I stood right there staring as his face reappeared, but on the platform across from me. The trains went by…darkness fell but I was too stunned to move. I wanted to wave to him,say something ,tell him how much I loved him then like a flash of lightning it hit me,he didn’t exist; he never did.
I was lost in my world of dream and speech bubbles. I was smiling. That was me. Drawing cartoons. I think it sort of compensated for my lonely and unhappy life.
It was almost dark. People emerged in and out of the trains like swarming bees. Mine was yet to arrive. I sat there busy with one of my escapades.
“These are pretty good. You should consider becoming a cartoonist.”
I looked up and saw him for the first time, looking right at me and smiling. No one had ever smiled at me.
‘Tell that to my mother, she wouldn’t second that.Ever since my father’s death she’s been on the edge and I don’t want to add to her worries so I’m doing what I do best-Keeping quiet.”
Time went by. I had found a friend.
We met like this every day. He would be there waiting and we’d talk for hours. I had finally let someone into my world.
But today was different. He told me to live my dream and left. I went home to tell my mother what my heart yearned for. She listened intently and smiled through her tears. I finally found the happiness I’d been looking for. Now I just needed to find him.
I saw him. Standing on the tracks. He stood there pale as a ghost. And then the train went by. On those same tracks that he once stood on. Or did he?
P.s: You may visit our judge Neelima Vinod’s Facebook page and have a look at her upcoming novel Unsettled.
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