The evening was warm. I looked at the glorious sunset which was turning the undulating landscape in front of me into a melancholy red with the slightest hint of black. It would soon absolve everything into evening and then night. Nights!

They always brought loneliness to me, a void which I could not fill up since my steady boy-friend had ducked on me. I had been absolutely shocked by the disaster and felt miserable for weeks together. Hot tears would wet my pillow and I would go through the hell that was inconsolable suffering once again! It would seem that it only happened yesterday.

But today was different. For the first time since months, I was looking forward to something expectantly. It was the kind of expectation that made it possible to believe that I would get myself rid of the gripping helplessness that almost stifled my very essence, her breathing itself!

The siren of the extra-large cement factory gave the 5.30 call indicating the end of the general shift. My father was the chief engineer of the factory who would soon be dropped at the gate of the sprawling bungalow by the company car.