I was born
about six years ago in the workshop of one of the most well-known steel artists
in the world. He made me with his own hands. My tip, my bowl, my neck, my back
and my hand were all very carefully cut out and crafted – with utmost skill and
delicacy. I was then embroidered with a beautiful image of a climber. The
climber was then painted with bright colors. I looked handsome. My master
looked at me with pride and said – “You are my very best spoon. I have never
made a better looking spoon before.”
I felt like
a king! All other spoons around me were simple, and they were all jealous of my
unique appearance. But I enjoyed their envy – I was full of pride.
My
happiness and pride reached another level when I was boxed together with the most
beautiful lady in the workshop – a shiny, steel fork embroidered with a similar
climber on her hand. To me, it was love at first sight! The moment I saw her, I
knew I wanted to be with her. Love
can be such a fantasy! It made me a dreamer.
At night when
the master and his family went to sleep, I decided I’d strike a conversation
with her. I‘d tell her how much I loved her. But I was too shy to express my
feelings. The moment I looked at her, I forgot everything! I forgot who I was;
I forgot where I was and what I had to say! I felt like a fool! So I stayed
quiet. I just tried to secretly look at her from the corner of my eye, afraid
that she’d somehow learn about my feelings and think – what a fool he is. But
inside me, my heart was jumping with excitement! Love can be such a frenzy! It
made me crazy.
The next morning
a man visited the workshop. He was looking to buy a present for his daughter’s
birthday. He looked around at the different articles there and picked up the
box with me and my sweetheart.
“What a
beautiful pair of cutlery this is Mr.Alloy” he exclaimed. “My daughter will be
delighted to see this, and I am certain she will take this cutlery to school,
in her lunch box every day.”
And he was
right – the young girl of six loved her present. She opened up the box, gave me
and my sweetheart a nice wash and after drying us, placed us gently in the kitchen
drawer with the other spoons and forks.
The next
day I and my darling had the opportunity to go to school in the girl’s lunch
box. I secretly enjoyed the bumpy ride to school as it gave me the chance to
brush against my dearest. She would blush away when I touched her, but I’d
make every effort to discreetly move closer to her. I got the feeling that she
was falling in love with me too. That smile on her face, that truth in her eyes
let me know that she was falling for me. Oh what a feeling that was! Love
can be so magical! It made me enchanted.
We did this
every day, and I started seeing that we were enjoying each other’s company a
lot! In the evenings though, she would sleep together with the other forks and
I was left with the other spoons. The little girl’s mum was very particular
about her cutlery – she did not mix forks and spoons together. I would dream
about her at night, twisting and twirling in my own spoon compartment. I’d look
forward to the next morning for our bumpy ride to the school again. Oh
love can be so impatient! It made me so restless.
One day the
girl took us to a park for a picnic. It was a beautiful day and both of us were
shining more than ever in the sunlight. The children were all excited. The
little girl quickly ate her lunch and packed the lunch box back into her bag,
so she could enjoy playing with her friends in the park. In doing so, she did
not notice that she had dropped my sweetheart down and had forgotten to pack her back.
I was stuck inside the lunch box in the little girl’s bag, and my darling
remained in the grass! I was helpless! What could I do? How could I get out
there to bring her back to me? Oh love can be ferocious! It made me fearful!
Hours
passed, and soon I could feel the bumpy ride back home – only this time it was
not fun, it was utterly disturbing. What would have become of my love? What if
she gets crushed under some feet? Horrible thoughts came to my mind. I had
never felt more desperate in my life before. Love can be such distress! It
made me so anxious!
As we
reached home, the little girl opened her lunch box to find that she had lost
her fork. She started crying. Her dad said he’d go to the park to find the lost
fork for her. But she insisted that she’d go with him to do so. This made me
feel a bit relieved. I could only pray that they’d find her there. I waited for
more news. Love can be foolishly optimistic. It made me stupidly hopeful!
A few hours
later the girl and her dad returned from their search, but empty handed. The
girl was weeping, as she now had no matching fork for her lunch spoon. I was
put into the drawer with the other spoons. I was in deep agony. My heart was
completely broken and was weeping out loudly. I wanted to die. Why hadn’t the
little girl left me in the park too? I had come to realize that I’d probably
never ever see my sweetheart again! My fellow spoons noticed that I was sad. Some
of them tried to console me. But all I wanted to do was sink into my sorrow and
perish. Oh love can be such a pain. It made me hurt, hurt so much!
The next
day the little girl received another special gift from her dad – another lovely
pair of fork & spoon – shinier and prettier than me of course. Plus as it
was a pair, so she preferred to use that one instead of me – I was now alone,
lonely and really useless. The family would not use me as I did not have my
matching partner! They’d prefer their forks and spoons to appear in pairs. So
there I was, left all alone, sad and heart broken. Love had become solitude. It made
me lonely!
One day the
little girl’s mum was doing some house-keeping – getting rid of all objects
that had been unused for over a few months. I was clearly one of them! I was
put into a box of discarded metal items. With me was an old lamp, a rusty metal
plate, some wires and a few iron rods. The box was placed out on the street for
scavengers to pick up.
The
scavenger who picked the box up sold it away to a mill. The items were then
separated out and were kept ready for meltdown. I was placed in a huge pile of
steel cutlery – all of which would soon be put into a huge machine that would
melt down the steel so it could be used to make other articles.
So, my end
was now nearing. If I could only ask for one last wish, I’d ask to have one look at
my sweetheart, to tell her that I love her and always will. What a fool I had
been to not have expressed my love to her, before I lost her. I shut my eyes
tightly, trying hard not to weep. I was pressed against many other cutlery items in the pile, but I
could hardly feel any physical pain. I was only thinking of her, and weeping
within. Oh love can be such anguish! It made me feel tormented!
My eyes
tightly shut, as I was thinking these thoughts, I could feel some vibrations.
Yes, this was it. The pile was just being pushed into the machine. Just before
we landed into the machine, I opened my eyes full of tears. Ah! What was that
before my eyes? Was I dreaming? Was this true? I noticed in those last few
seconds, her climber stuck right over my face. She was with me, we were dying
together. My joy at that moment knew no bounds. Oh love can be such ecstasy! It
made me feel blissed!
What a beautiful write up Smriti... I could feel the bumpy rides :)
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