1 THE BEST OF ME

Just when the world came crashing at her feet and everything went dark, had she realised that it was just a momentary lapse of judgement. They say everything bad happens at 3 am. That sinking feeling, that distrust of her own gut, Shruti thought she'd lost it all.

The vulnerability was at its peak. She tried wrapping her head around everything that had happened in the last few weeks. She got her soft white piece of apparel, dried her eyes and she went to the bathroom. She took a glance at the mirror. Everything was preety dark but the tear drops rolling down her eyes. She was trembling and was taken aback by the irony of the situation.

The night went dark and wild with the thoughts of heartbreak but mostly of guilt. "Hope, it breeds eternal misery", she thought and slept for an hour or two.

The very next morning she almost had a cardiac arrest. She had a show in the evening and she wasn't at all prepared. She juggled up her playlist trying to find something interesting that might impress the audience. But couldn't find any that felt convincing enough.

It was 6 pm and the crowd was roaring. Those stairs up to the stage that never looked so unfamiliar, her feet were trembling and she knew why. But she took a deep breath, smiled and decided to get onto the stage and fulfil the promise that she made to herself and to the people.

The show went alright. Maybe because people knew her already, she thought. After the show, not quite excited though, Shruti awaited the crowd to have a little interaction and to sign some of her fan cards which she does in each one of her shows.

The people came in and interacted with her appraisal all around. Amidst the glitz and glamour, that one thing she felt missing was her passion for the career path she decided to follow the dedication, the determination. Her mind was wandering and she couldn't understand why.

Just when she was going through this storm of thoughts, a soft voice, almost like she was still in her thoughts, came up to her and said, "Hello, this is Leila. Are you okay?" She felt like she was dreaming. "Actually, if now is not a good time then I can come back later. Actually, umm, I'm a huge fan of yours and I've been listening to you since 4th grade. I really love you", said the ten-year-old little girl standing next to her.

Teary eyed Shruti was shaken by the words of that girl. Shaken, thinking of how matured and thoughtful that little girl was. She realised how much she meant to her audience and her audience to her. She understood how stupid it was to think that none of this mattered. Because it definitely did matter. She was obnoxious and was not in her right mood to throw away something so precious like this.

After the tremendous thought process, this was almost rejuvenation.

Shruti signed all of her fan cards, greeted everyone with a smile and went back to her place. She realised that people bring out the best in her. She wasn't being able to figure out that one little thing that was blocking her mind throughout the day. That one bad incident doesn't say her whole story. One bad decision doesn't decide on her future. And that she still had room for improvement. Shruti realized that that now was the time as perfect as ever, to focus. Now was the time when she was absolutely ready.

She sat by her piano and started playing like never before. Music befell and she found her safe heaven after all.