Aunt Carol's room
Riva has to clean out her Aunt's room. She finds more than she was expecting.
The room had a distinct smell to it when they opened the doors to clean it out. It was her perfume. The one she got from the seller downstairs every month. It smelled like summer. It suited Aunt Carol’s personality. She was an aunt to everyone. She will be missed by everyone. Riva even saw some vendors from the streets at her funeral.
“I can’t do this, Didi” Jenny rushed out of the room with a sob.
Riva sighed and shook her head. She missed her aunt. They had been in touch even after Riva had gotten married and moved all over the country with her husband.
Riva and Raj had come for her funeral in Bombay. They had stayed long after to get her affairs in order. It was hardly fair to expect a twenty-year-old to handle the everything after her mother’s death, so Riva had taken the mantle.
Yet, cleaning out her aunt’s room would take more out of her than she expected. She gulped and moved to the cloth Almirah first. Colourful dresses filled most of the space. The ones she wore daily, ones for churches, weddings, beach. She was rarely seen in other types of clothing. Riva loved the Marilyn Monroe moment that uncle had clicked once. Her aunt’s smile wide and cheeky. Jenny had the same smile. She could take what she wanted and the rest would be donated.
The rest of the space was taken over by her bags. She had about ten of those, different for every occasion. Even her umbrellas had to match her outfits. So, they had most of the colours in their front rack.
Riva then moved to the shelf that took up half of the other wall. It had her mirror on one side. She had spent so many days watching her aunt get ready. Her hair always came first. Blow dried with the sound that announced to Uncle he could use the bathroom now. Then she would clip it back to focus on her face. A bit of rose on her cheeks and a bit on Riva’s nose. It made them laugh. Pink lips suited her. Her jewelry was next before she donned on the sandals for the church.
Everything was all still there as if she would come back to repeat her routine. Even her comb was the same one she had used forever. “It knows not to pinch my hair.” She used to say whenever Uncle brought her another one and she would place it on his side. It brought a smile to Riva’s face.
It was when she was opened the chest filled to the brim with books that her eyes stung with unshed tears. She was one of the reasons that Riva had taken to reading books. Her aunt had a routine of reading before bedtime. Only thrillers. “They make me sleep better.” She used to say. Every kind. Hindi. English. Famous. Not so famous. International. Local. She read every variety. She had her people that arranged for her fix. Everyone knew the best gift to Aunt Carol was a scintillating thriller. It was a way to get in her good graces.
Also worked as bribe to have her make her famous apple pie. “A spoon of your uncle’s rum”, she had once whispered in Riva’s ear as everyone fought for the last piece, “That’s the secret, darling” She pressed her finger to her lips before giving her niece a wink.
Even her Knick knacks stuffed in drawers were bringing a flood of memories to Riva and she had to sit down for a while. The room was getting dark when she finally had the capacity to look at another drawer on the top of the shelf. The last one.
She took it out and it detached itself from the cupboard, making her lose her balance and for it to spill face down on the floor. The crash brought Raj running to the room, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes. I am fine. Can you please call Jenny now?” she was clutching the dress at her chest; the thing was heavy.
“She has gone out, Riva. Can I help?” He moved to enter the room.
“No. Please call her and ask her to come back. We have to do this before dinner.” She tried to give him a smile. A faint reassurance that she was fine.
He gave her a tight nod. He wanted to help but he could see that she wanted to deal with this herself.
She picked the drawer up and books came out of it. Her books. From her first to the latest one. Every edition. Riva always sent her the first copies. Even when afraid she wouldn’t like them. But she knew her Aunt had read them. Carol always called her after every release to talk and congratulate her. She could even pick out some of the characters that Riva had picked up form her own life. They used to laugh at the similarities, “God forbid your uncle knows you have made a killer out of him.”
Riva sat down on the floor to take a better look. That’s where Jenny found her when she came back. Crying, surrounded by her mother’s collection of books.
“There are too many stories in the world to visit one again.” Aunt Carol used to say.
Riva remembered as she looked at the books that looked well used. They were re-read, again and again.
“She only put her favorites in that one.”
.
Koel knew why Riva had written it this way. It was too painful to write a thing like this.
She didn’t know when she sent the text with only “A room” that day, her friend would write such a piece. She was expecting whining, demand for another one or a fun, light-hearted observation piece. But she was all too grateful for it.
“Have you seen the book I bought yesterday?” Ashish called from behind her.
Koel stood up and took it out of her side table. She handed it to him, “We need to buy a new shelf for all your books.”
“I can cram ten more in this one.” He stole a peck and left with a grin, leaving his wife smiling behind him.
For more stories about them, head to Riva and Koel.
This story is inspired by the Writing Prompt 2 by
. It said to write about random words around you. I was sitting in a room and realized how one’s whole life can be seen through their room. So, here it is.