Illusion

You never know what a long, endless road hides. There may be turns that may or may not lead you to your destination; there may be crossroads that will confuse you with multiple directions. Because by the looks of a long road before you, you can never assure yourself about the destination, the road just hides a mysterious unknown.

He slowly moved his horse towards the greener patch of land. It was hard to believe that the days and days through the deserts and the barren lands had finally led him to a mysterious entrance that showed a beautiful road ahead. The sound of birds singing just signified the beauty and a trail of tall trees overlooked the vibrant greenery from both sides. A sight so beautiful, that it was calling out to him, to take shelter in the surroundings and find a much needed home.

Cold, welcoming winds blew in towards him, tenderly playing with his hair. After halting his horse, he got down and looked at both sides. A side which was dry and barren and a side that was so green and rich with natural beauty, he was right in middle, trying to find a way through his bemusement.

While looking into the distance at the welcoming patch of road, a voice interrupted his thoughts, “Greetings seeker!”

It was a man who could make a beggar look better. His attire was torn at places and even those consoling patches on his attire had given up. He sported the smile of a long lost friend; his smile was ruined by a few decayed teeth. He had magically appeared from the barren path on the side and was patiently walking towards him. After the horrible looking man was close enough, he continued, “You remind me of my own days, when I’d come here and that welcoming side had engulfed me”

With a surprised suspicion, he backed off a little, “What do you mean?”

“That’s the road to love and all those pretty things that can hypnotize and banish a young man into misery”, the shabby old man slapped his forehead. After a brief pause the man continued, “Come. Join me. Save yourself from this trap, we shall live like honest men and drink our hearts out under the stars”

“You have to surrender to the beauty of love, because it’s what we live for. Forget the bitterness, give it another chance and hop on with me” he said getting on his horse.

The man denied his proposal and walked back towards the barren nothingness. After seeing him disappear somewhere, he charged off into the beautiful sight.

After what seemed like the completion of half a season, there was a similar situation. Another man’s quest had led him to the welcoming lands of love. As he stood there in contemplation, he was interrupted.

This time there wasn’t just one shabby looking man, but two of them, with the same smiles on their faces, hiding their bitter realizations.

Doing Art

A spotless canvas was ready and it was calling out to an imagination. The art in the head would be let out on the impression less surface. The artist stood in contemplation, rolling the brush in the tips of his finger. After a while, his thought process stopped with abruption. He placed the brush on the side table, faced the wall and began banging his head continually, till he saw stains of blood on the wall. After getting the desirable texture of the bloody red color, he stopped. Using his palm he rubbed his forehead and began smearing the color on the canvas. A little smudging here and there and his master piece was ready.

He couldn’t feel the pain of his throbbing forehead as he smiled in awe looking at the random patterns in red on the white sheet.

The liberation of an idea had happened, art had been materialized from the imagination of a head onto a physical medium.

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Doing art is a *bloody* tough job.

The Last Leap

Death was right in front of him, staring at him in his eyes. He wanted to cry but somehow he could hear his father’s voice echoing in the depths of his mind, “A Soldier should die before he can cry”.

Maybe the tears won’t have to wait for long now, death was here and his last seconds were slipping away through the hour-glass of his life. His perception had slowed down, betraying the speed with which the aircraft was going down. Even at this moment, he wasn’t thinking about himself. He had a little realization at the back of his head, about the village beneath.

A shrill beeping sound repeated with a robotic warning, “Secondary engine has failed”.

The warning message wasn’t comprehendible to him as a deep trance was gradually taking control of him. The memories were playing in his mind, his entire life was flashing in front of him, like nostalgic imagery from a projector with frequent dotted patterns.

There was an adorable little child running in the backyard, with his mother running right after him and the father running right behind them with a water nozzle. They’d suddenly fallen down and laughed. Then there was that beautiful woman he had bid farewell, with a promise to come back and a kiss. She was right in front of him; he wanted to hold her once, just once.

The imagery faded away in a flash as he saw a welcoming sight of a rocky patch of a mountain from the cockpit window. The thought of saving the village made him smile. He was crying without tears and smiling with pride. Something told him that it was time to surrender control as the destination was here. The smile did not leave his face and the tears did not flow from his eyes. With arms spread open and eyes comfortably shut, he just waited.

