After many years, Ira has returned to my town. She hops four towns to get here. We are supposed to meet today. I've been ready since morning. We will meet by the lakeside. She didn't say anything, but I think she will wear a saree. And I will wear a suit. This is the first time I will see her in a saree. Ira has never seen me wearing a suit either. Still, we'll be able to recognise each other.

I have decided on what I am going to say. I think Ira has done the same. Nothing seems to be unknown after such a long time, when everything seems known.

We both probably know what we are going to talk about.

"I couldn't tell you that day," I will probably say.

"You could have told me later. You never did," she will reply.

It suddenly strikes me. I haven't told her yet.

No. I couldn't go. Although I have been ready since morning, when the time comes, I can't do it. I have changed a lot over the years, so Ira must have done the same. We can never be together again. And the memory of her ingrained in my mind might disappear if I see her today.

As darkness falls, I assume Ira has left after waiting for me. I want to send her a text, a sorry note. Do I need to do that? I ponder with the mobile phone in my hand. Right then, Ira's message arrives.

Sorry, I couldn't come. I travelled so far but I couldn't cross this small distance. I couldn't do it. Our wait is not supposed to be over in any way.

Translated from Bangla by Marzia Rahman.

Mojaffor Hossain is a fiction writer and literary critic of contemporary Bangla literature. He has published seven anthologies of short stories from Dhaka and Kolkata. His debut novel, Timiryatra, received the prestigious Kali O Kalam Literary Award (2019). For his short fiction, he has received the Anyadin Humayun Ahmed Award, Abul Hasan Sahitya Award, the Arani Sahitya Award and the Boishakhi Television Award. Currently, he is working as a translator at the Bangla Academy.

Marzia Rahman is a flash fiction writer and translator. Author of two books, The Aftermath and Dot and Other Flashes, she has been published widely in both print and online journals.