On the morning of October 28, 2018, Atsa died. The Sun saw this as he peeked through her window. He felt sad as he remembered how they would spend their days together as he kept her company whenever she read the paper.
Father Rooster was one of the first to know. He broke the news to Mama Hen who then gathered her chicks together. “Grandmother will now begin her journey to the other side,” she said. “The humans will start coming to say their goodbyes so you must respect their privacy.”
Elijah hid under the bed all day. He didn’t even feel the urge to go chase the chickens. He knew he had to be a good boy today. And good boys don’t go barking at sad people or go untie their shoelaces. It took him a while to get his tail wagging again.
Atsa’s chair quietly wept in a corner. She had been her companion for the last eight years. They had formed a special bond. Atsa never liked sitting anywhere else because only the chair understood the contours of her body and made sure she was always comfortable. She took Atsa’s death to heart for no one could ever sit comfortably on the chair again.
Father Lohe – the wise old shawl knew that it was time. He had witnessed the birth of Atsa almost a century ago as he rested on her father’s shoulder when he heard her first cry. A little tear escaped her father’s eye at that moment but Father Lohe did not breathe a word about it to anyone, for there are certain secrets that a man can only share with his shawl.
Father Lohe never knew his own father. His father was taken away by the kekramia – the white people to a land far away where he would spend the rest of his lonely days behind a glass cage to be viewed by the other kekramias. Such a dishonourable life for such a great shawl. It was truly unfortunate that a Lohe should meet with such a fate.
Father Lohe called for a meeting in the almirah. Everyone came – the chiechas, the shawls, even the Chang shawl who was Father Lohe’s oldest friend. Lohe’s beautiful granddaughter, the lovely Loramhoshu was called forward. She knew that it was time.
She knew that the day she had been preparing for had finally come. When Atsa’s stroke hit, they had all gathered together and it was decided that Loramhoshu would be Atsa’s companion should she decide to cross over any moment.
But Atsa was strong and resilient and decided that she wanted to live on for eight more years. Till one day when she dreamt about her friends and all her loved ones who had gone before her and she missed them all terribly. She didn’t tell anyone about her decision to leave. The next morning she quietly left after her breakfast of scrambled eggs, tea with half a spoon of sugar and freshly baked buns from Jadial Bakery. She began her journey to the other side at 9.30 am.
Father Lohe immediately knew that her soul was preparing to leave. No one knew how Father Lohe could always tell this, and no one questioned how but there was a certain depth to Father Lohe’s wisdom that the others could never fully comprehend. When Grandfather’s soul had decided to cross over twenty three years ago, Father Lohe knew before anyone else. He quickly prepared his brother- another wise Lohe, to accompany Grandfather on his final journey. As sad as he was today, Father Lohe was happy that Atsa would finally be reunited with Grandfather.
Father Lohe took Loramhoshu aside and gave her a warm hug. He knew he didn’t have to give her any instructions for she was a sincere shawl who knew how important her duty was today.
The almirah finally opened and a hand stretched forward and took away Loramhoshu.
The motherless children wept as Loramhoshu was gently placed on Atsa’s body. The journey had begun.
Atsa’s soul was light and carefree, just like her personality. An eagle was waiting for them at the foot of the mountain for all great souls were always escorted to the other side by a majestic bird.
Over the mountains they flew, slowly inching towards the place that the undead always wondered about, leaving behind a host of heartbroken mourners; leaving behind a world that was no longer theirs.
Merenla Imsong is an actor and comedian who recently had to migrate from Facebook to Twitter because her family wasn’t very appreciative of her inappropriate jokes. She lives in Bombay with her flatmate and 42 plants.
