Chitra Divakaruni - One Amazing Thing

“Hey,” she said, “remember that aurora we saw that night we almost went to New York? That was something, wasn’t it?”

Uma agreed.

“Remember,” Jeri said, “I was the one who pointed it out? You guys wouldn’t even have noticed it without me, you were that stoned.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Uma said.

“People never believe me when I tell them about it. They say I must have been smashed and imagined it. Or it must have been something else, something ordinary. But it was an aurora for real, wasn’t it? Because if it wasn’t, I want to know.”

There was no time to hesitate. Uma said, “It was an aurora.”

“You telling the truth? People lie to me all the time. I’m sick of it. I want the truth about this one thing before I die.”

“I’m telling you,” Uma said. “It was an aurora.”

Jeri laughed, then coughed a horrible, hacking cough that went on and on. When she could speak, she said. “I knew it! All those SOBs, trying to mess with my head. Feels good to hear you talk about it. I screwed up my life big-time, a lot of ways. Did a lot of stupid stuff. But at least I saw one amazing thing.”

Then she hung up. Uma never heard from her again. But her thoughts kept returning to their surreal night together, an experience she would never have had but for her father’s fateful phone call. She wondered if she had done the right thing in lying to a woman who had seemed to want only one thing from her: the truth before she died. Or had it not been a lie? Weren’t the lights an aurora, their magic transforming Uma, giving her the courage to turn her life around, because she had believed them to be so? Uma suddenly felt it was crucial that she ask the company what they thought of this.

The clankings grew louder. The giant was on his way down. As they waited to see what would happen next, Uma began the end of her story.

My deepest thanks to:

My agent, Sandra Dijkstra, for support

My editor, Barbara Jones, for guidance

My mother, Tatini Banerjee, and my mother-in-law, Sita Divakaruni, for good wishes

Murthy, Anand, Abhay, and Juno for love

Swami Nithyananda, Baba Muktananda, Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Tejomayananda, and Swami Vidyadhishananda for blessing