They Left...


The atmosphere was tense. Everyone was talking about it in a very low tone and looking optimistically at the end of the road.

"They may be here anytime!" Vidyarthi told her cousin excitedly. Vidyarthi had seen them all leaving the scene without a trace. She had silently endured the pain of separation. In a matter of one month, every single one of them had disappeared leaving the city in absolute gloom.

"This sounds too good to be true!" her cousin was almost in tears. She loved them dearly. All her future plans were planned keeping them in mind. And suddenly all of them had left right in front of her eyes. She could not marry her hearthrob Ashish Srivatsav who could not digest the fact that they had left and the myth that they had left for good and who had run after them trying to get them back. He was never seen again.

Vidyarthi held her cousin's hand. She knew what her cousin had gone through. Her cousin was not the only one. Everyone in the city was a victim of this unprecedented walk out by them. Newspapers talked about it. CNN analyzed it. George Bush sympathized with the victims. But no one could bring them back to the city. They simply had disappeared. No one knew where they had gone.

And now, there was hope in the air. Gossipmongers had been telling everyone in the city that they were coming back one by one. Some people broke down unable to contain the excitement. But a lot of them just waited silently praying God that the rumors should be real.

The eastern mist was clearing up and slowly they emerged from the haze galloping towards the city. "They are here... They really are here!" People started talking. Vidyarthi broke down on her knees. She laughed, she cried, she hugged her cousin and she knew at once that her bad days had just been finished.

Her cousin closed her eyes trying to enjoy their arrival. Suddenly there was a warm human touch on her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw Ashish Srivatsav in front of her. "I got them.. I am back." He shouted and lifted her up high in the sky.

The economy improved. The jobs were back.