It was 7 in the morning, and Ronnie rushed to the flower market. He knew that the flowers that arrive in the morning are the fresh ones and they vanish soon if not bought them at earliest. He reached the market runing and stopped at the first vendor stall, and catched a breathe in a huff puff.

It was a big day for him,  and he didn't want to mess even a bit. After two long years he was going home to his parents place.

Ronnie had been living in the city for past 6 years, he could hardly make it to his hometown once in a year or two, given his over embellished state of job.

Now that he had taken a weeks leave from office, he was looking forward to visit his hometown.

He came from a small city, where the jobs were less and talks were more. People had time to actually meet up and even read newspapers. Where the kids had actual playgrounds and not the virtual gimmick. Ronnie loved his hometown and always tried to save money and time to visit, whenever he had the opportunity to.

Now it had been two years that he was away, and he was really excited to revisit his old lanes.

Ronnie used to get fresh lilies for his mom whenever he went to the local market. And today he wanted to do the same. He came running to the market to pick up the fresh ones from the gardens. He knew his mumma is going to love it.

The scent of the lilies reminded him of his mumma's touch. He knew his mother is going to love this surprise. He hadn't told his mother about his visit.

He wrapped the lilies in the most adorable looking bouquet and headed to the station to board his train.

A 7 hour ride to his home felt like 7 years with each second of excitement. All the while in train he could think of how his mother had raised him in childhood.

He was quite the mischievous one in his childhood, and had quite the spanking from his parents. Mumma specially would beat and scold him whenever he behaved too puckish.

He couldn't stop smiling thinking about every moment. Once when he had a serious accident falling off from his bicycle and had to get stitches in the head, his mumma couldn't sleep in the night, and held him close.

He couldn't stop thinking about the days he would get upset on his mumma and skip meals for not buying his favourite toy from the store, and his mumma would save money and get it for him the next week itself. 

He was such a cheeky child, and his mom would still be patient. "God! i was a horrible child, mumma was truly an angel to handle me", he thought to himself.

5:00 PM. He reached his hometown.

He stepped down at the station platform, it was the same he had left. He loved the breeze that carried a nostalgia. He remembered the day his parents had come to the station to see him off when he was leaving for the big city. His mom was crying that day, yet waved him off smiling. "Oh Mom, you were such a baby that day", he said to himself.

Holding the lilies close to his chest, he caught a cab for his destination.

5:30 PM. The Cemetery.

Ronnie arrived at the cemetery where his mom was put to rest. Tears rolled down his chicks, he never had thought that he would come after two years to meet his mom like this.

It had been a six months of total lockdown in the state. And no one was allowed to visit his hometown, as it was a prime hub of cases of a foreign pandemic.

His mom was ailing on the hospital bed for a month with no signs of recuperating. All Ronnie could do was wait for the gates to open for his hometown, so he could go back and meet his mom. Somewhere he had this feeling that seeing him might help his mom recover. He tried all means to reach, but all went in vain. He called everyday and tried connecting to his mom to check on her, all that her caring heart could say was, "I am okay child, I have your father here with me. I am worried about your health, you are alone there, hope you are eating well in the city. I want you to know that I am proud of you son and I would like to have you as my son in every life that god grants me". 

This words were the last that Ronnie heard from her.

As he stood before his moms tomb, he read the plaque that said "a loving Mother". He came down to his knees, kept the fresh lilies on her grave and murmurmed in a desolate voice, "I love you Mom, I'am sorry I couldn't get you these lilies sooner, but I promise I will be on time in the next life when I see you again. I miss you Mom."

P.S. Dedicated to my friend Ranajit Roy and the loving memory of Shipra aunty.

28th May, 1940. Dunkirk, France.

It was 3:00 PM in the afternoon, Manjyot tapped his wrist watch to see if it still was working. His bottle was empty, lips dried in the salty winds and throat hankered for fresh water. 

It had been a month that his infantry was stuck on the Dunkirk beaches. The Allied forces were surrounded by the Germans, the evacuation was in process and Manjyot was just another soldier among the 3 lakhs trapped in the town. Serving the Royal army, Manjyot never had imagined that he would end up one day on some beach in France. 

The days were tough and the nights chilly, loaf of breads he ate that came from the supplies, but survival wasn't the only thing that crossed his mind. His heart yearned for something else.

