Broken Goodbyes – A Short Story

He: Hello

She: Hi

He: (silence for 2 mins) Yes, may I know who’s calling?

She: Wish you many happy returns of the day.

(Tears trickle down her cheeks, and the phone is disconnected)

He: I still miss you.

In this active life, we meet millions of people in various ways; we greet each other or smile softly.    And then we forget and move on. But sometimes in life, someone crosses our path, and we can’t go beyond it.  We never thought to cross that line at this stage, but we like to do that. We meet, we gossip, we laugh, and gradually he/she becomes a part of our life. We start to enjoy each other; we find their names in our message, over and over again.    And every time we receive the news, we open it right away to check, even if there is a simple emoji. He/she messages carry a happy smile on our lips and a pleasant feeling. Our morning starts with each other by sending good morning images or text, and ends by saying good night to each other, only hoping to meet up again the next day in the same way!

But what’s the matter?

Suddenly, everything stops, no morning pictures, slow texts, late responses, and even the evening end without wishing each other beautiful dream. Our phone battery is still fully charged as it is no longer in use. Why, what happened out of the blue? You scroll chats several times, see the DP quietly your heart wants to send the message, but your mind stops you, and you follow your mind. The other way around, when he/she asks you what happens? You have to develop the well-planned lie (excuse), declaring it too busy on the job. Only to make that person understand that things are different between the two of us.

Life or any relationship is easy when there are no problems between them, but this does not happen.    When the connection begins to develop in the vicinity, the attachment starts, and there the main question arises. You can never guarantee your heart that it won’t love again or somewhere you won’t fall for someone else as well. In this sort of relationship – age, caste, marital status is ignored when this occurs.    But it cannot be overlooked for a long time; somewhere someone has to take a complete stop and think about it. But do you think it’s easy to pull over and move on? Believe me; in practical terms, it works, but not emotionally.

If it’s your first love, you’ll fight for everything, but being with someone already and accidentally falling in love with someone else, what happens?

Life is very complicated to fall into such a canvas. Silent love is the most dangerous fire that burns within you. In these feelings, you want to do many things; you want to say a lot, but holding yourself is the biggest challenge.

You don’t want to break up either; you want to move on; you want to meet and spend a bit of time, but afraid to go ahead. You want to get along, but neither one of you has the strength to do it because somewhere you’re both controlling your feelings.

Love is a soft tongue; only the heart speaks, and that soul understands.    A few lovers have expressed three magical words, but what about this silent love?  It is never said or talked about it, that love gives you smiles and tears very profoundly.

When good things are over, it makes you sad. It hurts even more when you break hearts intentionally, and you need to say goodbye to each other and walk into your made-for-yourself world. 

But the point is how your life changes after that, how you go forward to a new life, with your new lover or with the perfect family.  Somewhere near the corner of your heart, only you know who you miss and how much you miss that person. In the silent night of loneliness, he/she is always in your thoughts.

‘Broken goodbyes are the most painful way to solve a problem.’

Short Story By: Shaheen Kazi