The moments slipped away, his eyes were still shut, and there wasn’t any unusual sensation. Finally he opened his eyes watching a group of ladies clad in white, dancing gracefully. A white bearded man sitting before him, turned back, raised his drink and said “Welcome aboard, Son”.

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For those men of honor, heaven's door is always open.

Moment of Truth

The ballerinas hopped from side to side like fairies dancing in a distant heaven. It took a while for him to locate her. Second row, center, there was she, smiling as she danced, a smile that wasn’t like the smiles of her fellow dancers. Maybe her smile was just like the others after all, but it was his love for her that made her stand out.

Their eyes had met many times while her practice session was on and each time her smile hadn’t changed, but his heart had skipped a beat. It was nothing special for him, he had always looked at her from a distance, waiting for her to give him a glance, a glance that sent him to a different place and brought him back, in one single magical moment.

They weren’t friends, they had never talked. She knew that he used to look at her sweating it out during the final moments of her dance rehearsals. And he would imagine that her smile complimenting her dance was for him. He knew that he loved her. Because when you love someone, you just know it. It’s an unconditional conclusion, with no questions asked.

Today was special for him; it was time to let the accumulated feelings out. He was trembling, swallowing, trying to be a man, in control of his big moment. A light sound of the bell told him that this was it. He forcefully coughed out the nervous air, watching her go into the changing area. An unwanted wait it was, he wanted to fast forward time to those concluding moments.

After watching all the dancers leave, he finally saw her coming out. She had taken a little longer than usual today. She walked out of the dance hall pretending that she hadn’t seen him. He walked right in front of her and she stopped, a little scared, a little surprised.

Before her confused look could turn into a scared one, he said “Forgive me lady, for I’ve shamelessly fallen in love with you “.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued “I’ve imagined holding you in my arms and just wondered how complete would that feeling be”.

Before she could respond, he took out an outrageously red rose from his pocket and presented it to her.

He looked at her letting out a deep sigh after which she began rummaging through her purse. He stood still, expecting her to grab out a revolver or a pepper spray. But what came out of the purse was even more destructive.

She took out a ring and wore it on her finger.

Story Time

A dusty book lay on the table, waiting to tell stories of mysterious lands that were far away from a reality. It was time for her to escort her child to the gateway of sleep leading to a safe shelter of dreams. A story or two shall be narrated feeding an innocent curiosity with hope that opposes a cruel world. Every night this routine was her way to shower her love over her child.

She lit the candles inside the tinted glass lamp and headed towards her child. The winds were blowing hard as shielded the candle flames.

“Where are you, my little one? Mommy’s here” her heart called out. Finally she was there, smiling to the childishly gibberish sounds that she heard.

A story was narrated, after which she could no longer hear her child’s incomprehensible tattling.

“Goodnight you” she whispered. She bent down inside the cradle and kissed the child’s face. Like always her dream ended right about now as it wasn’t a face but a stone and there was no cradle but a grave.

She picked up the book, the lamp and tip toed her way away. She was trying not to let her sobs be too loud, because she somehow believed that her child was sleeping, someplace else.

Tomorrow she’ll be here again, to narrate another story to her little one, because a mother’s heart can never let go off her little one. It’s a love that is beyond the cycle of life and death, something that lives on even if a life happens to end.

Back to Life

Finally, after a day’s delay, it was time to roam. The night was young; there was nowhere to go. You could just roam. When the lights were switched off, lives were signaled to begin. From their beds they were all resurrected and each breath that was inhaled brought back the lost life into them.

The endless stroll started on the empty streets with the company of a long-lost self. The slow breeze signified celebration and the dim street lamps explored a welcoming road, like it was calling out to everyone to take a stroll for some time, to live without the demons of the past haunting them.

They could just walk past the homes, with the curtains hiding the darkness inside, a darkness that remained disguised during the day. Some people were sleeping; they did not know that they could roam. On passing by the deserted church one could hear the bells ringing and the choir singing from somewhere. The stroll went on, past the shops, dairies and the farms.

The first ray of the rising sun was a sign that it was time for the sun to take over. The street lights went off and the dairies were off to an early start.

The first ray of the rising sun signified that it was time to go back home. It was time to end the stroll. It was time for a corpse to rise and live a pretentious life, a life which actually ended the moment you yawned your way out of your bed.

