Story Name: 'Waiting Cafe'
No one knows the name of this city. It doesn't exist on the map. Only those who have lost someone very dear in their life and want to bear the pain of that loss, one misty morning they mistakenly get down at this city station.
The name of the city is 'Smritipur'.
At the far end of this town, where the roar of the sea can be heard, there is a small cafe. Its name is 'The Memory Casket'. Cafeteria rules are very strange. Here coffee is not paid for in money, but in telling the story of a moment spent with your lost loved one.
Neil was sitting in this cafe for three days. He lost his wife a year ago. He came here just once to talk to his wife. The owner of the cafe, an old man with silver eyes, stood in front of Blue.
Old Man: "Will you just have coffee today, Blue? Or open that special door?"
Neil: "I'm ready. I just want to tell her once that leaving the house after a fight that day was the biggest mistake of my life."
The old man took Neil to a room behind the cafe. The room is full of mirrors. The old man said, "Standing in front of these mirrors, you will not see the one you lost, but the moment you want to get back. But remember, when that moment is over, you have to leave this city."
Neil stood in front of a broken mirror. The surroundings changed instantly. Blue saw him standing in their old bedroom. it's raining His wife 'Rini' stands by the window and sings. Neil ran and hugged Renee.
Neil: "Rini, forgive me! I didn't mean to say that that day."
Rini looked around. There was no anger in his eyes, just a strange calmness. He put his hand on Neil's cheek and said, "I know Neil. But you are stuck in that rainy afternoon. Look, it's sunny outside now. Why are you stuck in this darkness?"
Neil realizes that Rini is not really there. It's just the guilt he harbors in his mind. Rini started to fade away with a smile. Neil yelled, "Rini, don't go!"
But in an instant, everything went up in smoke. Neil returned to that cafe again. The old owner looked at him and smiled.
Elder: "Got your answer?"
Blue: "Yes. I wanted her back, but she wanted me free. I realized that remembering someone doesn't mean holding them back, but letting them go in peace."
Neil came out of the cafe. When the train arrived at the station, he saw that the fog around him had cleared and the bright sun had risen. The city of Smritipur is slowly disappearing. Neil put his head against the train window and smiled.
Neil learned one thing that day—some people we break up with, but their love stays in our hearts bigger than a cafe or a city.
As Neil sat down in the train compartment, he reached into his coat pocket and wondered. There was a small note, which he hadn't seen in the cafe. There is no writing in the note, just a scent of sandalwood and a small dry aparajita flower.
Blue looked out the window. The station was completely covered in fog. Suddenly he saw the old man of the cafe owner standing behind the fog. A dim shadow beside the old man—looked just like Rini! That shadow is looking at Blue and waving.
Blue smiled. He realized that Smritipur is not really a place, it is a state of our mind. Whenever we miss someone a lot, we reach for that cafe.
Neil put the note in the folds of his diary. The train continued towards reality, but a part of Neil's mind remained in that mysterious Cafe.