds, she spoke while staring at the ground—
"Here, on this bench, beside this jasmine tree."
After hearing that, I did not know what to say. She didn't speak anything more either. And because of that, an awkward silence started to grow.
She was looking at the half-moon with her blank emotionless eyes. Her emotionless face was that of an ice goddess's. I started to feel some kind of sadness & loneliness inside me seeing her face like that. Her smile just kept on coming to my mind. My chest was feeling so heavy.
After nearly two minutes she spoke again.
"I used to work as a street dancer with a group of street performers from the slum. Then I started living with them after I became an orphan a few days ago. But one night they tried to do bad things to me. I somehow managed to run away from them."
"....."
"After that, I did not know what to do, I had no money and I… did not want to go back. I was getting so hungry; I could not bear it anymore. When I asked for work in some places, most of them didn't even listen to me and some of them even advised me to sell...my....body."
"That's why I decided to steal."
"...."
"Thank you for your cookies earlier," she said while smiling. "I was really hungry."
"No problem at all," I said while shaking my head.
Then she pointed her finger towards that half-broken moon & said--
"Can you please teach me now how to take photographs? I want to capture that broken moon."
Her blank eyes were like searching for something. Something that might give some meaning to her life, maybe.
Like taking a photograph of the moon
.
She might have been seeing a resemblance of her own situation in that incomplete moon, but in reality, it was actually trying to come back to its real form to show off its real beauty.
Maybe she was trying to do the same.
But I was not completely accurate.
Then she looked at me & spoke with a smile full of sadness, pain & helplessness—
"I don't knows what will happen to me in a week. I might not even able to see…you again. So, I…I just want to have a single nice memory with the first person who has been so nice to me, before this dream ends."
Then two drops of tears silently flow over her chicks. She was biting her lower lips hard trying to hold her tears.
I was silently listening to her story until now but her last words just completely shattered something inside me.
Something that was blocking me to hug and console this beautiful girl and say something magical to her, whose golden coloured hair and grey eyes were becoming more & more dazzling in the bright light of the midnight moon as the night was growing.
The gentle chilly wind was making her hairs flutter. I just couldn't move my eyes away from her.
"I will teach you, even if I have to stay here all night."
Then she smiled like before-- that same pure genuine smile. My heart just kept on beating rapidly.
Her smile was already trying to change my story.
The thought of happening something bad to her & might not able see her again was making my heart ache. I tried resisting all that, but I failed.
And so, a desire to protect her smile & keep her all to me was arising inside my heart.
I could not understand what was happening to me back then.
So, I instinctively took the camera that was lying beside me on the bench & took a photo of her.
"..."
It was the best photograph I have ever taken. She looked like the goddess of the night who was radiating her beauty in the peaceful moonlit night, with a smile on her face.
"The Night Jasmine," I mumbled the name. 'The Night Jasmine'--which is also called 'The Lady of the Night', whose beauty shines in the night.
It was what gave me the satisfaction that I was always looking for.
After seeing the photograph for a few second, I took the camera and went in front of her. I hold her hand and put the camera on her palm and... Kissed her on her forehead gently.
"Would you like to be with me?" I asked her with a smile.
This time it was my real, genuine smile, which came directly from my heart. I didn't need to fake it anymore.
"...."
She was looking at me with her puppy dog eyes that were full of questions, conflicts, anxiousness, and curiosity. They were fixed at my eyes and were trying to comprehend the situation that happened in a flash. She could not say anything and might not have understood what those unknown feelings were, that she suddenly started to feel.
"I...don't know...what to do. I...I never thought...this would ever happen...to...me...like those...movies."
She was touching her forehead with her slender fingers where I kissed her.
Her grey eyes were still fixated at mine. Then tears started coming out of her eyes.
They were glistening like diamonds in the moonlight. Then she said, "Is this...really a dream? If it is... I don't want to...wake up."
I just couldn't stop myself. So I kneeled and hugged her gently.
She got surprised. I might have gotten a bit carried away.
"No...It's not a dream. No need to wake up from it," I said.
She was crying silently. I could not see her face, nor could I hear her voice, but I can tell that much as my right shoulder was getting wet from her tears.
I could easily feel how fast both of our hearts were beating. It was like they wants to get synced with each other.
"So, what is your answer?" I asked.
After a little silence she answered—
"I...want to know...how...to take...photographs...from you."
Then she hugged me back but that was way tighter than what we generally call a hug.
"Ow ow ow, that's too much!!!"
Then she started giggling & started rubbing her eyes on my shirt.
I sighed.
After hugging me to her heart's content, she let me loose.
She was smiling.
That same pure genuine smile.
I pinched her cheeks to give her a little punishment.
But she kept on smiling.
So I couldn't help but smile back.
Just one kiss changed the whole story of her, just like princess snow white's.
And a smile changed mine.
"Here, let me show you how to take photographs."
Then I showed her how to take a simple photograph by adjusting the focus and zoom. She was listening to me just like a kid full of curiosity which instantly filled my heart with happiness.
"Here, now you try it. I have set up all the complex stuff. You can now easily take a picture of the moon."
"Ok!!!"
Then I gave a tap on her nose tip and said, "This camera is yours now. I already have captured what I wanted; now you capture the moments you want to keep."
"Make as many one click diaries as you want."
"Okay!!!"
She replied with her signature smile. That smile was already becoming a part of her regular expression.
Then she took a picture of the broken moon and then one of me.
"Why are you taking my picture?" I asked her out of curiosity.
Then She came closer to me and looked straight at my eyes and said, "Because, you are the night jasmine that I was searching for, my prince charming!"
And gave me a soft smile.