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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

On a silent street named Titan - Part 1.

“I AM ALIVE” shouted the grumpy old man who woke up from his sleep, dripping with sweat and a face full of horror as he sat up on his old torn rags which he used as bed, on the side of a silent street named Titan. He slowing looked up turning his aching neck to realize that the sun had already taken its full toll and the rays of light penetrated the lively green leaves of the timeworn tree under which he took shelter. He looked up and saw that a couple of birds were singing in harmony in the little nest they gathered for themselves. The old man looked around himself took some pebbles scattered next to his bed and used the last left energy from his last night’s food to shoot the pebbles which scared the life out of the birds who fled in terror into blue open sky. “DON’T YOU DARE SHOW UP AGAIN WITH THOSE STUPID VOICES OF YOURS” the old man shouted, throwing his fist in air till the poor little birds were no longer in sight. He reached for his shaped out stick and slowly lifted himself up like a turtle. He looked to his east as far as he could to see and the road curved down into the distant mountains and to his west where he could not see where the Titan Street ended except that he knew that it went into the only city which was civilized in the entire plateau of the gigantic landmass which was disconnected from the rest of the world through the darkest oceans and wildest seas. The old man took few steps to the small pond on the dried land to the side of the road which was the only source of water on Titan Street, a road which was laid through barren lands on either sides of it. No one knew when the road was laid and how that body of water appeared next to it at that place. The road ran through miles and miles of barren land until it ended in the treacherous mountains in the east. Some say the civilization in the west laid the road to connect to the mountains in the east but stopped using it since they started believing that a curse has been laid upon the street which would make people passing through it extremely miserable and that very few were able to make it back after walking on it. However the civilization did hear about a man who lived on it as long as they can trace back. No one knew how he lived through time, hunger and weather. Some said he was immortal and some said he was the devil himself.

Back on the street the old man collected some water in his earthen vessel and sat back on his bed. He drank some of it and sprinkled some around his bed. He lay back on his bed and started staring at the leaves and whatever the spots of sky he can see through them. He went back into his deep thought process and moments later he was startled. His ears heard a noise which his brain had forgotten ages ago. The noise grew louder and louder and all at once the old man shot up in bad and started looking around. He looked to the east and it was the same old mountain. He looked to the west and he could not believe what his eyes were seeing. A figures started coming closer and closer to the old man and till the time his eyes came back to focus the figure stood right in front of him. The old man grabbed his stick and threw it right in the face of that figure. “OUCH, why the hell did you do that” replied the voice and now the figure was much clearer. It was a young man dresses in a wrinkled yellow t shirt and dark blue pants. He was rubbing the left side of his forehead where the stick impacted. “You old man, why did you hit me? Did you see any weapon in my hand or was I about to kill you?” the young man demanded the answer. “Go away, go away before I kill you and burry you under my bed. Go back if you love your life, go back to where you are coming from” said the old man. “Who the hell are you to ask me to go back? I will go where I want” continued the young man “and by the way if you want to have a fight then let me warn you it’s a baaaaad idea”. The old man got furious and started to take a leap at him “I will show you what a bad idea is” and he moved forward only to fall down after two steps. The young man came rushing and lifted the old man who was struggling to get his hands on the man. “Settle down old man, I mean no harm. I was just passing by.” The old man’s furry took a rest; he drank some water got himself together and looks at the young man. It was the face of any human the old man has seen in ages. All he was used to seeing is his own reflection in the water. He had long forgotten how childhood and youth looked or felt like and never had a conversation with another soul apart from mumbling to himself. The old man could not die and even as ages passed he could not figure out why his soul would not leave his body which over the years had made him volatile against every single person and thing in his world. “Why on earth do you want to head to the mountains? Dint your elders back home tell you stories about the people who did the same mistake? Go back young man; go back before it is too late” the old man expressed. “Well whatever might happen to me is not worst than what would happen to me if I stayed back there, you have no idea what I have escaped old man, by the way what can I call you? I do not like calling you old man!” The old man’s eyes when wide and he uttered sharply “what is the problem in calling me old man?” “Alright alright, please calm down. You seems like you want to confront every moment” said the young man. “What do they call you…YOUNG MAN?” asked the old man. “They call me Ethan sir” replied the young man. “Ethan SIR?” said the old man surprisingly, “No no I was referring to you as SIR”. “You are a weird little young lad, so why are you going to the east?” asked the old man offering Ethan to sit down. Ethan took rest under the tree with his back on the tree’s bark. He looked around and could not see anything except the mountains at the Far East and expressed “How are you living here, are you even alive old man?” A little furry built up on the old man’s face “first answer the questions asked and make new questions, aren’t there any elders at your place to teach you some manners” grunted the old man. “Alright alright, maintain some cool. I will tell you, what else I have to do apart from narrating my story to you. It’s not like I have to sleep early and get back to work tomorrow” said Ethan and started laughing. The old man showed no reaction. “Alright, so you want to listen to me” started Ethan “Just remembered that you asked for it and I am not responsible to console you when you will be filled with tears and pity for me. I have not escaped the ordinary”. The old man just kept staring.

“God save me from him” Ethan mumbled to himself slowly and started. “Someone once told me“there is a reason sometimes a road is less traveled” I never thought that I will recollect it now. I was born and lived my entire life in the place I am coming from. I loved my home and neighborhood more than anything else in this world and had the most wonderful friends one can ever ask for. Life was so much fun everyday with family, school, friends, food, parties and almost every other thing one can dream of .. Everything was so good that” “Stop, Stop, Stop” interrupted the old man “if you say that you were too bored of what you had and have left to discover life I will kill you this very moment” completed the old man.”Please let me speak, and then do whatever you want to grumpy old man” continued Ethan and for the next few hours Ethan continued to narrate his story and how he found peace and success in everything he did. He was a man of goals and achievements. He told him everything about his childhood, his teenage, his small and big moments of life and he even told him the things he never confessed to people back there. As he was coming to the end of his story he sighed and went “everything was going in perfect harmony until”. “Until what?” quickly asked the old man. “For a man of your age patience should be overflowing” said Ethan and continued “Mathilda, oh what a day it was when she came in with a caravan who were in town for three days to exhibit some art work. It was as if the rainbow just touched my heart when she looked at me and the sweetest music from all around the world fell on my ears when she spoke. I was instantly blown away by her beauty and charisma while it did not take long for me to fall completely in love with her. A night before she came in my town I had slept clueless without any idea how the next three days were going to completely transform my life. In fact to an extent that I am now leaving all that I ever loved and going to a place I do not know about. I just want to go away as far as I can as I find no peace in the land I once lived. “My Son” the old man started “Before I choke you to death with my very own dirty hands. Go ahead and tell me what exactly happened?” “Sigh!” Ethan spoke “A series of incidences which I don’t think you old mind can handle but since you asked for it I will say it anyway. The next three days were nothing less than a journey of life time. But the thing is it is already dark plus the moon and start are already shooting out. How about I continue the story tomorrow and you allow me to sleep here for today?” The old man was already very tired because it has been many years where he had to sit and talk and listen for so long. “I will wake you up at the first ray of Sun” proclaimed the old man and fell bag on his rags. Ethan then made a small surface with dried leaves and laid back under the starry white dotted sky in the pitch darkness and the pin drop silence. He looked at the old man who was already in deep sleep, luckily for Ethan the night was not very cold, he started singing slowly a song in his mind ♪ oh tell me now where was my fault….in loving you with my whole heart…..♪ and closed his eyes and instantly went into the dream mode without wondering what lays ahead of him at the dawn……
Detect language » English

Detect language » English

Detect language » English

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