The first knock did not evoke any response. Even to Prakash, the sound seemed muffled. He had knocked hard and progressively harder so that after some time he was practically banging on the door. The dog was wailing at the top of its voice and other dogs had joined it too so that there was a huge commotion now. And now someone stirred in the adjoining house.
With some heavy duty cussing, the door opened and someone threw some stones on the dogs who then proceeded to run helter-skelter. But Prakash was completely frozen now. Some of the stones had gone right through him, like his physical body was no longer there. The only thought that kept drumming in his head was that he was dead, that it was a horrible dream. He had often thought of what would happen once someone dies. This was it. He was in the fog which let him look at the physical world but which would not let him interact with its inhabitants. He was dead and he was floating now in this god forsaken fog. But what about the old man? Where was he? He should not have run away. And so Prakash turned back and started on the long way, trying to make sense of the events. Was he dead? Was he caught up in this anomaly in time space continuum? If he were dead, he would not be feeling the pain, right? Or may be the pain signals were something his mind came up with from the dredges, something to hold his sanity? Ohhh ,where was the old fool?
There was a sound up ahead and he saw a young man, about 24-25 of age, stumbling along, trying to find his way home perhaps. Prakash called out to him.
"hey, over here"
The young man was scared, Prakash could make out very easily. He was also hurt, he must have fallen some times, his dress was dirty and torn from some places.
"oh, hi. thank god, i found you. can you please help me? " the man was breathless, a tad relieved too.
Prakash waited. He knew what would play out.
"It seems I am lost hopelessly" the young man started to speak and then when he looked at Prakash's face, he stopped.
"and where exactly were you when you got lost?" Prakash himself realized that he should not be speaking in this cold manner but he could not help it.
"uhh, this is sesame society, right? I mean, I did not step out, right?"
"I have never heard of that particular society. No, please tell me which city? let us start from there"
"city?" now the young man hesitated. he looked closely at Prakash and must have seen something that spooked him. Prakash could see fear in his eyes. And no wonder, Prakash must be looking odd, clothes torn, dirty, bloodied lips.
"yes please."
"Bhagalpur"
Prakash had never heard of Bhagalpur.
"and in which state?"
Now the young man steadied himself and looked straight in Prakash's eyes.
"what is this going on? is this some kind of joke? I am lost, I am tired, and I want to go home"
"yeah, me too." Prakash said nonchalantly. He was not scared anymore. He was just curious. How did he manage to get in this horrible mess? And more importantly, how could he get out?
"which year is this?" Prakash asked again.
The young man was livid now.
"is, is this, some kind of joke" he stuttered.
Prakash smiled gently.
"no, this is not a joke. don't get angry. that does not help. this is just to make sure that you are in complete possession of your faculties. this is something I need to know. tell me, which year is this?"
Prakash's voice was gentle now, not tired, but more of coaxing now. He had to know where was he exactly.
The young man was not so sure. " this is year 2004, date is January 10"
Even though Prakash had expected something weird, this really took the cake. He had been thrown out of his time and place in this place, so many years back. His heart sank. The old man had been right. Oh, where was he? Then a sudden thought came to his mind. Maybe once you start running towards something, your time and your place changes so that if you met someone right now, you would not be meeting that person again. The old man had said that he had never seen other people again. He was sure that they had died. Maybe they were thrown around so that it was highly improbable that two people would meet again.
The young man suddenly gave a start.
"did you look at it? there is a light over there. I need to go"
Prakash caught hold of his hand which terrified the young man.
"what is your name?"
"let go of my hand."
"come on, your name"
"raj" he was trying very hard to free his hand. Prakash let go of him.
"before you run away from me, you need to listen to me. after that if you want to go, I won't hold you back."
Raj looked like he was about to break in a sprint. But then he stopped, right in his tracks and then took off again, like he was scared of Prakash.
Prakash started running after him, which must have terrified Raj because he increased speed and then went flying headlong on the road.
Prakash did not see him falling. He saw him disappearing in the haze, head first, his feet following him last.
When Prakash reached that point where Raj should have been, he did not see anything.
"That is interesting. So if you fall down, you get thrown in some other point in space-time continuum. If you want to haunt one place, you need to just keep on walking. So, don't fall down. "
He stood there for some time and he was very calm. All his fear had left him and he was now contemplating his next move.
"what can I do to get back to my original time and place. Or is it better that I somehow break open this horrid maze and then pay attention to where and in which time I find myself?"
He was feeling very cold and he saw the light blinking in many directions now. The light was a trap, like that old man had said. He would not repeat that mistake. So, what could he do?
The lights were getting stronger to catch his attention and he kept still, kept thinking, kept rooted at the same place. He had run enough already. There was no point in running like a headless chicken.
