The Test of Time

1

Dalsiah’s life with Jeremy was nothing but a bed of roses. On her wedding day, the Priest said that marriage is a bed of roses, but for every rose there is a thorn, that pricks painfully, but is soothed by the nice smell of the rose. It was as if the Priest predicted what was to be the turn of events in her marriage. Her life with Jeremy was full of pitfalls and thorns. Who would have believed that today, they would still be together and celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. There were times when she thought they couldn’t make it, not with the millions of problems they seemed to pass through. Yes they passed through and did not dwell in the problems. Though it was hard at times, she was thankful to have chosen the meek and humble approach to her marriage. She had long decided that she was the wife and she would submit to her husband no matter how foolish it seemed to the world. She was lucky to have the kind of friend who never tried to influence her otherwise, else she was not sure they could have made it this far.

Jeremy is now ninety-one years old and Dalsiah is eighty-five. She always wondered at the age gap between them, but knew that it would come handy to her one day. It is believed that women normally age faster than men especially after child birth. Looking at them today, she is thankful for the age gap. The age difference has disappeared with years, and now they look the same age. They have grown old together and she hoped that she would not have to face life without him. He on the other hand, has grown so dependent on her; she could not see him alone in this life without her. She has become a pillar of strength for him over the years, and he often told her that should she go before him, he was very sure he wouldn’t survive. As she sat there looking at their age long Album, she wondered if she would ever be able to survive without him. He was so much part of her; she has forgotten how to live without him. He seems to have become the very air she breathes.

They met fifty years ago at a shopping mall. It was spring and the mall was full of people in colorful clothing, with happy smiles and springy walks. Dalsiah was looking at a dress she wanted for her friend’s graduation party. She had been invited to represent the family as her friend’s parents died three years back in a car accident. She still felt the pangs of pain as she thought back to that time. It was a very painful time in both hers and Rafiqah’s lives. To her, the pain of loss was the same as she would have felt had Rafiqah’s parents been her own biological parents. They were the only parents she really knew as her own parents died when she was young, and she had to be raised by her auntie, who was of course a sweetheart. The only problem was that Aunt Sylvia was too old to take the place of a real mother in her life. She could never see her as a mother. To her, Aunt Sylvia was a granny whom she adored very much. She had warm adoring eyes that seemed to always be crying. From time to time, Dalsiah would catch her wiping a tear from her eyes. Dalsiah has realized a long time ago that the tears had nothing to do with ailing eyes, and Doctors have confirmed that there was nothing wrong with her eyes. Aunt Sylvia was just heart broken. She had lost so much in her life. She was the only surviving member of her family, having lost her parents when they were young themselves. She and Dalsiah’s mother were the only parents, though their age gap was so much that Aunt Sylvia looked more of a mother to Dalsiah’s mother than a sister. When Dalsiah’s mother died, Aunt Sylvia was inconsolable. She was so broken and ended up in hospital with depression. Her husband tried very hard to comfort her, but nothing he said could make Aunt Sylvia stop crying. Uncle Mane was devastated. He was very much in love with her wife and her pain was his pain. He looked lost and unable to cope with the situation.

‘What’s the price of this dress?’ Dalsiah was so lost in thought that she jumped and fell right into the arms of a stranger. She raised her eyes from the dress she so liked only to look into the deepest blue pair of eyes, which had a twinkle, as if laughing at her. The eyes belonged to the most handsome man she had ever come across, only, he was laughing at her. She opened her mouth to speak, and then she closed it again. She couldn’t find her voice. She experienced butterflies in her stomach. She opened her eyes and stammered ….eh…eh…xcuse me, and almost ran out of the shop, but he held her so close she was afraid to move. She looked at him and then at herself thinking that their closeness was just unnatural for a first meeting. She blushed at the thought, and as if he could read her thoughts, he chuckled. She couldn’t get herself to look at him again; she was too busy being embarrassed. She felt embarrassed and foolish for blushing in front of a total stranger. She was even more embarrassed to realize that her face was tear stained, and that more tears were coming out of her eyes. She always cried when she thought about what Aunt Sylvia had to endure in life. The old woman really suffered. She was not aware how sad, and yet beautiful she looked. The stranger wondered what was going on with her. Could it be she lost her mother; no she would be with family if that was the case. He concluded she must have broken up with her boyfriend. He wondered what kind of fool would break up with and reduce such a strikingly lovely girl to tears. He thought his presence there made things more awkward for her and decided he didn’t want to see her like that. He imagined her smiling and happy and wondered what it would be like to kiss those beautiful lips. He felt anger well up inside him, if he could only get hold of the man responsible for those tear.

