(Illustrations by Vaishnavi Gopal)

Green.

The colour of jealousy, that vile monster.

The colour of her eyes.

Anita walked into the bedroom. Green drapes here too. They would have to go. She couldn’t stand the colour.

She spotted a movement outside the window and turned her attention to it. The moving truck had arrived with the few pieces of furniture and other knick-knacks she owned.

She moved away from the window and stepped outside to give directions to the helpers. They unloaded the truck, and put the cardboard cartons containing the pieces of her life on the porch.

As they drove off, Anita finally found herself alone. She looked around at the mess. Well, she sighed, she might as well get to work. She carefully unpacked each box, with a tenderness and affection one might have for a young child. These little knick-knacks were her prized possessions now – some of them she had bought on her many travels, and others had been gifts from loved ones. Yet all of them held so many memories. Happy memories. She had made sure of that. She had left behind anything that had even a tinge of sad remembrances associated with it.

She busied herself with the unpacking and organising. It helped to keep busy, she had learnt. It kept the mind occupied and away from all the pain.

Later that evening when everything had been put away in the tiny cottage she now called home, she pulled out her electric kettle and made herself a much needed cup of tea. She settled down on the porch to enjoy it, looking out at the descending twilight, facing away from the green drapes.

She let her thoughts wander. How unpredictable life was! A year ago, she was happily settled in her busy life in the big city, working as a research analyst in a multinational corporation, happily married to the love of her life. Her thoughts rambled on until they settled on that day.

That vile, dreadful day. She winced as she started thinking about it.

Vikram had been coming home late almost every day now. He had said it was because of a big new project at the office. Anita had had her suspicions, but she so desperately wanted to believe in her fairy tale that she dismissed the nagging doubts. And yet, they kept resurfacing.

Then one day, everything fell apart.

She had gone to meet Anya, her college friend. They had decided to try out a new restaurant in the suburbs. And that’s when she saw them. Vikram was walking down the street with a tall, youngish woman on his arm. They were oblivious to the world, like a young couple in love. Anita couldn’t contain herself. She cringed now as she remembered how she had confronted them, crying and screaming like a mad woman, her world crumbling around her, while passers-by stood and stared. The woman was startled at first but then she began to smirk as though mocking Anita. The first thing Anita noticed was the woman’s eyes. A beautiful shade of green. Anita had never seen such a striking shade of green. Vikram had tried to pacify Anita, but she did not hear a single word he had said as she stormed off; confused, hurt and angry; betrayed by the man she had loved.

It had been a terrible time. She had stayed at Anya’s house for a while, not having the courage to go back to the home she shared with Vikram. Suddenly, he seemed like a stranger. The fact that he had deceived her had stung, but what hurt her more was the fact that she had trusted him. In spite of her qualms, she had still chosen to believe in him. She felt like a fool.

After a few weeks, she had finally arrived at a decision. She would move on without Vikram. Even if she could find it in her heart to forgive him, she could not forget the lies, the betrayal. She was livid with him and the green eyes haunted her. Finally, she enlisted Anya’s help, and went back to collect her things. Their last conversation was pretty nasty; Vikram had tried to plead with her, and then when she stood her ground he decided to go on the offensive and had blamed Anita for his philandering ways.

And so, she had left her life behind in the city, far away from the green eyes she would never forget. She had always wanted to try her hand at writing and had thus decided some solitude would be good. That’s why she had moved into this quaint cottage in the beautiful green countryside.

Green countryside. Hah!

She drained the tea in her cup and headed off to bed. It had been a long tiring day.

The next morning she awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. For a few moments, she lay in bed disoriented. Then she remembered. The betrayal, the hurt, and moving to a new place to restart her life and to heal. She got out of bed and looked out the window.

Greenery everywhere.

Her heart fluttered in her chest.

It looked as though the earth was painted green. Green trees everywhere. Fields of grass growing wild.

It was a beautiful green. It was a healing green. It calmed her soul and made her feel so peaceful inside.

She stepped out onto the porch and took in the divine sight. There was a rose garden in front of the house that had been untended for months.

She gazed out at the lovely stretch of scenery. Doing so, she absentmindedly twirled her fingers around some weeds that had grown up the fence and pulled them out. She brushed away some of the brown dried plant leaves and started to think.

Gardening. Yes, that would be a good idea.

I’ll step into town and get some gardening tools and seeds, she thought. Maybe roses. And some pretty yellow wallflowers.

She had begun to feel happy.

She looked at the greenery around her and smiled.

Such beautiful shades of green.

Green.