The day she smiled again (Part 2) ~ Fiction series

And it has been six years now. The routine of getting up each morning and staring blankly into the sky ever since, has been the thread that connected Jennifer with her world. As she descended the stairs of her home, she stared hard at her own portrait that hung on the wall  of the living room of their home. Her parents and her brother Aeron were lighting a candle, as it was prayer time. Her four year old niece Samara put a handful of fresh tulips and arranged them in a circle in front of Jennifer's photo. Tulips were Jennifer's favorite flowers after all. Aeron’s wife, Delia helped her daughter in arranging them. It had been a routine for Jennifer, watching this sight for the past six years, on this day of each year. Because, everything changed on this fateful day. Everything. For her. For her family. This day would always carry heartache and pain. This day had lifted her hopes by leaps and bounds only to bring her world crashing down the next instant. Because, it was Jennifer Jacob's death anniversary, the day she died.

11^th July’ 2006: The most memorable day of her life. She had graduated on this day. She was proposed by the love of her life on this day. She got her first job on this day too. She had a scholarship in hand for higher studies abroad, which she had not given much thought about until then. The children she taught in the slums had made her a card, as an acknowledgement of their love, for her kindness. In short, Jennifer Jacob had everything going good, just the way, she wanted. Just the way, things should have been going. She couldn't have asked for more. Life was perfect! Picture perfect!

That day, when her friend had offered her to drop her home, Jennifer had preferred to go by train. Despite the peak hours, she always loved traveling in the local trains. A book in hand and a Walkman that her father had gifted her when she was in fifth grade, gave her enough company. But that day, her mind was elsewhere. She had a lot to be happy about. She had said 'Yes' to the love of her life. And, she looked forward to good times that she believed, awaited her. She waited to share the good news with her parents and her brother. And then she had thought at that instant, "Oh Lord! I couldn't have asked you for more! Thanks for everything!" And that instant when she was dreaming about the good times that lay ahead, that precise moment when her eyes fell on an unattended Tiffin box under the seat across her, that instant when the Tiffin box exploded, that fraction of time became her nemesis. When death came, it came in a jiffy. There was no time for pain. There was no time to comprehend what happened. There was no time for tears. The explosion ripped her soul from her body as it did to three hundred odd people travelling in that train on that fateful day. And then, there was silence, a pin drop silence. The sinister silence that followed could not have been more deafening than the bomb explosion that shook the worlds of many..... 

Jennifer stood there, standing on her lifeless body refusing to accept, refusing to leave! The lines that reverberated in her head were, "No! this cannot be! This is some kind of bad dream. This is not real. This cannot be real". 

(to be continued.....)