The house address was signalling that it was west of Rishihaar, in Uttar Valley in India.
There was this girl named Samantha, who had moved from Florida to cure her clinical depression. She was petite, maybe in her early 20s. She had black hair, a broad forehead and unbelievably straight hair. She had a mole right underneath her nose, diagonally opposite to her left nostril. She could easily hang out on trees while reading a book with one hand and holding on to the branch with the other. The child prodigy and the only daughter of the city’s most famous lawyer, Samantha was the apple of everyone's eye. She was well-known among her peers and heavily counted on inter-college competitions by her teachers. She was an all-rounder, great in debates and elocution competitions, always a podium finisher. Samantha was great in academics too, consistently outscoring the elite throughout her life. Everyone had high hopes, but Samantha wanted to become a creative director, and bring stories into life. She loved nature and spent more time with trees than with her friends. She used to go out exploring the wild forests and mountain rangers, and just float in the fountain waters or lakes where she could find only birds who were talking to each other. She enjoyed the company and through books about botany and zoology, she was well-equipped for surviving in the wild. But since she was popular in the city, Samantha always came back to the hostel after it went dark. With Diwali holidays within touching distance, Samantha planned a solo trip and informed everyone at her hostel that she is going to live in Mumbai with one of her relatives. Everyone of her roommates left, and Samantha at the break of dawn took her bag and went for a night beneath the stars. She had an adequate amount of food, books, medicine, first aid kit and essentials and a sleeping bag that could easily accommodate her in a snowflake position. The sleeping arrangement was made underneath an apple tree, she had marked the spot with one of her glow in the dark t-shirt, which had a graffiti of Slipknot on it. She nailed the shirt on the floor, and sprinkled some dust so that it is not stolen during the day. Just before she could gather a couple of apples , she jumped back to the ground, and saw a head covered with curly hair looking down on the t-shirt , and trying to read through or make sense of the photo on the t-shirt. With the crackling of the leaves underneath Samantha’s Nike sneakers, she stood up, her eyes lit up, and she smiled wider than the English channel. Samantha looked mesmerised by her green eyes. The curly head was wearing a white shirt, and baggy pants with a brown and green color print, and a sling bag going across her shoulders, which had white papers ruffled, and a few paint brushes protruding out of one side. She was lean and her full head of hair made her look like a head on a stick. Before Samantha could open her mouth to ask her, she sang, “Hello!!! I am Mariaaah!!!”. This startled a couple of birds on the tree who instantly flew away, but Samantha burst out into laughter , still couldn’t get her eyes off from the two green spots in the curly head. After swallowing her own saliva and a few giggles later, Samantha introduced herself as a student of nature. From the time the leaves started turning brown from green, they talked as if time had stopped.
Maria was a lonely child, she was the only child of a father who was schizophrenic and her mom just left the family because she couldn’t put up with the man. Maria was fair so her classmates used to call her “Gori”. Since she was quite lean, whatever she wore appeared to be baggy. She enjoyed carrying those oversized t-shirts and capri pants. Her cheek-bones were as high as her thinking. She was crazy about sanitation and carried a sanitiser always with her along with her lip balm. She grew up in the mountain side of Kerala. She had traveled far to help her father overcome this disease, and give him a fresh perspective to life. They lived on a secluded hill near the river, and Maria would go out walking through the forest to the market to fetch groceries and make soup for her and her father. She would usually eat boiled vegetables and fruits, basically a vegan. She thought if her father eats well, he will not digress towards his schizophrenia and be there for her. Nelson was a postman who used to deliver even amazon packages post his government duty for extra income. He used to spend a lot of time outdoors, and had a lot of trouble just going to sleep. Maria during her childhood could hear Nelson’s screams even in her dreams. Soon the roles were reversed and Maria used to narrate fairy tale stories to Nelson so that he can go to sleep with a smile on his face. He would save his wisdom tooth and put it under his pillow , and hang socks around Christmas, and always talk to John and imagine a tea party. Maria enjoyed these joyous epochs with Nelson. But when Maria was 8, her mother left with just these words, “Maria, there is nothing left to be said, I hope you will understand.”
Maria would mix Nelson’s medicines into the soup, and he would sleep during the day, while she galloped away to meet Samantha in the woods every day for a week. Samantha’s college was nearby, so Maria and Samantha would meet near the apple tree and take a walk together to explore the woods, and find secluded places where they could immerse themselves into each other’s souls. They would spend most of the time holding hands, looking into the sky and just talking in sighs and smiles. They would not only share secrets but talk freely about their fears and inhibitions. After all, one's level of trust is stronger by the way we talk about our fears without hesitation.
Samantha wanted to be the best at everything and feared not reaching her true potential. Maria wanted to feel secure and loved and always feared to be left alone. She used to sleep curled up against an imaginary partner with her hands between her legs. But an iota of thought of Samantha made Maria giggle and smile and she would let the sleep fairy carve her dreams with her head on the pillow and eyes perusing the ceiling. Maria told Samantha about her ambitions to become a painter and singer, Samantha talked about her dream of becoming a director who could bring the life of the wild to the television sets of millions. Just like any other list of obstacles, the girls discussed their own hurdles and deepest, darkest secrets. Their trysts went on for a couple of months, when Samantha had her exams on the cards, so she couldn’t spend a lot of time with Maria. They had a squabble when Maria anticipated being left alone again. As time went on, Maria felt lonely again, and tried talking to Nelson to cover the gaps. Maria tried some of her father’s pills to escape the loneliness. Samantha, post the exams, felt excited to see Maria after a long time, but the entire winter passed they couldn’t meet. Maria was spending more time bringing her dreams to life, which included artworks depicting screams and pain. This all seemed to be inspired by Nelson’s mental plight. With shadows and dark arts, almost envisaging her blank papers everyday. She had stopped singing, and would often bring just leaves from the nearby forest to boil and eat, Nelson’s health started deteriorating, and at the stroke of midnight on the end of the year, Nelson passed away in a local hospital, 25 kms from her hut.
Maria went back to find Samantha’s letter waiting for her and a bottle of antidepressants. Samantha had an analytical understanding of Maria, and she could predict loneliness in her life in spite of playing such an important role in her life. Maria while reading the letter started reminiscing about their time together, she could see Samantha’s eyes and laughter and the touch sensation of her smooth skin. She could see Samantha would pass a bit of salt into Maria’s mouth when they kissed before they would spend lying on the leaves staring at the stars. Samantha would also rub some of her medicines crushed as a powder on the lip balm Maria used to carry. After taking one of Samantha’s medicine, Maria realised it wasn’t salt, and Maria was addicted to these drugs. Maria would use these medicines to give birth to her artwork. Samantha couldn’t give in, because she was given a chance to study the amazon Rainforest on a fully funded scholarship. Maria made soaps during the day and sang for the tourists during the evenings. Before leaving the city, Samantha with her abnormal mental state wrote a letter in almost dextrous handwriting, reiterating “Maria, there is nothing left to be said. I hope you …” and the pin drop silence was broken by the sound of the envelope rustling by the wind Maria left the letter on the ground, while she poured the entire bottle of pills down her throat.
