Maget

Maget
by
Raman Jalota

    “I must be dreaming. Someone’s knocking on my door. Why won’t the idiot use the doorbell? ... O.K. ... So .... I go to the door ... and I open the door ... and there’s a beautiful blonde standing out there ... No not a blonde ... a brunette this time ... And she is naked ... No, she has a tight black dress and she has black lipstick ... what the hell ... the knocking is still going on.” Marvin opened his eyes. It was quite dark. He looked at his clock ... 10.35 p.m. Who can it be? I had just fallen asleep. Damn.
    “Who is there?” He slowly got to his feet and went down the stairs to the front door. He turned on the porch light and opened the door. A slim girl dressed in a tight black dress stood outside his door. She had shiny black hair and carried a bottle of wine in her hand. She looked very inviting, she appeared to have freshened up as if to go to a party. He rubbed his eyes. She disappeared. He heard a fluttering of feathers from his English Oak tree. A bird flew in a circle overhead. He looked at it’s red-tail and wondered if it was an eagle or a falcon. The bird flew away splitting the silent night with its haunting cries. He spent the next two hours on his living room sofa trying to understand what had happened.

.....

    Margaret retouched the spot under her right eye. She ran the brush through her hair seven times and walked out of her apartment. Robert waved for her to hurry. She took her time walking to his car and waited. He smiled and got out.
    “You look wonderful.” He took her hands in his and kissed her. She let him lead her to the passenger-side and waited for him to open the door for her.
    “I can’t wait for tonight ... for us ... you know.” He put his arm around her and drove to the Bluebird cafe.
    “You haven’t said anything. Are you OK?”
    “I feel great. A little apprehensive but great. You really feel we are ready?”
    “We have known each other for three years now. We have done everything except make love. I love you more than anything in the world. You do know that, don’t you?”
    “I love you too, Robert. Do you think we will be together forever?”
    As they made love for the second time that night, he whispered, “Yes, we will be together forever. Nothing can come between us.”
    She murmured approvingly, “You and me forever.”
    They lay peacefully in each other's arms till she sat up suddenly, “It’s past midnight. I have to be at work early tomorrow. Can you take me home now or should I take your car?”
    He dressed sleepily and arm in arm they walked out to the car. She smiled at him, opened the door and got in. He laughed and started the car.
    There was no traffic on Yale Street. He looked at her, admiring her looks and feeling good about his life and the turn his life had taken. As he crossed Hampden he looked ahead at the green lights and sped up. As he entered the intersection with Iliff, a blue van came speeding from his right and hit them with full force.

.....

    Marvin was too busy to think about anything till he got back home. He whistled as he picked up his mail. He looked at the oak tree and thought about last night. He shook his head and went in.
    Knock, knock. He heard two soft knocks. What could this be? He waited. Knock, knock, knock. He sighed in relief. The sound was not coming from his door. It was from the tree. His relief vanished. What is it? Is it that damn bird? The fall evening was slowly dying as he stepped out. He stared at the tree. A small eagle ... no, not an eagle but a hawk was sitting half-way up the tree, staring at him. His red tail hung over the branch and he looked unblinking at Marvin. Yes, it was the same one from last night.
    He stood there staring at the hawk. Slowly his panic subsided. I don’t feel threatened by this hawk. What does he want? He whistled at the hawk. The hawk extended his feathers and knocked on the branch with his beak. He looked at him as if trying to convey something. He moved towards him then circled back and away. He rose higher and higher till the night swallowed him.

.....

