One man standing

He stood by me for 15 years, bearing the work of two, standing like a tower. Never did it once complain or refused to cooperate. And now not having him by my side fills my heart with remorse and pain. It's been two weeks and not a single second goes by when I don't think of him.

He had a partner once, 15 years back but fate had its other plans. A swift strike by destiny left him alone with ruins of his partner. Thereon, he has dutifully lived a solitary life much like myself. Beside him lay the ruins of his partner which always reminded him of the good old times.

Journey from that point had been tough. Over loaded all the time, too much expectations and being ridiculed from time to time. But he was brave and determined. He took everything with a smile, which earned him the name 'Brok3n Smile'. He cherished it and motivated him to keep on going. He was tall and fair, and appeared a lot fairer because of the dead remains of his partner. He planned on living forever, so far so good. But destiny had its own plans.

I was in Bangalore for my IIM Lucknow interview. I was going to meet my school friends after the interview. Interview got over by 4 and I had some time to spare, so I decided to stuff myself with some food which for some mysterious reasons never shows up in my body. After asking the hotel receptionist, male as destiny had it, about the nearest Subway, I turned swiftly towards the glass door to make my way out. At that precise moment it struck, for a moment I didn't realise what happened, there was a silence! Then I heard the gate keeper saying something with the other half of the door being opened. People say that when death is near, one's complete life flashes before ones eyes. What flashed before my eyes at that moment was me sitting and watching the Saint Gobain glasses ad on tv where a lady throws a bucket of water at a glass door, and a man on the other side ducks thinking nothing was there. And there I was in that flashback laughing merrily at that ad. It wasn't my complete life, but I wasn't completely dead either. But someone died at that moment.

I came back to my senses. The receptionist came rushing to me, male as destiny had it, asking if everything was alright. Being a true sport (or rather not wanting to make a fool of myself), I said everything is fine, fine as butter. And I rushed out of the other half of the door which the gate keeper still kept open, he was still saying something I couldn't understand. Out on the street, I realised I was missing something. I couldn't figure out, until I felt it. My tooth, the lone tooth, my favourite tooth, the one which saw me through ups and downs, with which I had developed a deep bond was missing, well technically half missing. He was in level now with its partner. I couldn't believe it. I rushed back to the hotel so that I could take a closer look in the restroom.

The gatekeeper was still saying something standing there at the gate alongside the receptionist. They were looking at something on the ground. As I reached there, I finally understood what the gatekeeper was saying..."Is that yours?", and I looked at the ground, the broken pieces were scattered over the floor. The receptionist, male as destiny had it, asked if he could do anything. I wished he turned into a female and asked the same question. I said no thanks, went into the restroom and took a closer look. The 'One Man Standing' was no longer there, it was gone, gone forever.