The lights were brighter now, coming closer now. Now he could even hear some sounds, like whispers. The fog was getting thinner. He was surprised. What could be happening?
The fog had cleared off the path and was sticking to the leaves and to the branches but it was not strong now. Prakash could even feel that the power of fog was weakening. The light kept getting brighter till it seemed like a ball of white light was coming towards him, inexorably removing any obstacles next to it. And when Prakash looked at it fascinated, the light, so bright and yet so soothing, kept coming for him. And soon, Prakash was bathed in it. All was illuminated. There was no fog anywhere. He stood right in the middle of such bright orb of light that there was nothing to hide. And Prakash did not want to hide anything. He just stood there savoring each moment. It was so peaceful, so soothing, so pleasant. And then there was a voice. There was someone else standing in that orb. Prakash could only see the silhouette. The voice was commanding Prakash to decide. That was what he could understand.
"Decide what?" At this time, thinking was difficult. The light had pervaded him and he was lost in it. He did not want to think, let alone decide. But the voice was adamant.
"Decide now. uhhh, I need to go back? Ok." Suddenly the voice was gone. The light was decreasing in the intensity and Prakash thought he was awakening. Did he really sleep here? The light orb was now the size of a bulb and then it jumped up and got stuck there. It just hung there and after some moments of staring at it, it looked so familiar, Prakash realized that it was the bulb on the towers that he saw on the road in his society. He looked around and he saw that he was right on the path dividing the blocks B1 and B2. The fog was still hanging around, but it did not try to reach out to Prakash anymore. Even against his will, Prakash legs started moving and he kept walking till the time he reached the park where in he took the left and reached his block D1. He walked up the stairs. There was no one around. He realized that he was still carrying the eggs and bread and that his toe was paining. When he finally entered his room, he turned on the lights and looked at his face. There was blood on the lips. His coat was torn. What had just happened? Did he hallucinate all those events? OR did they really happen?
He could not stand now. He sat on his bed and wept. He was not weeping for his safe home coming. He was not even weeping for that old man who was forever stuck in that fog. He was not weeping for all the bruises and cuts on his body. He was weeping because the light of tube light resembled that of that orb in the middle of the fog and he missed the warmth of that light. He missed the peace that came from just being in that light. He knew what decision he had taken. He had decided to come back and he felt that if he would not have come back, he would still be bathed in that light. And that thought broke him. And he wept for his loss.
-------------------------- The End ------------------------------------------
With some heavy duty cussing, the door opened and someone threw some stones on the dogs who then proceeded to run helter-skelter. But Prakash was completely frozen now. Some of the stones had gone right through him, like his physical body was no longer there. The only thought that kept drumming in his head was that he was dead, that it was a horrible dream. He had often thought of what would happen once someone dies. This was it. He was in the fog which let him look at the physical world but which would not let him interact with its inhabitants. He was dead and he was floating now in this god forsaken fog. But what about the old man? Where was he? He should not have run away. And so Prakash turned back and started on the long way, trying to make sense of the events. Was he dead? Was he caught up in this anomaly in time space continuum? If he were dead, he would not be feeling the pain, right? Or may be the pain signals were something his mind came up with from the dredges, something to hold his sanity? Ohhh ,where was the old fool?
There was a sound up ahead and he saw a young man, about 24-25 of age, stumbling along, trying to find his way home perhaps. Prakash called out to him.
"hey, over here"
The young man was scared, Prakash could make out very easily. He was also hurt, he must have fallen some times, his dress was dirty and torn from some places.
"oh, hi. thank god, i found you. can you please help me? " the man was breathless, a tad relieved too.
Prakash waited. He knew what would play out.
"It seems I am lost hopelessly" the young man started to speak and then when he looked at Prakash's face, he stopped.
"and where exactly were you when you got lost?" Prakash himself realized that he should not be speaking in this cold manner but he could not help it.
"uhh, this is sesame society, right? I mean, I did not step out, right?"
"I have never heard of that particular society. No, please tell me which city? let us start from there"
"city?" now the young man hesitated. he looked closely at Prakash and must have seen something that spooked him. Prakash could see fear in his eyes. And no wonder, Prakash must be looking odd, clothes torn, dirty, bloodied lips.
"yes please."
"Bhagalpur"
Prakash had never heard of Bhagalpur.
"and in which state?"
Now the young man steadied himself and looked straight in Prakash's eyes.
"what is this going on? is this some kind of joke? I am lost, I am tired, and I want to go home"
"yeah, me too." Prakash said nonchalantly. He was not scared anymore. He was just curious. How did he manage to get in this horrible mess? And more importantly, how could he get out?