    Robert hobbled out of the elevator and towards the nurse’s station, “Which room is Margaret Swenson in?”
    “She’s right in there, 3E. Are you a friend?” She pointed at a door just behind the nurses' station.
    “Yes, I was driving when we got hit. How is she?”
    The nurse looked away from him avoiding his question. He walked in to the intensive care room and lifted the blue curtain surrounding her bed. A host of monitors were hooked up to her. Her head was slightly elevated and her face and head were wrapped in bandages. She was breathing through a tube. Her father was standing by her bed. They nodded at each other.
    “Margaret .... Margaret, it’s me. It’s Robert.”
    “She’s still under. She hasn’t regained consciousness yet.” Her father touched her arm gently.
    “Since yesterday?”
    They both walked out of her room. “No, she hasn’t opened her eyes since they brought her in last night.”
    “But why?”
    “Doctor Silva says she’s in shock ... in a coma.”
    “It’s all my fault. I should not have ...”

.....

    Robert sat on the branch and wondered, “How much longer will I have to wait. This is almost as painful as when she was in a coma for three weeks. Not knowing how to communicate with her, not knowing if she could hear me, not knowing if I could find a way to tell her I was there, not knowing if she would survive. This is just like that.
    "I can knock on the branch and make her come out, but I don’t think she knows. She thinks of me as a strange bird ... nothing more. I guess I’ll have to keep building on what we have." He gripped the branch tighter and knocked on the limb with his beak. Knock, knock ... knock, knock, knock ... knock, knock.

.....

    Marvin looked up from his paper. There it is again. I wonder what he wants. He walked out to the Saturday morning sun and looked up at the familiar old spot. The hawk sat there staring at him. He opened his wings slowly and walked to the edge of the branch away from the home. He flapped his wings and slowly circled just outside the driveway. He wants me to come out. Out in to the open. What ever for?
    He rolled the newspaper in his hand and walked out to the gravel road. The hawk was circling barely fifteen feet over his head and was headed towards the mountain top. He was very curious. This hawk wants me to go towards the top of the mountain. For what? Maybe he wants me to help his chicks or something. His heart quickened as he picked up his pace.
    The hawk led him for less than half a mile then turned right towards a stream that ran down the slope of the mountain. The hawk shrieked its haunting cry and circled higher and higher. Marvin stood there, bewildered. He looked and listened ... nothing. The hawk shrieked again and flew away.
Marvin walked back to his home and looked up at the oak tree. Out of the sky the hawk dived, headed straight for his head. At the last moment it pulled up and fluttered softly to his old spot, shrieking.

.....

    Robert pulled a chair by her bed and sat holding her hand, “Margaret I am here. I love you Margaret.”
Margaret’s head bandages had been removed. Her face was scarred and white.
    “Come on Margaret. Come out of this. I am waiting for you. Remember it’s you and me forever. Together ... forever.”
    He sat there talking, pleading and crying till the nurse took him out, “It’s enough for today, Bob. Come back in the morning, perhaps she would be better after another night’s rest.”
    He could feel the hollowness of her words. She doesn’t believe it herself. How can she expect me to believe it. “Is there any hope of her recovering?”
    “Many people come out of a coma after long periods of time. Perhaps she too will recover, I hope soon.” She patted him on the back.
    “Does she even know that I am here, that I have been here, that I am waiting for her?”
    “It’s possible she can hear and recognize your voice, but can’t respond.”
    He understood, “She may not even know I am here!”

.....

    Sunday morning started cloudy and dark. A storm was approaching. Marvin made a pot of coffee and sat by the living room window. I haven’t been sleeping well. For some reason that hawk keeps waking me up at all times of night and wants me to follow him to that stream. What is it trying to tell me? Who is this hawk? What is this hawk?
    He didn’t have to wait long. The familiar knocking started. He decided to ignore it. But it continued incessantly just like at night. He wants to be acknowledged. If I don’t acknowledge him, he would go on forever and ever. He walked out and looked up at the familiar spot. The hawk opened his beak slightly as if in relief. He moved his muscles with effort and a strange barking sound came out of his beak, “Maget .. Maget ... Maget.”
    Marvin stood mesmerized. This hawk is talking to me! He’s trying to tell me something!
    “What are you saying? What do you want? Who are you?”
    The hawk moved his feathers and with obvious effort shrieked, “Yoooo ...”
    The sound echoed as Marvin was filled with a strange thought. He wants me. He’s even trying to tell me he wants me. But for what? To do what?
    “Maget ... Maget ... Maget.” The sounds echoed as the hawk soared up and away.

