A silky love story

Mitali met Sharad on a hot day, in the supermarket. She was standing behind him in the check out line. He suddenly turned back and stared at her. And then he smiled. “You have beautiful hair” he said before walking off.

They met again at the supermarket and got talking. Mitali did most of the talking, all Sharad did was stare. It was creepy, pleasant even. Life went on, they met more often.

Sharad didn’t do much. He just stared at her, as if in a trance and ran his hands through her curly mane. “Your hair is beautiful, don’t ever cut it.”, he told her once.

Eventually he asked her to marry him. She agreed. This would be his fourth marriage. She didn’t mind. The marriage took place soon. “I can’t wait “Sharad had said.

One day they were watching TV together. A talent hunt was on. A magician with his assistant was contesting.

“Look at the assistant, she has red hair” Sharad said.

“She looks so silly” Mitali replied.

“I like her” said Sharad simply.

The very next day Sharad announced that he was going to Goa and wouldn’t be contactable. And then he disappeared. Mitali got no calls from him, no emails. His phone was constantly switched off. A worried Mitali moved through her days not knowing what to do.

One day she decided to clean up the storeroom. An isolated shelf stood at the entrance. When Mitali swept under it, she found a key. She tried it on the shelf and it worked. Curious now, Mitali took out a dusty diary and sat down to read.

“……I saw the perfect set of curly hair in the supermarket today. How I want those locks. I want to run my hands through them. I want them in my collection……”

Surprised, Mitali turned to another page.

“I have asked her to marry me. Now I can easily cut off her hair…”

Trembling now, Mitali turned back the pages

“Ritu is dead now. It was easy to strangle her with her own long hair. Her shiny long hair. I have cut off a very long strand…..” 

 

The diary dropped from Mitali’s hands. She went to her room in a daze.

 A Few weeks later a report came out in the newspaper

“A woman’s body was found in Vikramshila Apartment yesterday morning. Her hair was cut unevenly from several places……”