When you have too many friends and you get too much love in your surroundings then beware my friend you are living an illusion.
It was dark outside the house where Sameer Verma has lived for the last 10 years with his wife and one boy. He forgot the age of his boy. He assumed it might be ten or twelve. He was terrible at remembering dates, especially when it comes to birth dates.
When he opened the door he saw both his wife and his boy sleeping on the bed, enjoying their sweet dreams, never knowing the nightmare they would face the next morning, if they cared.
Everything he needed was care and support from his family which was lacking from all sides, there are two sides to him in all, one is his family which has his father and his mother, another was his small and happy family, which has three members including him, his wife and his boy, a little boy which will not remain little any longer as soon as he enters in teenage, the only thing teenage child cares is their living standard, they always want others to see how wealthy they are or how good they are in convincing their parents to buy new things, but they have misspelt these things as a very wrong, living standard.
As per Sameer’s view, the standard was never based on what you show to people, but he doesn’t know how to convince his boy of the real meaning of it, his eyes, wet eyes saw both of them sleeping in the bed he earned from his money, he still remembers how happy his wife was when Sameer earned good profit and then bought these bed, a double bed which has capacity for three to easily sleep on it, the happiness he saw at that day was missing, maybe his eyes gone weak or his wife’s smile faded, he didn’t know the answer and he hopes that he will never know that.
He wanted to step ahead, wanted to fill the vacant space of the bed that was left for him, but his legs didn’t dare to move ahead, they stood still sticking on the floor, a salty drop fell on the floor from his eyes, he slowly moved his hand under his pocket to take out the handkerchief, which was white, the colour of peace, the colour which he wants his family to have, which symbolizes peace.
His legs were struggling so hard to stand there, it was trembling, only his legs were trembling, he looked at the pale face of his wife who was in his direction, he wanted to kiss her, after all, he still loved her, he knows everything changes if you lose but his heart was so heavy at the moment that he can’t accept the fact that life is so precious.
After looking at both of them for so long he turned back, he never thought about the days he went through, the days he hoped would not come from anyone belonging to a middle-class family.
The words of his wife came alive again in his ears when he left the job after getting kicked out of the CEO post.
‘You are a loser, an unsuccessful, how the hell do you think you will be able to make us happy?’ She said after a fight about losing the offer of working as an employee.
Those words were like a sword that makes its way through your heart tearing everything the body contains to protect your heart, once a wise man said that words are like a sword that can kill you without actually killing you, now Sameer realized that the truth of life was the words by that wise man, he didn’t know to attack another person with his words if he knew, still he never done it, because now he experienced how it kills a man from inside, and it was not only that sentences which hurt Sameer, but there were many, many sentences which cut everything through the way to heart, which stabbed his heart on that night when he was standing and looking his small and was good family sleeping there, last days or month came in the conclusion of what he was going to do that night, he was taking a risky step, the step which need every bit of his courage, and he gathered that courage.
He slowly closed the door, taking care not to make any sound that might disturb both of them, he really didn’t want to disturb them but unfortunately, they would get disturbed if they wanted to, he went into the kitchen to satisfy his dry throat, it was his last sip of water as per what he thought, he drank one glass, then kept under the tap of mineral water to fill another, constantly his ears were getting troubled hearing many words from his family, from his colleagues, also from his admirers who once never got tired admiring him, and that was very hard, it created a self-doubt on his mind, his soft mind also started to think that it was all a trap set by them to let him down, to give him the tag of failure, he thought that all of them are merged for what he went through these days, it was the pain, that’s what he thought.
He went ahead to get out of the house forever, he didn’t want to see all these again. That was disgusting, looking at your wife’s eyes which reflected hate more than support was not a good sign.
Society recognized him as a failure, that’s his thought, whenever he saw someone’s laugh, he thought that it was the laugh meant for him, everyone laughed at him, now he already come to know that nothing in life is permanent, it was never there, he was alone in the days when he got part-time success, and also in those days when everyone came in his life just like an eagle comes to grab a snake, they grabbed his success made him a failure.
He opened the main door of the house, a three BHK House that he purchased when he was in the peak of his good days, he could see that day so clearly when he and his wife carrying a boy of one year in her hand, he knows what she wore on that day, she wore a saree of red colour, she was looking so gorgeous on that day, like an angel on the earth but who knew that she will turn her perspective on his mind opposite in these years.
He raised his hand taking the elbow towards his nose and wiping it, the clouds were barking with the lighting making its way through black clouds, he looked at it, sitting on both knees at the entrance of the house, his eyes were wet which made the vision blur, a drop of tear came out of his eyes, he want to ask only one question to the one who sat up there,
Why God? Why me? Why?
But he knew that the answer to these questions was still unknown by the god himself, he sobbed so hard, each tear describing that man who fought bravely till that day when he failed, the tear described the warrior who fought so bravely but in the end, he must have to give a tight unwanted hug to death, the only truth that exists in the universe of the god is death.
He stood up, now his whole body was feeling low, he had to put all his strength into his legs to carry him forward, he wanted a silent death in the forest next to town, not a big forest but it was great, his full sleeve shirt was wet from his sweat till now but unwanted rain in summer started making it wet more.
The memory of his son came into his head like a clip of a film, which shows the shopping mall after a week when he left the job, where he took his son and his wife, when they went there, his son demanded a new school bag, which was quite costly, though he had just recently brought the school bag for him, which his son was not happy of, he did not like it just because his friend was bringing a bag of a different brand, although the bag was branded he wanted different brand bag just like his friend had, so he started crying there in front of all the customer standing, he shouted at his father that he never gave him anything, his son was saying and the knife was stabbing at the heart of him, he never left him without anything, but still just because he said no to purchase that brand bag, his son insulted him in front of the whole public.
