Untimely

The news wasn’t entirely unexpected. The news wasn’t welcoming. The news turned out to be the worst ever that my ears could hear. A part in my heart was not ready to hear it but it reached me. I never wished, till then, that I will have to go through it. I wasn’t happy at all.

I waved him a customary goodbye like any other day. The usual handshake to be precise. He went in the car to a place where I was told, I cannot accompany him. I didn’t want also. A few hours later, I hadn’t heard anything from him. It was making me restless. There were no mobile phones then. So, I waited for a call. No one called. Only I saw the car come back. Not him, but others came out of the car with expressionless faces. No words. No sound. No emotions.

They walked inside the house. The only words I heard, “we are with you. We couldn’t do anything.” I didn’t understand. I asked again. They only shed tears. I still didn’t understand. I asked repeatedly again.

This time, not one but many people started walking into the house. I couldn’t understand. They were not telling me. Suddenly someone said, “What an untimely death! His daughters are still young. Why did he die?”

And that was the most horrifying sentences I heard first time in my life. They were talking about him. Him. Only him. Why him? Seriously, why him?