Amie

‘Marriage’ takes you places, quite literally. Mine took me to a new country. What I thought would be a gala time for me turned out to be just the opposite for all I did was wash clothes, utensils, cook, shop, mop and everything else on my own. Settling down would take quite some time. The loneliness was irritating. I could not gel well with the snobbish wives of his bosses either. My only ray of hope was my in-laws visiting us. Since this country was going to be our base for quite some time we decided to move into a bigger and more comfortable apartment. After considering all the pros and cons of all the locales around we zeroed down on a couple of them. We went to check out the first one.

It was a pleasant day. I looked at my husband. He was busy asking for directions to the house-owners, Rob and Mia, on phone. Just when I was wondering whether to curse the weather for being so romantic or my husband for not being romantic at all a young girl (3-4 years of age) banged into me with her scooter. She was too cute to be shouted at. I looked at her and smiled. I bent down, placed her falling hairband properly and asked her name. Her cheeks turned red when she replied, “Amie”. She left a smile on my face. He looked at me and said, “We are almost there. The house is second on left.”

The house was beautiful. I liked it instantly. The wooden floor, the beautiful furniture, the warm fireplace; it was all perfect. It was my ‘dream house’. I looked at my husband and gave him the ‘approval’ look. We settled on the very comfortable couch and the conversation started flowing. The owners were apparently moving out because Mia wanted to settle down near her parents. After some time, Mia went to the kitchen to fetch tea, Rob went to answer the doorbell and my husband got busy with his Blackberry.

Suddenly I saw some movement. It was Amie behind the sofa. She looked at me, smiled and signaled me to keep quiet. Looked like she was playing hide and seek. I was wondering how she entered. I looked into the kitchen and saw the opened back door. So, Amie was Mia and Rob’s kid I thought. I was about to talk about Amie when the Mia arrived with tea and cookies.

We went ahead to check the rooms after tea. The master bedroom was lovely and beautifully decorated. There were only pictures of Rob and Mia; there was no sign of Amie. We went to the next bedroom. The kids bedroom was dark and showed no sign of furniture. “We don’t really visit this room much”, Mia said. I wondered why! She closed the door and we went downstairs. I suddenly thought that the double bed we had might not be accommodated into the kids bedroom. I asked Rob if I could go to the kids room and check if the bed would fit there. I knew I was getting too excited considering we had not even signed the rental agreement but the house was definitely worth it. I opened the door to find Amie running around the room with a teddy bear in her hand. I was amazed to find her there again. On seeing me she stopped and walked towards me.

“Are you going to stay here?”, she asked.

“I hope so. We like your house. Besides, your parents and you are going to shift to a bigger apartment. So we will take care of this small house.”

“Well, I will never leave this house. Can I stay with you?” she asked.

I smiled at her, a little louder, and gave her a peck again.

“Sure baby. You can stay with us.”

“Thank you.” And she started running around again.

I took the measurements and left the room.

I went downstairs to meet curious eyes. Rob and Mia gave me a blank stare. My husband looked embarrassed.

“Whom were you talking to?” Rob asked.

I said, “Amie”, and their faces flushed. Mia collapsed and Rob rushed to comfort her.

“What did she say?” Mia asked.

“Oh! She didn’t look happy with your decision of moving out. She wants to stay here forever she said.”

“You cannot talk to Amie. She died a year ago in a road accident while playing on her scooter.” Rob said.

“How can that be? I can see her everywhere!” I said.

Rob and Mia were speechless and so were we.

The brakes screeched and my head hit on the driver’s seat. I woke up to realize all it was just a dream. We got down and started walking towards the place we were about to rent. I could identify with the surroundings. It was a Déjà vu moment. I looked at the trees, the houses, and the street and wondered if I had visited this place before. A cute little girl banged into me with her scooter. She was too cute to be shouted at. I looked at her and smiled. I bent down, placed her falling hairband properly and asked her name. Her cheeks turned red when she replied, “Amie”.