Longing...

Music floated into her room. Her beautiful eyes which had gazed nowhere in particular till then were now set steadily on the visible strip of the aquamarine ocean. The distant waters seemed to quiver to the haunting melody. This made her smile slightly and sigh sadly.

Then, like an angel attired in white frills and feathers, a magnificently white ship appeared."Where were you till now?"wondered the owner of the pair of beautiful eyes.The ship looked so forlorn surrounded only by waters. She felt like rushing to it just to say, "I'm here, waiting just for you!"The music gave a lovely expression to the solitary ship's plight. For a long time, the ship sailed right at the spot. "Is it on sail at all?"she wondered. The long hours that had elapsed from the time the ship was spotted seemed quite short to her.

Then suddenly, a mighty wave rose in front of the ship and her eyes could no longer see the stately ship. The music died in the landscape. The void seemed unbearable to her. She had become so attached to the ship. Some hours passed. It was twilight. The ocean looked glamorous as the sky had dyed herself with a million hues, some of which did not even have a name invented. But her eyes searched only for one thing against all this beauty. The ship seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Tiny lights started to twinkle from 'ports unknown'. Many ships studded with orange lights started to appear across the horizon. But her eyes which knew 'that ship' was still enshrouded in disappointment. The sea-breeze grew chill. It was time for bed. Reluctantly, she laid herself down with a small prayer. She could at least dream about the ship now.

Tearing the darkness apart, her pearly-white ship emerged. It looked triumphant as though having fought an unseen enemy. The familiar melody floated into the air again. It grew louder and louder that with a jolt she sat up. Immediately, her head turned towards the bit of ocean she could see from her window. Her majestic warrior stood afloat on the exact spot where she had seen it last. She knew it was the same ship to which she had grown so attached. She could have spotted it even if it had appeared together with a thousand other similar ships.

The beautiful eyes now looked limpid with elation. They reflected an eerie pair of miniature ships in them. Only they seemed to float in the greater depths of her eyes rather than in the vast ocean. She forgot all about slumber and kept vigil throughout the night. Her eyes grew weary, for they wanted as badly as ever to slide shut. She did not dare to blink now for fear of losing her beloved. Slowly, a veil of mist crept up in front of her obscuring the view.

She closed her eyes for a while and opened them slowly to find herself surrounded by a blinding whiteness. She ran madly until she saw something blue beyond. It was the boundless sea she saw. Now she was in the same ship which she had longed to see. Everything felt like a strange dream. How she came into the ship, she did not know. Not a living soul was seen aboard save for the sea gulls hovering above.

The briny-breeze brought with it the same haunting melody, making her shiver. ll of a sudden, the music which had once sounded lovely now became jarring. The distant shore beckoned. The ship sailed with her towards the shore as though obliging her. But the voyage seemed eternal. The blue stretches grew lengthier than ever never to touch the inviting shores.

On misty days, when you walk along that shore, who knows, you might spot an enigmatic white ship on the horizon. It might cast an unbreakable spell on you and carry you away for ever!