Short Story: The Order by Sangeeta Mahajan

In this short story, Sangeeta Mahajan tactfully takes us through the emotional ride that follows a breakup leading to a closure.

At 39, she was settled even if her parents worried, she was not.

She longed for her hometown, Bhopal, even though she had chosen to leave fifteen years ago, travelled thousands of miles in search of some ground beneath her feet and some air to breathe, after a mother-of-all-heartbreaks. Now she had left that ruin far behind. Her job as a journalist felt like being with fun friends. She had found her patch of earth and had created a little haven for herself. A first floor flat in a leafy suburb of London was home.

The world had stopped because of some nasty bug. After ages, she had time at home. Time to work her way, one by one, through her long list of ‘Books to Read’.  Right on top was ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne Du Maurier. She logged on to Amazon and found 23 used copies. One of those would do. After finishing it she would donate it to the Red Cross Charity shop down the street. This was her formula for keeping an uncluttered home. It’ll be here tomorrow. Magic.