The Staircase to Heaven

~Srimoyee Dutta

On a bright, summer day, the residents of Oklahoma were all busy with their house chores as the weekend rolled on. Kids were playing in the park, and almost everyone else was inside their house, enjoying the summer with a bowl of ice-cream and their cool parlor from the air-conditioning. Our story takes place in one such house, where Noah Stark and his wife, Ella Stark were enjoying an early Sunday brunch. The loving couple had recently shifted to the neighborhood, after their marriage five months ago. It was a quiet place, and almost all residents knew each other. The neighborhood felt like an extended family.

On this particular day, it happened to be Ella's birthday, her first birthday since she married Noah. She had expected it to be very special, and so it had been. She had woken up to sweet good morning kisses, and had a perfect hot bath. She was treated to the most amazing Sunday brunch she could have imagined. With her heart content, Ella thought she would go out and do some shopping, while Noah said he would like to stay back and watch some games.

As soon as Ella left the house, Noah got to work. He sent invitations to all of Ella's friends, and the neighbors, for the party he was planning in the evening. He had to decorate the house as well, and had a lot of preparation to do for the surprise he planned for Ella in the evening. He wanted her to always remember and cherish this day, as the most memorable day in her life, a day she can never forget. He decorated the door with flowers and bells. He was baking the cake himself, and as the cake sat in the oven, Noah decorated the lawn. Time ticked on, and Noah kept himself busy with making things perfect.

As the evening crept on, Noah had set the dinner table, and all candles were lit, fairy-lights and balloons were in place and the house looked party ready. Noah was about to go up the stairs to change, when he noticed that it was almost time for guests to arrive and even Ella could be home any minute, and he had forgotten to decorate the staircase!

As Ella drove into the driveway, she saw the decorated lawn. Stepping through the half-open, beautifully decorated doorway, she saw the lights in the hallway were very dim, and the house was filled with the aroma of delicious food, freshly baked cakes, and lit candles. Ella was ecstatic at the beautiful surprise that Noah had planned for her. She called his name a few times, but when he didn't reply, she started getting worried. She started walking around the room, but it was not the decoration that Ella was looking at anymore. Her eyes were only searching for Noah. She did not want to panic, but if this was a prank, Ella was not liking it at all. Going around to near the stairs, she found the string lights and flowers half decorating the stairs, and the rest were strewn across the stairs and the floor, and Noah was lying face down, at the base of the staircase.

Rushing to Noah, Ella tried her best to wake Noah, but the carpet underneath was soaking wet with blood, and Noah's body was cold and limp. Kneeling beside Noah, Ella took his face in her hands, and gently stroked his hair, calling his name. When he didn't open his eyes, Ella started getting angry at him and tears blurred her vision. No amount of slapping Noah, or kissing him, or calling his name would wake him. She even tried CPR, but all was in vain, as Noah did not stir. Ella started panicking, she did not want to think anything bad could happen on her birthday. She did not want to loose Noah so soon. They had so many plans, so many wishes, so many things yet to do. They were going to go to London next month, and then to Egypt for vacations. Noah could not leave her alone like this, not after he promised to stay with her for a lifetime just five months back!

Ella could not think of anything else to do, so she went out to call the neighbors for help. Someone called for an ambulance, while some others tried calming Ella. Someone offered to drive Ella to the hospital tailing the ambulance. All through the drive, all Ella could think of was that she should not have left Noah home alone. She recollected all the memories they made together and the sweet moments spent in the house. She could not bear to think that Noah tripped on the stairs and was so badly hurt. "What was the need to decorate the staircase?" was all that Ella could think of.

As she waited outside the operation Theatre, she had never felt that each passing second could be so slow and agonizing. But her wait was rather short, when the doctor came out ten minutes later and said " The fall was very fatal, and hit the head very badly. I am sorry Mrs. Stark, we can not do anything to help as when he was brought to the hospital, Mr. Stark had already ascended the staircase to Heaven".