Her Old Wounds! MishBir Short Story

Epilogue

Kunal turned, walked towards Kuhu, took her shoulders and helped her to stand up. He cupped her face and calmly said "Kuhu, I made a mess with my ego. And right now, I see you doing the same with Mishti. And trust me Kuhu, it's not going to take you anywhere." With that Kuhu jerked Kunal hands off and walked away. "Kunal. You know it's not me. Mishti is the fighter. She is the one who always picks on me" Kuhu blabbered with irritation, once again trying her best to throw the accusation onto Mishti.

Kunal nodded in denial and looked towards Kuhu, "Kuhu, you and I both know that isn't true. We both are trying to be honest here, right? I was honest with you and I told you what I felt and what I did. I would like you to be honest too. I am not going to judge you. Hey, I am the last one to judge anyone because of the countless times I've screwed up" As Kunal didn't get any response from her, he continued, "Fine, lets assume she is the one to start. Then why can't you be the bigger person and ignore it? Why can't you stop it? Why can't you call a ceasefire once and for all?" That reminded Kuhu of Mishti's requests of calling a ceasefire. Once again, she jerked him off in irritation. "I did Kunal. But you know how Mishti is. She is always looking to ruin things for me. She is always jealous of me and trying to steal my limelight and hence I always lose on-" before she could finish, they both heard a voice coming from behind.

"NO SHE DOESN'T" Abir walked in with irritation. Kunal and Kuhu sensed the anger filled in Abir's entire aura. Abir stared at Kuhu for some time, expecting her to say something. He gulped his own saliva and turned towards Kunal and smiled. "Nanko, I can't define in words how proud I am of you today. You!! You not only accepted that you were wrong and weak but you are apologizing for them. And I can see how much you mean it. At least you are not stuck on something like others are. Thank you. Thank you for proving me right. Thank you." Kunal hugged Abir as he said that. As Kuhu heard 'others' in Abir's speech, she felt hurt. She thought that Abir was not her bro anymore. She blamed Mishti again for snatching Abir away from her. She interrupted them with teary eyes "Mishti managed to snatch you away from me too. She always does. She always takes people away from me. She did the same with my family. She snatched my grandparents from me. She snatched my brother from me. They always loved her more. They always preferred her more. They always ignored me when it came to her. Because she was this intelligent, strong, confident girl. They always gave my things away to her. No one cared for me after she came to my house. I hate her. I hate it." And she sat on her bed, sobbing.

Kunal immediately ran to Kuhu's support and hugged her. Abir was watching them from a distance. He knew he had to handle this issue with care and maturity. He couldn't just lose it. Otherwise, the purpose of addressing the issues between the sisters wouldn't be met. As her sobbing decreased, Abir found that moment right to start speaking again. "Mishti isn't jealous of you or anyone. She knows how to love. Mishti never tries to steal any limelight or attention from you or anyone. In fact, she is someone who tries to find happiness in what she has. She will never try to snatch any family from anyone because she knows the importance of it. She knows how it feels to be snatched away from that. And she is the last person to impel that on anyone. I know it. Kunal now knows it. And you know it too. But as Kunal said, you will not admit that because of your ego. Because of your stubbornness.." Kuhu was about to interrupt but Abir stopped her and requested her to let him finish first. "It's surprising and shocking Kuhu. You both stayed together, in the same room for so many years. Yet you don't know her the way I know her. Or maybe you do. But you are too stubborn to admit to that. You have complaints. Probably lots of them. From your family, I am assuming. But you don't want to complain to them. You probably don't want to ruin your image in front of them. Or you probably think they will love you even less and hence you don't tell them anything. You bottle your feelings up and then explode on Mishti as if she is some scapegoat. Nanko did the same thing. He wanted to keep his perfect brotherly image in front of me and did a lot of things behind my back. But when he couldn't handle his perfect image anymore, you very well know how things ended up" Kuhu remembered Kunal's behavior with her and everyone and she looked towards Abir.