Alleviation

The Gallery of Modern Art holds exhibitions all the time. Artists
old and new are eager to have their work displayed here. For the past
six days the gallery is hosting a unique exhibition. Paintings of
artists who are below the age of twenty have found place in the event
which has been named 'Prodigy'. These are paintings created by people
who are still in high school though they have highly developed artistic
sense. It's a Friday today. Melissa was planning to go to a nightclub.
However her husband Rick, as usual, is busy with work. It began to rain
and then Melissa decided to come to the Gallery of Modern Art. Rick
owns a software exports firm. He is only thirty years old and is
already considered a leader in his field. He seems to be busy at all
times. Its only on Sunday evenings that Rick is free and by that time
Melissa and her friends have moved into the next week mentally. Melissa
is rather proud that she married Rick. All her friends have husbands
who work in large concerns. But Rick runs his own company and very
successfully too. But there are times when Rick's success begins to be
boring. Melissa then thinks how life may have been if Rick had an
ordinary nine-to-five job. Melissa does not understand paintings too
well, specially abstract ones. But art galleries, specially this one
are so pleasant to visit. Spotless, nice-smelling with shining walls.
And of course the well-framed paintings. Melissa had seen all the
paintings twice over and it was still raining hard. Suddenly there was
a tap on her shoulder from behind. It was a man with a baby-face. His
face seemed familiar. Before she could react he spoke, "Are you Melissa
from Joyport University? I am Barry. I was in Chemistry with you"
Melissa felt angry at first and then pleased. She was happy that
someone she had known ten years before still remembered her. For she
was an un-interesting person in college. It was only after marriage
that she kind of opened up and became this popular society lady. Barry
mentioned how it had started to rain suddenly and how it disturbed
everything. Melissa said the same thing too. She was pleased that a man
her age was taking interest in her. The two of them went to the
entrance and waited for the rain to stop. It was past eight thirty when
Barry and Melissa started looking for their respective cars in the
parking lot. Melissa discovered that the keys of her car were lost. How
and where the keys had got lost she did not know. She gave the matter
some thought and then asked Barry to drop her home. Home was a ten
minute drive from the art gallery. When they got there Melissa knew
that Rick was still in office. She asked Barry to come into the house
for coffee.
The friendship between Barry and Melissa grew as the days passed. Rick
was perpetually occupied with work and Melissa always lonely. Some
friends told Melissa that Rick was having an affair with the deputy
general manager of his company. The person in question was known for
her rich and powerful boyfriends, past and present. Melissa felt that
life was slipping away from her hands. In five years or a little more
wrinkles would appear and middle age would take its toll. She had just
one life, just one, and this was the time to enjoy it. She said all
that she felt to Barry. He showed great interest in her dilemmas. He
posed as a friend at first but soon wanted much more. Melissa did not
know what to say to him. Then, he came up with THE idea. He said that
the two of them loved each other greatly. She was married and he did
not have a steady job. He reasoned that the only way they could be with
each other was by killing Rick. Melissa did not want to do this for she
loved Rick greatly. But for one whole year Rick and she had not had a
meal together. They spoke only on phone. Barry's idea was this. Rick
was going to the hill-station Wellington for a business conference.
Melissa would surprise him by landing there. Then, Barry and Melissa
would push him down from a cliff and he would never bother them
again.
Melissa and Barry left for Wellington three days after Rick reached the
place. Melissa could still not think of even hurting Rick. But Barry
kept on telling her how little Rick cared for her and how much he,
Barry, loved her. Barry and Melissa checked into different rooms of the
same hotel under false names. That evening Melissa visited the
convention centre where Rick's conference was taking place. Barry
followed her but kept sufficient distance. Rick was surprised when
Melissa, his wife, greeted him with his favourite flowers. They began
walking towards the hotel with Barry following them silently. After a
while they came to a place that was suitable for what Barry and Melissa
intended to do. It was a cliff off which a person could be easily
pushed and the drop was so great that no one would ever know. Barry
showed the thumbs up sign to Melissa to indicate that this was it.
Melissa went to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the valley
below. Suddenly, both Rick and Barry clasped her two shoulders and
threw Melissa down the cliff. A faint cry was heard as her body sped
through several thousand feet and disappeared into the thick forests of
at the base of the cliff. Rick shook hands with Barry and said,
"Collect your payment in the morning"