Unfinished Business

He held the cigar smoke in his mouth, watching it doing a slow dance before diffusing in thin air. Even the cigar wasn’t helping him sustain the patience. A blue Chevy van was parked right beside him, in a deserted parking lot. He looked at the van once, as if keeping a check on a priced possession and continued waiting.

A blanket of fog covered the entrance of the parking lot, securing a cozy shelter for some unfinished business. Right out of the foggy layer appeared a man with a suitcase. It seemed that the mysterious man had magically appeared from some parallel universe. A wicked grin appeared on his face when he spotted the man walking towards him. He took a deep cigar puff summing up the long wait through the smoke coming out of his mouth.

He grabbed his revolver from his back pocket and loaded it. The clicking sound echoed in the empty parking lot as if he wasn’t the only one loading the gun.

“Hey champ! Stay there!” he pointed the gun towards the man, who immediately stopped in response.

The man signaled with the suitcase, “I’ve got what you wanted” he said. The man’s voice defied the confidence his posture displayed.

“I’ve got what you wanted too” he replied back to the man in response, striking the revolver’s barrel on the van’s back door. “Show time!” he immediately exclaimed and started laughing like a psychopath who had committed yet another murder to fulfill an animalistic obsession. Somehow he could hear the other man nervously swallowing some cold air in his throat.

Like perfect gentlemen they allowed the only lady in the involvement, to make the first move. He slid the door of the van and out came a brunette, who managed to look sexy even in the messy state that she was in. With her hands tied her back, she ran towards the man of her dreams who was right in front of her. She ran as if some more time spent in longing would kill her. The man dropped the suitcase and they embraced and kissed each other like two mad lovers.

“Awww” he said looking at them celebrating their passionate reunion. “Come on now! Go home! You kids have an entire night ahead of you” he shouted.

They both started walking away together, with not even an inch to spare between them. After analyzing his target, he aimed the gun and hit the bull’s eye. The bullet entered the other man’s skull from the rear end and his lifeless body fell on the ground. It was an instant Knock Out of death. A stream of fresh blood started oozing out from the back of corpse's head. He saw the brunette screaming, trying to shake the corpse back to life.

He put his revolver back into his pocket and whistled his way back to the van, like a hard day’s work had come to an end. He started the car, sped through the parking lot and stopped the car near the crying brunette. He pulled the window down and looked at the brunette, who managed to look sexy even with swollen eyes. He cleared his throat and asked, “Italian for dinner tonight?”

She stared at him in disbelief and shock, for a couple of seconds. Suddenly a grin spread over her tense expression. She nodded like a happy child, picked up the suitcase fallen beside the corpse after checking the genuine currency notes and hopped into the car. The van disappeared into the fog outside, leaving a forgotten corpse behind.

The Big City Romance

A full moon was up, like it had been purposely put up by the angels, to decorate the skies. Two hands were clenched to each other as they walked together. The sound of the waves resonated in their ears like the sounds from a live orchestra. Their eyes hypnotised by a beautiful starlit night. They never said anything but whenever their eyes met, they just smiled at each other. Perhaps, the moment was just too perfect and there was nothing to say.

The favourite lover's point was a little less crowded today. The dark skies abruptly flashed lightening as if the rain Gods had signalled for a drizzle and so, it started pouring.

Immediately her feminine fear convinced her to remove her stilettos. A recent purchase and a precious possession, they were. With her bare feet, she ran with him towards the shade of a tree. A deserted ice cream stand caught her child-like attention and within no time, he was watching her relish the ice cream. She carelessly wiped the cream from her lips as she talked and all he could do was just smile at her.

It was time to go home. Something even a deserted train station told them. Once a train was boarded, they both ran towards the compartment door, and watched the distant lights move past them. He whispered something into her ear and she laughed.

Time flew and they were finally home, walking down the narrow street where the taxis and rickshaws were resting in solace. He began whistling a tune to which they rhythmically moved their grip in a forward-backward dance as they walked. After he was out of breath, she hummed a song which was halfway complete when they reached the door step.

He let her in and threw the keys inside the drawer. They both fell on the bed together. He looked at her by his side and closed his eyes. A few moments later something did not feel right. On opening his eyes again, he did not see her.

Numerous cars began honking from outside the window as the reality hit him. A tear rolled down his cheek and he realized how lonely he was in this big big city.