What If...

Hey Friends,
              Firstly I am sorry for the ever increasing hiatus between the posts. I somehow was facing the dearth of my own life experiences to derive inspirations to write. And thus this led to to tap an untapped area in my style of writing. I thought why not let your mind a little more loose and try writing fiction. Me being an utter romantic by heart, you may not get a lot of fancy fiction here, but maybe a few fairytale moments that may make you go weak in your knees and make you say "Aawwweeee". This is my first ever fiction romantic attempt ever so your suggestions and comments and criticisms are most welcome. Here it goes:

             

              It was an early morning of autumn. Sitting, on a stony bench in a garden by the stagnant waters of rather small, sparsely visited lakeside stinking with the stench of the mold and rotten wilted vegetation, feeling the gush of breeze running through her freshly washed hair that she rarely left un-oiled and loose swaying in the wind. The freshly risen sun was bathing her silhouette in its warm orange light. The rays of the sun gave a warm glow to her smooth pale pink cheeks. She had her eyes and senses closed to the outside world. With a train of thoughts running through her mind, she sat there with a book in her lap and a pen in her hand which she probably wasn’t aware of and had loosened the grip over it. She was scribbling something in her lined book with a leather casing and golden bronzed edgings to it. The words in her beautiful cursive handwriting read as follows; 

“ 'What' and 'If' seem like two tiny little harmless words, but when put together, they have the potential to haunt you for the entire life- ‘What if?’ What if? What if?? What if???" 

              She sighed and slipped into the flashbacks of her own life, revisiting her moments of 'What Ifs'. What if- She had chosen her love for literature for the trending and more potentially viable choice of engineering after her school? Would she be more satisfied with her job? What if- She had the guts to talk to the cute and clever boy sitting in front of her bench on whom she had her first ever huge crush on? Would she have giggled and chuckled with her girlfriends each time the guy passed by with flaunt in his swagger? What if- She had the courage to confess to her disciplinarian parents about her love for the guy in her college? Would she be actually living her happily ever after with him? What if- She had said yes to that money-minting and highly coveted job in that multi-national company? Would she be the proud owner of all those exorbitant bags and shoes? What if- She had another baby after their first lovely daughter? Would they, the grown up children be fetching them as parents? What if- She had chosen to devote her time to an upbringing of her children and family the way she wanted to do it? Would her children have more righteous and good human beings? What if- She had pursued her love for writing? Would she have her name etched on the cover of a best-selling novel? 

             She sat pondering over these What-if’s with her eyes closed and she felt a warm hand over her shoulder. Startled she opened her eyes and turned back. She saw a man with early wrinkles on his face and the a mop of curly hair and a receding hairline, the same man that she had and will always love, that cute boy sitting in front of the school bench, with whom she went around in her college and who proposed to marry her while they worked in a multinational software company. He whispered to her in his husky voice, “Now, my  love, you don’t want to be late for your own book launch, do you?” She shook her head and walked with him to reach the street where from across she could see both her teenaged girls waving at her. Her lips curved into a smile, and she felt a sense of relief. She hadn’t let her What if’s remain What if’s. She had taken a plunge whenever it was needed and she owned and was proud of every bit of her life. There she was living her life of no regrets.