Coffee

The sun is yellow, sky is blue, grass is green and there I am sitting with my coffee cup. Now, there are butterflies around going round and round and all I am worried about is the storm in my coffee cup. Generally, I would have reveled at the trivial topic and dissected its particulars, but somehow this time I really did not like that there is a storm in my coffee cup. No, it’s not that I don’t like storms they are gorgeous of course, it was actually the trivialness of the topic that offended me. See, the point is that on one hand there are great visionaries who map the landscapes of humanity with their thoughts and on the other hand here I am worrying about a storm in my coffee cup. The exact depiction of the feeling is one of a lab rat chasing a piece of cheese on his Ferris wheel while other rats are bringing down cities. Once you get that image, the question becomes obvious and that is chosen/designed/synthesized to ponder on trivial things while few go about their business and trot to greater objectives? A fundamental aspect of equality of human beings is what I begin to question. The answer of course became apparent and its horrendous nature did not really sit well with me. If some where there is someone who has made me trivial, owes me an apology. You cannot just get away with that.

With a burning desire to have a tete-a-tete, I then pack my bags and head for an obscure island. I stand there on the rock and while staring at the huge mass of water I declare my purpose. “Come down here! You owe me some answers!” I shout. No reply. Ok I’ll wait.

Hours later, the sun rises over a calm sea. I had never seen anything more beautiful than that, something thing comparable to a lady answering your call, opening her eyes and looking directly at you. The most thrillingingly awesome sight indeed! Now, as my brain starts computing the beauty and magnanimity of god’s design, I apply the brakes to this train of thought and ask it to hold it right there! “You can’t fool me with this! However grand your plans are they still does not answer my questions!” “Come down here! You owe me some answers!” I declare again. No reply. Ok I’ll wait again.

A lot of hours have passed now, I begin to feel hungry, knowing however that the island is abandoned I let my hopes be a minimum. Few more hours pass and now hunger is unbearable. My eyes defy the logic my brain has to offer and start looking for food. I scan the area carefully and what is that tree far away I see? Are those coloured dots on a green skeleton fruits!? I run with all my might all the while expecting them to be fruits. My mind is quick enough to draw images exemplifying their luscious nature. I run harder. Now within clear sight I gasp “Apples!” Within fraction of seconds of this discovery, my hand reaches ahead, plucks that red beauty and with an eagerness equaled only by the feeling of kissing irresistible red lips, I bring the apple within biting distance. At that moment right there an alarm goes off in my head “Bribe! It’s a bribe!” I throw the apple and step away from the tree. “Oh! You won’t get away with this!” I head towards the shore, more resolute, angrier! “Come down here! You owe me some answers!” I declare. My eyes locked with purpose. No reply again. I cross my legs and station myself there to wait again.

The response to my declaration actually came later, not in the way I had hoped though. Clouds gathered over me, darker, messier. It was as if the beast’s trickery had been unearthed and now he seeks revenge. Suddenly the lightning strikes with a thunder that shakes the land and with this war cry a million piercing drops of water, as if arrows from the heavenly army, descend down upon me. With insatiable hunger for punishing the outlaw, the waves tower in front of me adamant to dissolve my very existence. As this multi-pronged attack raged and ravaged, something more sinister came to play. It was a doubt. A doubt whether an apology is really worth this? A doubt whether my decision even makes sense? A doubt whether is this the way I want my existence to cease? As worms of doubts were creeping their way in along with battering rain and unforgiving tides I have a moment of epiphany. “Your ego is too big to surrender to me, is it not? You would rather kill me and destroy the question rather than face me and answer it?!”

I then close my eyes, surrender myself to my constituent elements and lie down. After a journey of conflicting emotions a smile came up “It was a battle I didn’t win, but it was a battle you lost!” and with these last words for the all mighty I gave up, sure of the fact that there will be more who will come.

Sleep

Sleeping can be a ghastly process.

As you face a conundrum with your half open eyes, devil whispers “Come to me” in your ears. Images of your hard working day displayed in front of you,

“Close your eyes” he says.

“You deserve it” he says.

Evil eyes and a wily smile. A woman with long nails and a red nail polish signals you to enter the cave. “Come hither” echoes all around. The lady puts a finger on her lips and suddenly with a “Shhh...” the world stands still, everything around seems redundant, all attention is focused on the cave. The cave seems to be calling your name. There is a little di caprio inside you saying “you had my curiosity, now you have my attention”. There is a part of you waiting to be one with the dark. It reaches out and grabs her hand and seconds after what seemed like eternity, you are in.

A sigh of relief, a feeling of comfort builds around you, only to last till the time you realise a creaking sound that represents a heavy steel door shutting right behind you. As you turn your bulged eyes, filled with surprise and dismay, back to the lady, the scenario has totally changed. The cave has been lit by helices of fire, bringing to light things that you would rather prefer be in dark.

“Welcome to your sleep” the lady thunders, showcasing the canines hidden behind her red lips and oh by the way you also notice the sticky red fluid you are standing on. Its origin can be traced back to a sound which goes like “tak..tak..tak..tak..tak..” A harmonious and efficient use of a knife in a chef’s hand. The machine being one with the man. There is a body lying on his table and he starts with the feet, dissecting layer by layer like carrots and beans. As his left hand makes its way up, the right as if under strict orders, slices with a clean action whatever volume is available. Within minutes a human body is converted to salad, ready to be served with appropriate dressing.

Your dumbfounded silence and not to mention a feeling that is summed aptly by Constable Clarks words to Sherlock Holmes “Panic. Sheer bloody panic, sir!”, is broken by yet another creaking sound. Damn! You must hate them by now. It is sort of a dragging creak from a chair that the lady is bringing around. She is approaching you slowly and steadily. You might have found it seductive had you not been in a pickle right now and as you curse the timings of these pickles she is approaching while dragging a chair along. The legs of the chair, apart from making that obnoxious sound, are scratching the thick blood stains on the ground. For a moment you feel sorry for the sound, it probably is the cry of agony while trying to leave from whatever this is.

As the lady comes next to you and stations herself on the chair. The lights in the cave brighten and you are greeted by gathering of people also stationed on chairs. Their faces speak of the eagerness with which they wait for something to happen. You obviously have no idea who are these people or what is going to happen to you, so you take one choice that almighty has trained you for. The one skill that you are a master of. You try to turn your back and run for it. But, oh no you can’t. The blood beneath has glued you, the fear has struck you motionless. You sir are asleep. You can’t run. You can’t hide. All you can do is stand helpless waiting for whatever is going to happen. As your subconscious lingers about all the invasive strategies the villains apply in movies, she stands up to address the gathering. As wise Theoden might say “So it begins”.

“You can start you bidding now” says the lady, looking dismissively towards you as if saying “that’s right you are being auctioned”

The feeling on your face starts with absurdness and later dissipates into submissiveness. With every bid that the seated gentlemen make your humanity drains out a little and by the time this process ends you feel like a chained animal. Lady gladly gives your reins to your proud owner. You are now officially his property.

“You sleep when I say, you wake when I say” commands the proud owner, and suddenly in a moment of sheer brilliance an idea pops in your mind. You can just wake up. Screw the lady, screw the chef and screw the bloody owner. Open your eyes and kiss this nightmare goodbye. So, with all the strength that was left, you push your eyelids apart and voila! You are awake!

But, before you could take a sigh of relief, you are greeted with glaring looks, shouting people, ringing phones and assiduous alarm clocks and you wonder if all that was reality after all.