As she looked on perplexed, she saw a strange expression on the strangers face, but it was gone in an instant as if it was never there. It was as if she had imagined it. As she was wondering what was happening the stranger was gone. She couldn’t believe it. It was as if he was never there. Just like the expression on his face, it was as if she imagined him. He just disappeared like a ghost, and she was still wondering about it when the sweet voice of the sales lady sounded:

‘Can I help you mam’ the sales lady was one of the ladies who normally served her. She was a constant customer and was well known and loved by all sales staff, mainly because she was so beautiful and kind.

She looked at the sales lady and smiled ‘hi Marcia, I’m actually interested in this dress, but I can’t seem to find the price tag. Would you care to tell me how much it costs? She knew almost all the sales ladies in the shop by their first name and that was one of the reasons why they loved her so much. She always made them feel appreciated.

‘Certainly, I’ll be with you right now". The sales lady took the dress for scanning and came back with a smile.

‘The dress costs five hundred dollars. That is a nice choice mam and nice taste too’. The dress was very fashionable in deep blue that matched the color of her eyes. She blushed and thanked the sales lady. She knew that she could afford the dress, but she had long learnt to avoid being extravagant unnecessarily. She told herself she should look around at other dresses before she made up her mind to pay such an extravagant price. She was not poor or struggling no, her parents left her enough to see her through life, plus she was highly educated and had one of the top executive jobs at Mahlong & Mahlong, one of the top IT companies in the country. She was about to put the dress back on the rail but before she could do so, she heard the voice again. It was rapidly becoming a familiar voice in her life.

That is a very beautiful dress, but not as beautiful as the person holding it Dalsiah blushed.

What is it about this man? Every time she’s around him she is either blushing or rude. But you’ve only seen him twice, twice in one day dah! She reminded herself. She knew that she had seen him twice, but to her it felt as she had always known him, as if he was this part of her life that made her look at herself in a different light.

She has always had this self-confidence; with no doubt she was beautiful, in fact she believed that she was perfect and never felt she needed to change anything about her. However, with Jeremy she felt inadequate. She felt self-conscious, as if there was something wrong somewhere. She kept touching her nose as if she could feel mucous leaking at the opening and threatening to embarrass her. She smiled at the thought, not realizing she did. It was a beautiful smile with her cheeks dimpling so deep you could hide a penny in them. She looked up to see amusement in Jeremy’s eyes. He had a very strange expression, as if he was touching her with his eyes. Dalsiah found herself blushing again, all thoughts of her imperfections gone. She opened her mouth to utter something but couldn’t find her voice. She was desperate to break the silence that had grown so uncomfortable for her. She wished that she could just say something intelligent, something that would take away all the foolish utterances she made in his presence so far. Something that would make him forget about all the school girl blushes she always seemed to have in his presence. She was wondering what he must be thinking about her when she heard his voice. It was very deep with a musical ring to it.

Very beautiful indeed startled, Dalsiah looked up only to be met by deep blue eyes, the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, or was she supposed to say handsome. Whatever the case beautiful, handsome; to her it didn’t matter; all she knew was that they were the most remarkable pair of eyes ever seen; eyes that seemed like they were dancing and teasing her without any participation from him. As if he did not have control over what they decide to do. As if they had a mind of their own. His mouth was uncommon amongst men. It was pink as if he used lip color; the upper lip was heart shaped giving his mouth an interesting ladylike appearance. In a strange way, his lips were almost identical to Dalsiah’s - as if they were somewhat related to each other. Dalsiah blushed as she imagined them on hers. She was embarrassed at herself and thought it was very uncharacteristic of her to have such thoughts about a man. Something was happening to her and she couldn’t explain it was, all she knew was it was wonderful and scary at the same time. She looked at the stranger again and almost murmured ‘this man is really handsome’. She was embarrassed at the thought and said the first thing that came to her lips, without thinking:

No one asked for your opinion, Dalsiah retorted before she could stop herself. She wondered what was wrong with her. She raised her face to look into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. He was looking at her with a mocking smile, and she| blushed and mumbled I’m sorry, I… and she dropped the dress and this time she actually ran out of the shop almost in tears, thinking ‘what was wrong with her? She’s never been rude to anyone before.