He along with some of his comerades had taken shelter in a bomb-destructed building. The walls dripped and the slabs fell. Some used to die in their sleep with the roof falling on their head.

Manjyot slept next to his British comerade and friend John. Both became friends here in entrapment and shared a bond in survival times. One was from a colonized nation of India, and the other from the ruling British, but it meant nothing here between the two, for survival levels any form of human descrimination.

John hailed from a small town near Swindon, England. And Manjyot from the city of Bombay, India. Both serving the same objective, first the Royal army, but now survival.

Manjyot and John spoke about their families and most importantly about their lady-loves. John was a married guy with two adorable daughters. Manjyot on the other hand was in love with a girl he hasn't even met yet, but already promised in marriage to her with agreement of both families.

Manjyot and John shared all that was there. From running for food and water supplies to running behind the evacuation boats in the hope of leaving the place for good. 

During night both would think of how life was before. Both would read out their letters to each other that had come from their respective women.

Manjyot had never met his girl, "Shreelata". But he had a small picture of her in his diary. His bag consisted of many letters from her and this one picture. John was always awestruck by the love of Manjyot for Shreelata. For John, love was his wife and his two daughters, but for Manjyot it meant the 2×3 inch picture and some words on a letter.

Shreelata hailed from a small city of Kanpur in India. Her father worked a clerical job in the Kanpur cantonment. She had finished her school some years ago, but wanted to pursue a Law degree and aimed to be a barrister in the Bombay Highcourt. She wrote about it to Manjyot in her letters, to which Manjyot had wholeheartedly agreed to.

One stormy night, Manjyot asked John, "what would you do first when you go back to your town?

"I would make warm love to my wife and kiss my daughters like it's the last day." said John.

"And what would you do?" asked John to Manjyot.

Manjyot smiled and tried to shy away from the question, but John insisted. "I would go and meet Shreelata and touch her hand for first time, she only is in my imagination right now, I want to know how it would feel to see her and feel her in real. I have imagine that day in my head a million times, I just want to live it one day for real soon." said Manjyot.

He pulled out her picture, and his fingers ran across it, as if it caressed her cheeks for real.

Both John and Manjyot laughed and went to sleep.

Next morning the radio was on and every british soldier stuck their ears to it. Churchill addressed the nation and he promised the evacuation soon of his soldiers. 

The afternoon that day, rescue ships had arrived and thousands of soldiers were taken back to England. Manjyot and John were waiting eagerly that they would be next. Their regiment leader told them that tomorrow at sunrise the next boat shall come and their team will be evacuated. They were rejoiced with that announcement and it felt like they were born again.

It was the last night, both Manjyot and John were happy but unsure if this could be their last night together in this wrecked building. They promised each other to write letters and let each other know of their well-being when they reach home.

The night was chilly and stomach was empty, but the heart was filled with amorous joy of meeting their loved ones. John wasn't keeping well, Manjyot had sensed his agony. When it got too chilly, Manjyot offered his blanket to John, saying "I am from a warm country, you take it John." John was hesitant but honoured his friend's offering, given his health condition.

6:45 AM, 6th June 1940, the first sun light had hit the grounds of Dunkirk. The Allied forces woke up to welcome the evacuation ship. Everyone packed with their bags were getting ready to run to the beach for the boat.

John woke up and nudged Manjyot to wake up, Manjyot didn't react. He pushed a little harder, still no response. Shocked in the moment, John started to push and yell at him that the ships had arrived. But Manjyot had already left.

Manjyot died of Hypothermia. John cried and kissed his friend on forehead in goodbye. He pulled out Manjyot's diary from his bag and took his ladylove Shreelata's picture out and kept it on the chest of Manjyot's body. The letters from his bag too he pulled out and kept them close to his heart where his hands were folded. Just when he was about to put blanket on top of his dear friend, he saw a letter in his side pocket. It was a letter from Shreelata. It was the last letter from her that Manjyot had received in the camp in England.

"Dearest Manjyot,

It would be the least to say that I miss you every moment here. I long for you to come and take me with you. Everyone here says you won't comeback, but I know you will. And I will wait for you. Even if you don't, I will wait for a lifetime. I believe we are meant to be together. May be someday, somewhere or in some other life, in a less miserable time we will be together again.

Yours

Shree."