He was ready to forget that incident but in the meantime, there were many different incidents which proved his importance as nothing in his family which he used to say sweet family in front of his friends.
The streets of the town were empty, not fully empty. He saw some bikes going at their full speed, and he thought about the one who was driving that bike, he thought that person was enjoying that moment of his life, he also realized that he should have enjoyed every moment of his life before he faced such things.
He walked straight, fortunately, there was no more distance he had to cover because his society was not that far from the forest, his society was only two streets away, his vision came in contact with a clan of trees standing there he walked there inside, getting in through the gap between two three which was enough for taking him in, the mother nature, the only mother he worshipped after his mother died, at that day he also realized that the true love can come from parents, only from parents, apart from it there was no true love exist, he thought it was a bitter truth of the life.
There were many trees in unstable land with green leaves towards his leg, flown like a blanket which the earth has worn in its body, there was one wide hill, and besides that, there was water only water, it was a river through where he never went on to the end, first, he thought he should climb the hill and to fall in the river but after that he not approved that Idea, another Idea was to take his belt out from his pant, and to get hung on the branch of a tree, that he thought was the effective idea, and he knew that no one will come finding him there because people use to believe that the forest where his feet were there above leaves, was haunted, which he never believed, and if it was haunted then why he has to do attempt for suicide like these, can’t a ghost can kill him?
But there was no ghost living there so he found a tree he climbed there making a proper setup, and then he hung there his body started trembling, but suddenly he fell, the mud stuck on his eyebrows and in his face too because it was wet from the rain coming, he saw upwards he believed that he does not tighten that belt properly but that believe changed completely or it disappeared after he heard, a bone-chilling smile, from nowhere, he stood up seeing every direction to know from where he heard that smile, there was no one in the distance where his eyes can see, he believed that it was just his thinking of that smile, but again that bone-chilling smile came, these time he was sure that it arrived from somewhere.
“Who’s these?” He cried in a shaky voice, fear covered in his eyes, his head started running a marathon with no one to compete, his throat gone dry, his voice of him was faded completely, he was standing without understanding anything, he saw the little hairs on his arm started rising, at that moment a current passed through his body which shaken him completely.
Again a smile, the same smile, it was a thin smile, just like what he heard in some of the movies, maybe horror movies?
So was it the reason for everyone not to enter here?
He thought and realized his mistake coming there, but he didn’t think it was a mistake, but on the same hand he was scared. A cold touch in the atmosphere as the rain stopped made him more chilled.
A little far from where he stood, he saw fog covering the further direction of the forest, he noticed the fog everywhere from where he stood, again he heard the smile, this time it arrived from close, so close that he felt someone’s standing after him but when he turned his head, it was fear, he was ready to jump if he sees anything, but there was no one near him, still, he jumped aside, but his leg failed to manage the balance of his body, so he fell, his hand stuck with one pointed wood stick laying there, he shouted in pain taking his hand separating that stick from his palm which was not so big, the blood ran from a hole made in his palm from that stick, it was not that big hole but it ached a bit, but he doesn’t care of aching.
But his eyes gave him the hint of someone standing beside the fog, the air became cold, he know that the cold air was not of rain which occurred recently but it was something else, just like you feel when you open your fridge, especially like freezer, when you keep your hand on it and the cold you experience, it was that cold in atmosphere over there, which was a topic to concern because it never happened in summer before, very unpleasant smell touched his nose, the smell was so bad that he can’t even guess where he have sniff that air, it was like you smelling cow dung, no it was far worse than that too, his eyes glared at the fog which generated a blur body body of someone, it was like a man, his face was Gray, but it contained some red scratches below his eyebrows, no there was no eyebrows in its face, only eyes with red color, the bloody eyes which freeze his blood, the presence of that figure made him cold, his heart cold, he not dared to move from his place, like someone have given him dare not to move, his eyes remained still on the eyes of bald gray man’s hell eyes which was giving him the experience of hell. But he saw something in his eyes,
It was like that monster came near him, he tried to run but it caught his feet, that foot came to its hand getting separated from his body, it ate that foot, Sameer was shouting in pain without any hope of help, one by one it has eaten Sameer’s body, but it was the scene what Sameer saw in that monster’s eyes, but still he stayed there his eyes didn’t move, that grey face contained black smile from his black lips, which became wider from one side.
Sameer looked at it, the figure came near him with its legs containing blood running down from his abdomen like any animal recently attacked it, but the smile on its face was so terrifying that Sameer didn’t wait for a second to run from where he was standing, he ran as fast as he could, for few minutes nonstop, he looked back finding no one there, he got relax not finding it but as soon as his eyes arrived front, he saw that figure standing a hand away from him.
Suddenly he felt like his soul left his body forever but he didn’t know if that would be true thinking, the fog came near, it was so near that the figure became blurry in his eyes, he could see his black teeth which contained some red blood on the upper side of two upper teeth.
He felt like running away but his feet became heavy, so heavy that he couldn’t even lift them, his hands also became heavy which felt like iron, suddenly the figure came near him, he could see its red eyes which reflected him completely red, he felt like like he was being trapped inside that eyes, slowly the vision became blurry again but these time it was not because of fog but his eyes were shutting down slowly, and at moment it became total darkness.
(To be continued)