The graduation ceremony went on very well. It was held at Rafiqah’s family home. It was a very big house with a lounge the size of a conference room. It was white with a Tuscan finish and it had ten bedrooms, and they were all en-suite. All rooms had vaulted ceilings. Five of the bedrooms had walk in closets. The kitchen had a kitchen island, a breakfast nook, a walk in pantry and a peninsula eating bar. There were two large stoves, one of which was a gas stove with a very large oven normally found in bakeries. The other stove was a modern computerized ten plate stove with eye level ovens, every woman’s dream. There was a large living room, a laundry, and an office/study. The house had under floor heating that could be switched on and off, depending on the weather. Ten double garages that would fit twenty cars and a lot of extra parking space. There were two adult swimming pools with outdoor braai areas, and one pool for children. One of them was a warm water indoor swimming pool. The house was situated at the foot of the mountain with a very beautiful view overlooking the sea. The entrance was very beautiful with the name Villa Brachia painted in white. It was named after Aunt Brachia, Rafiqah’s mother and it had universal wheelchair access. Dalsiah enjoyed herself immensely. She gave a speech on behalf of the Raviski family, and it was a very beautiful, but touching speech and had everyone almost in tears. She concluded with, "now let us all stand up and give a round of applause to one of the most beautiful, kind, loving and well deserving person I know, to Rafiqah and everyone stood up and the happy mood was restored.

Her friend, Rafiqah was very happy to have her around. She told her that the day wouldn’t have been the same without her best friend, and that she missed having her parents around, Dalsiah was able to fill that gap in a way. Her presence there made things a lot better. Dalsiah could see that her friend meant every word and that she was really enjoying herself. Rafiqah was happy.

Dalsiah loved Rafiqah very much. They were childhood friends. She could still remember the years when they were still playing in Aunt Brachia’s backyard. There was a dolly house especially bought for her little princesses, as Aunt Brachia called them. From as long as she could remember, she was always at their house playing with Rafiqah in that dolly house. She had most of the meals with the family, and occasionally they would invite Aunt Sylvia to join them. Aunt Brachia was worried that Aunt Sylvia was always alone in the house, especially since the death of Uncle Mane.

Aunt Sylvia was her mother’s elder sister. To her she looked many years old, especially when she was still young. She always thought that Aunt Sylvia was hundred years old, at least hundred was a very big number to her at the time. She had always been very pleasant and full of live even then. Dalsiah was her only child as she never had children of her own. She grew up a pampered child. Even uncle Mane pampered her and you could see that he would have made a great dad had he had his own children. She was spoilt by both aunt and uncle and most of the time she was allowed to have her own way. She was taught Christian conduct from a very early age as both her aunt and uncle were Christians. She was raised to believe that it was unacceptable for any person to stay at home or go to work on a Sunday. She always wore beautiful dresses with a ribbon in her hair when she went to church, and most mothers in church admired her beauty and manners. In fact it was in the very church that she met Rafiqah’s family. They were Aunt Sylvia’s family friends though the couple was much younger.

When uncle Mane fell sick, Aunt Brachia often came to the house with Rafiqah. The girls were always delighted about the visits as they enjoyed each other’s company. Aunt Brachia made it easy for her because her visits were always long and she would help Aunt Sylvia cook. She always looked forward to Aunt Sylvia’s meals. Her food always tasted as if it was out of this world. Aunt Brachia claimed that she owed her cooking abilities to Aunt Sylvia. As for the girls, food was the last thing on their minds when they were together. For them, their company was more important than any nice tasting food. They loved playing together and they always forgot about everyone else, but their toys. They had a whole lot of toys that filled their play room, but they always played with four toys only i.e. Barbie, Rosanne, Debbie and Sarnia. These were their favorite dolls and they would take them to the Wendy house outside to play. Aunt Brachia always wondered why she bothered to buy the rest of the toys since it seemed the girls didn’t even like them. She often wondered if it wouldn’t be better to take the other toys to the orphanage, but Rafiqah always refused, claiming that she always plays with the toys at night when mommy was not watching. Aunt Brachia would just smile and walk to the kitchen for one or other errand.

With uncle Mane’s death, Dalsiah found it difficult to remain in her house. She felt lost and hurt. Aunt Sylvia no longer talked to her, and she was always in tears and it made Dalsiah very sad. Most of the time she would herself, end up crying silently at the sight Aunt Sylvia. She looked very fragile, as if she did not want to live anymore. She seemed to have withdrawn and hidden herself somewhere where no one could reach. Dalsiah couldn’t bear the sadness in her eyes, and they rarely talked together or laughed together anymore. He eyes were always teary, and she looked very sad, as if she was haunted. Dalsiah found herself wanting to go to Rafiqah’s house more often than before. She loved Aunt Sylvia, she was the only real blood relative she had and she cared for her and raised her as if she was her own, despite her age. She was very loving and kind, only life was cruel to her as well. She didn’t have children of her own and uncle Mane was gone. They were so good to her that their lack of children always made her feel sad. She was sadder for uncle Mane, especially. It was obvious he loved children and he compensated by being over indulgent towards Dalsiah. She really had a beautiful childhood with them, and she couldn’t have asked for more caring parents. She didn’t remember her parents since she was too young when they died. The only parent she knew pampered her and loved her as a grandmother would love a grandchild. She always wondered how it would have been if her mother was still alive. She wondered what her mother would have been like. If they would have been friends the way Aunt Brachia was friends with Rafiqah. She knew that Aunt Brachia did her best to make sure that she didn’t feel left out, but she could sense it was not the same. Somewhere deep inside her, she still felt there was something missing; something more personal and closer than just friendship. Something that could only be fulfilled by the umbilical bond only experienced between a mother and child. No one can ever replace that kind of bond no matter how hard they tried. Only a mother can fill the gap, but hers was nowhere to be found. No matter where she would go on earth, she knew she would not find her. She could go to Mauritius, she could go to the end of the earth, and she would still not find her mother. Hers was a longing no one could ever satisfy. Perhaps if she would have children someday, the gap might be filled, and she would feel whole once again.

