Then ..and now...

It flashed across her mobile screen...1 message recieved...
She pressed on a button tiredly . The inbox showed a name she had tried to delete innumerable times from her phone book...but everytime another phone call from him or a message and she would hurriedly save it again ..trying to hold onto the last bit of connection she could with him...
She knew it was perfunctory..but she was getting used to it.
The message read...

Issss..How could I have forgotten your birthday yesterday?! I am so sorry honey..Happy (belated ) birthday.Please forgive my forgetfulness

Thanks...anyways my birthday was on 14th

Did she actually care anymore?
They say numbness follows excruciating pain..she was probably in Phase II now..
she didn't care what he said or what he felt..if he meant it when he said he still needs her...
What for?

Her days seemed to pass in a trance...
She tried to keep herself busy..making work an excuse
She found comfort in words..they would mother her,heal her wounds..she would let them flow...flow like a pleasant fountain
It was strange how a cascade of words bore it's origin from a barren heart as hers..

Strangers with familiar faces would come and smile ..say kind words.Appreciate her.Say how much they wanted to tap her talents in creative writing.
She would listen patiently..acknowledge their kind gestures ...
Thank them and smile..a strange smile...
a smile no one could decipher the meaning of...

She would smile for three people she knew... who she was in the past, who she is in the present,and who she will be in the future...