In the Shadow-Bath of Reincarnation

(In the form of a recitation script)

Title: Bathing in the Shadows of Rebirth
Delivery: Tender with emotion, slow, with pauses in a voice occasionally broken by pain

[Gentle ambiance: soft breeze, distant chiming of bells]

Tithi (in a soft voice): Forget me,
I will remain in the darkness of an extinguished lamp.

Nir (with restless anxiety): Oh no! Your body is burning with fever!
Tithi… why are you so indifferent to this body?

Tithi (with gentle melancholy): On the night I became utterly alone in my solitude
I sought refuge in your chest…
That moment of unexpected disappearance—
you never wanted to know about it.

Nir (in faint protest): Why are you speaking in riddles, Tithi?
Time is so precious… come, let us feel.
Wrap all my resentments around your soul.
Accept me—breathe deeply,
so my body burns a little more...

(Pause – soft music)

Tithi (in a trembling voice): Can't you understand how helpless I am?

Nir (in a low voice): I'm afraid today, Tithi.

Tithi (tenderly, teasing a little): Afraid of what, silly? I'm here... inside your heart.

Nir: I don't know... afraid of losing you.
Only for you—
do I become 'another me'?

Tithi (voice catching): Don't come so close, Nir…
I'll suffocate!
Why are you so restless?

Nir: Let me have rights to everything of yours.
Why do you torment yourself so?
I've told you—I won't leave you.
At least now... take care of yourself.

Tithi: This very indifference toward myself
delivers my feelings to you.
All my ailments—stay awake waiting for you.
'If only you knew... Nir.'

(Pause – long silence)

Nir: If you love me, don't neglect yourself, Tithi.

Tithi (in an indistinct voice): After so much love, I understood—
I am actually no one to you.
Did you ever say
I was a blue bird kept in the cage of your heart...
whom you keep free to absolve yourself of responsibility?

Nir (forcefully): There was no need to say it—
you are my everything.
The blue bird is mine...
I don't need to cage her separately,
and there's no question of absolving responsibility.

(Sound effect: the sound of lighting a cigarette, distant drizzling rain)

Tithi (in an unwavering voice): Such hesitation to stay close?
Don't try in vain to heal me unnecessarily.
That I have called death...

(Pause)
...is that unknown to you?

Nir (in desperation): Stop! Why do you smoke so much, Tithi?
It's not a good habit.

Tithi (with a laugh-tinged voice): Hold me close once in your familiarity...
See, I'll give up cigarettes!
This smoke—
it knows how to blur your shadow.

Nir: Is my shadow the cause of your pain?

Tithi (slow, full of tenderness): No... of joy.
I can't bear too much happiness.
Your faint shadow is more than enough for me.

(Sound effect: footsteps, soft breeze)

Nir (startled): You came this way after so long?
Tithi, were you looking for me?

Tithi (in a cold voice): No.
I won't need to look for you anymore,
I won't come again.

Nir (tears in eyes): Has anyone ever held you so tightly before?
Tell me...
Let me see how you can manage not to come!

Tithi (in a fading voice):
Even beyond the changing rules
some confessions remain—
which, when cradled in both hands, make me feel...
I'm touching you.

(Sound effect: tea boiling in a kettle.)

Nir (smiling gently): You make wonderful tea—
it's quite intoxicating.

Tithi (intensifying her gaze): Why do you look at me with such calm eyes, Nir?
You know...
tenderness for you pools in my eyes.

(Sighing)
The moments you return to me
struggle and die for a while in my tears.

So... don't look into my eyes today, Nir.

Nir (in a gentle voice): Why do you love me so much?

Tithi (with clear pronunciation): I want to say...
you are my 'world'.

Nir: Your feelings are so intense.

Tithi (for the last time): I'm leaving a bunch of white roses.
When you have time, place them on my grave...

[Final ambiance: gradually quieting wind, soft sound of rain]

Silent reading:

> In Tithi's journey of no return,
Nir still stands—
like a silent poem...

(The End.)