.....

    “Margaret! Understand me, follow me. Do this for us ... to be together, forever. Margaret! What more can I tell her? I don’t know how to communicate with her, I don’t know if she can hear me, I don’t know if I can find a way to tell her that I am here.” Robert flew away frustrated by the exchange of the morning. He had used up all his energy in trying to formulate just two words. And yet she didn’t understand him.
He flew to the stream and drank deeply. He gurgled the water in his beak. I must make this body talk in her language. He shut his eyes and pictured the two of them flying together, free, circling over the trees and the mountains, together, forever.

.....

    Margaret never woke up. Robert’s imploring didn’t move her. Her white ashen face lay peacefully as he sobbed his tears uncontrollably over her casket. He visited her grave often. It was somehow soothing to be near her. Someday, she will wake up and when she does, he must be near. He must help her. He must be around to remind her of their pledge to each other.

.....

    Marvin watched the clouds darken the sky. He poured the morning coffee in the sink and poured a shot of Jack Daniels. He walked back to the living room sofa and sat down. He could feel it. It was inevitable. He felt overpowered by the presence of the hawk. The hawk knew something. He was trying to tell him something. He was trying to take him somewhere. Everything made sense but at the same time nothing made sense. He knew he was losing control over reality. It was indeed inevitable. He opened the front door and put the bottle on the coffee table.
    As it started to rain, Robert flew in to the living room and sat at the edge of the coffee table.
    “Who are you?”
    “Don’t you know me? I am Robert, Margaret.”
    “Margaret?”
    “That’s what I have been trying to remind you. You were ... are Margaret ... Margaret Swenson.”
    He poured another shot, “Is that what you were trying to call me? I thought you said Maget.”
    “Yes, That’s what I was trying to tell you. You are Margaret. I am Robert. We were together. We pledged to be together, forever. Remember?”
    Marvin gulped down another shot of whiskey. He closed his eyes and whispered, “I can see us in a car.”
    “Yes my red Camaro!”
    The storm unleashed its fury and rain came flying into the living room. Marvin made no effort to close the door. He stared unblinking, mesmerized, “That’s right ... it’s a red Camaro. We are driving on a city road ... late night ...and then blue ... nothing but blue.”
    “Yes, you do remember ... it was a blue van that hit us. You never recovered ...”
    Marvin looked at his body unbelievingly, “What am I doing in this? How do I ...? What do I...?”
    “I’ll show you. Come with me, I’ll help you.”

.....

    “I must get ready.” Marvin got to his feet and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. He dressed slowly and looked at his face in the dresser’s mirror. He touched his ashen white face under the right eye and ran the brush through his hair seven times.
    The rain pounded on the mountainside. Lightning flashes lit up the darkened afternoon sky leaving it even darker. Marvin climbed down the stairs and walked to the front door.
    Robert sat on top of the open swinging door. He flew out and waited for Margaret to follow.
The rain fell on her face and slowly washed the ashen hue away, leaving a healthy, wet pinkish hue. Her face towards the sky, staring at Robert she walked where he led her ... towards the mountain top. She was very certain. Robert wants me to go towards the top of the mountain and I’ll follow him. Her heart quickened as Robert picked up his pace. The rain was slowing down. It was just a noise in the background. The clouds were lifting. A new day was being birthed.
    Robert led her for less than half a mile than turned right towards the stream that ran down the slope of the mountain. The stream had grown big and powerful. The water was flying down the side of the mountain with a roar. Margaret stood there, sure of herself. She looked and listened ... the roar of the stream called out to her. Robert stood suspended in mid air over the stream, his wings barely flapping, motioning her to follow, welcoming her.

The End     2523 words

Copyright © 2004 Raman Jalota. All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

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