"which year is this?" Prakash asked again.
The young man was livid now.
"is, is this, some kind of joke" he stuttered.
Prakash smiled gently.
"no, this is not a joke. don't get angry. that does not help. this is just to make sure that you are in complete possession of your faculties. this is something I need to know. tell me, which year is this?"
Prakash's voice was gentle now, not tired, but more of coaxing now. He had to know where was he exactly.
The young man was not so sure. " this is year 2004, date is January 10"
Even though Prakash had expected something weird, this really took the cake. He had been thrown out of his time and place in this place, so many years back. His heart sank. The old man had been right. Oh, where was he? Then a sudden thought came to his mind. Maybe once you start running towards something, your time and your place changes so that if you met someone right now, you would not be meeting that person again. The old man had said that he had never seen other people again. He was sure that they had died. Maybe they were thrown around so that it was highly improbable that two people would meet again.
The young man suddenly gave a start.
"did you look at it? there is a light over there. I need to go"
Prakash caught hold of his hand which terrified the young man.
"what is your name?"
"let go of my hand."
"come on, your name"
"raj" he was trying very hard to free his hand. Prakash let go of him.
"before you run away from me, you need to listen to me. after that if you want to go, I won't hold you back."
Raj looked like he was about to break in a sprint. But then he stopped, right in his tracks and then took off again, like he was scared of Prakash.
Prakash started running after him, which must have terrified Raj because he increased speed and then went flying headlong on the road.
Prakash did not see him falling. He saw him disappearing in the haze, head first, his feet following him last.
When Prakash reached that point where Raj should have been, he did not see anything.
"That is interesting. So if you fall down, you get thrown in some other point in space-time continuum. If you want to haunt one place, you need to just keep on walking. So, don't fall down. "
He stood there for some time and he was very calm. All his fear had left him and he was now contemplating his next move.
"what can I do to get back to my original time and place. Or is it better that I somehow break open this horrid maze and then pay attention to where and in which time I find myself?"
He was feeling very cold and he saw the light blinking in many directions now. The light was a trap, like that old man had said. He would not repeat that mistake. So, what could he do?
The lights were getting stronger to catch his attention and he kept still, kept thinking, kept rooted at the same place. He had run enough already. There was no point in running like a headless chicken.
The lights were brighter now, coming closer now. Now he could even hear some sounds, like whispers. The fog was getting thinner. He was surprised. What could be happening?
The fog had cleared off the path and was sticking to the leaves and to the branches but it was not strong now. Prakash could even feel that the power of fog was weakening. The light kept getting brighter till it seemed like a ball of white light was coming towards him, inexorably removing any obstacles next to it. And when Prakash looked at it fascinated, the light, so bright and yet so soothing, kept coming for him. And soon, Prakash was bathed in it. All was illuminated. There was no fog anywhere. He stood right in the middle of such bright orb of light that there was nothing to hide. And Prakash did not want to hide anything. He just stood there savoring each moment. It was so peaceful, so soothing, so pleasant. And then there was a voice. There was someone else standing in that orb. Prakash could only see the silhouette. The voice was commanding Prakash to decide. That was what he could understand.
"Decide what?" At this time, thinking was difficult. The light had pervaded him and he was lost in it. He did not want to think, let alone decide. But the voice was adamant.
"Decide now. uhhh, I need to go back? Ok." Suddenly the voice was gone. The light was decreasing in the intensity and Prakash thought he was awakening. Did he really sleep here? The light orb was now the size of a bulb and then it jumped up and got stuck there. It just hung there and after some moments of staring at it, it looked so familiar, Prakash realized that it was the bulb on the towers that he saw on the road in his society. He looked around and he saw that he was right on the path dividing the blocks B1 and B2. The fog was still hanging around, but it did not try to reach out to Prakash anymore. Even against his will, Prakash legs started moving and he kept walking till the time he reached the park where in he took the left and reached his block D1. He walked up the stairs. There was no one around. He realized that he was still carrying the eggs and bread and that his toe was paining. When he finally entered his room, he turned on the lights and looked at his face. There was blood on the lips. His coat was torn. What had just happened? Did he hallucinate all those events? OR did they really happen?
He could not stand now. He sat on his bed and wept. He was not weeping for his safe home coming. He was not even weeping for that old man who was forever stuck in that fog. He was not weeping for all the bruises and cuts on his body. He was weeping because the light of tube light resembled that of that orb in the middle of the fog and he missed the warmth of that light. He missed the peace that came from just being in that light. He knew what decision he had taken. He had decided to come back and he felt that if he would not have come back, he would still be bathed in that light. And that thought broke him. And he wept for his loss.
-------------------------- The End ------------------------------------------
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