It was almost midnight. The streets of the city were slowly becoming empty. A half moon was shining in the sky and a cold wind was blowing softly.
Arif was sitting beside the window of his small room, staring at the screen of his phone.
On the screen there was a name glowing.
Maya.
Maya was the closest person in Arif's life. They first met in college. At the beginning they were just friends, but slowly that friendship turned into love.
Maya was a cheerful girl. She always told Arif,
"You will do something big in life one day."
Arif would smile and reply,
"If you stay with me, I can do anything."
But not every story has a happy ending.
One year ago, Maya died in a terrible accident.
Since that day, Arif's life had stopped. He no longer laughed like before. He didn't spend time with friends. Sometimes he just read their old messages again and again.
That night he was doing the same thing.
Suddenly a new notification appeared on his phone.
Arif was shocked.
Because the message came from…
Maya's number.
His heart started beating very fast.
Slowly he opened the message.
It said,
"Do you still remember me?"
Arif's hands started shaking.
He thought maybe someone was joking with him.
He replied,
"Who is this?"
After a few seconds another message came.
"It's Maya."
Arif felt dizzy.
He tried to convince himself that it was impossible.
Still he typed,
"Is someone making fun of me?"
Another message came.
"Did you forget? We first met in the college library."
Arif froze.
That was something only the two of them knew.
Tears came into his eyes.
He typed slowly,
"Where are you?"
A reply came.
"I'm not very far."
Then another message appeared.
"Come to our old park tomorrow."
That park was the place where they first sat together.
Arif couldn't sleep the whole night.
The next afternoon he went to that park.
The park looked the same as before. The old bench, the tall trees, and the soft wind.
Arif sat on the same bench and started waiting.
One hour passed.
No one came.
The sun slowly went down.
Just then his phone vibrated again.
A message appeared.
"You came… thank you."
Arif looked around quickly.
There was no one.
He typed,
"Where are you?"
After a moment another message came.
"I'm always near you."
Then another one appeared.
"I want you to smile again. I want you to dream again."
Tears started falling from Arif's eyes.
Then the last message came.
"This is my last message."
"Live your life happily."
After that, the number went offline forever.
Arif sat there for a long time.
Suddenly a cold wind touched his face.
He whispered softly,
"Thank you, Maya."
From that day, Arif tried to start his life again.
Because he knew,
Somewhere, somehow,
Maya was still watching over him.