Dalsiah was so deep in thought she didn’t even realize that she was crying. Her tears were rolling down her cheeks, and her friends thought that she was just sad for the absence of Rafiqah’s parents on a day like this. Everyone knew how close they were, and they heard the stories of their childhood so many times they literally considered the twin sisters. To them Aunt Brachia was her mother too. They assumed that since Dalsiah’s own mother died when she was too young, she, Dalsiah wouldn’t miss her. They assumed that she wouldn’t feel the absence of the bond between mother and child since she never experienced it. What they didn’t realize was that the bond did not start after birth; that the bond started while the baby was developing in the womb and that every child is born with it. Every child instinctively knew its mother, and could identify her amongst other relatives, because bonding took place long before it was born. For Dalsiah it would seem that the bond was too strong. She missed a mother she never met. She felt in her heart that she knew her mother; she didn’t need to meet her to know her. She knew her mother and she was sure she could identify her amongst all women brought together. She once surprised Aunt Sylvia with that when she was four. She found her parents photo in the drawer. They were with two other couples and Dalsiah just pointed at her mother and said: "Auntie, look at mommy, she had the most beautiful red hair ever. It looks like its on fire. Look Auntie, daddy is holding her hand. Daddy really likes mommy heh. Aunt Sylvia was startled as she had never shown her a picture of her mother. Immediately she thought it must be Uncle Mike. Maybe he did show her the picture and point her parents out to her, otherwise how would she know? However, when she asked Uncle Mike, he denied ever showing the picture to Dalsiah.

Aunt Sylvia asked her "Darling how did you know which of the three couples are your parents?

I just know auntie; after all they are my parents. How can I not know my parents? Dalsiah responded. Aunt Sylvia was amazed and all she could do was tell herself it was one of the many wonders of God. Since that day, Aunt Sylvia knew that it is God only who could explain some to the mysteries of life. She realized and made peace with the fact that human mind is limited to those things that were made known to them, but the hidden things will remain God’s and His alone.

2

It was Rafiqah who spotted him first. A very handsome guy, not the conventional type, but lean, tall, and very aristocratic looking, his walk resembled that of a real prince. Lazily he strolled into the room, as if he was on a mission or looking for something very important. There was no mistaking the self confidence in him, the appearance of someone used to give orders and not take them from anyone. He walked as if he was the rightful owner of the place, slowly as if he was the guest of honor with every right to be there, or more even, with every right to arrive late keeping everyone waiting, indeed he looked very confident. It was as if he could take control of any situation no matter what it was. He had dark hair and a dark skin, with strong muscles that reflected in his legs and arms, even through the suit he was wearing. He was very handsome indeed with a mustache extending from his cheek bones to his chin. He wore a dark green suit with a bright yellow shirt and a tie the color of wine with green spots. He was by far the most handsome man at the party, and every woman’s dream of a man. He was walking slowly to the direction of Dalsiah. Dalsiah herself was oblivious of his presence. Rafiqah saw him and caught her breath wondering who he was, as she didn’t remember inviting someone like him, nor was she acquainted to anyone this handsome. Rafiqah sighed and so did all the other ladies present at the party, except Dalsiah. She was not even aware of the presence of the stranger within their mist. She was enjoying her dance and was laughing at something her dance partner whispered in her ear, When Rafiqah sighed, and Dalsiah turned around to see what captured her friend’s eyes like that. For she looked as if she had seen the President himself, no not the President, an angel and she was ready to fly away with him. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes looked so dreamy. Her cheeks were flushed and she presented a very beautiful picture.

‘I hope it is Treasure who makes you look like th…… Dalsiah words died on her lips and she froze. Her lips parted and her eyes transformed to a deep blue color. Her cheeks became pink with indignation as she watched him approach. Her throat went dry. She was not sure what to do; whether to turn around and run or continue with her dance partner and ignore him. Both options were impossible as they required her to move. She was