Something Just Like This

By Hemanth Thiyagarajan

"It is getting worse by the day!" he almost screamed. Into the starry night beneath which he often liked to vent the storm raging inside of him. He used to escape, to witness this surreal world, this universe of the luminous stars nestled in the majestic arms of the Milky way; whenever reality would become too crushing on his sagged shoulders (which was increasing in frequency in recent days).The beauteous stars, though a delight for any mortal, were not the sole reason for his escapade. No, what anyone needs, more than anything to hold on their sanity is..... Someone who would listen to them. More often than not, we need not a solution to our seemingly gargantuan problems. We are quite capable of solving them on our own. What we do need is someone to talk with, someone to indulge us in the mirage that they can share our burdens. And that was the very reason he used to traverse to this rooftop in the middle of the forest, a few miles away from his home. To converse with his diary. To talk.... with HER.

"There are days which seem worse than the most, I know." She was no Shreya Ghoshal, but to him, her voice applied a soothing balm to his ever aching wounds. "On those days, you want to just scrap the tedious, excruciating path you've chosen for yourself and just enjoy those best years of your life, like so many others. Anyone else would've been scared out of their wits to even consider what you've chosen, let alone come as far as you have. But you weren't, were you? No, it was not a rash choice of newfound adrenaline. It was an intricate conspiracy of the universe to set you down the path where you truly belong."

"Bah! I don't believe in all this! I make my own destiny. What I am today and what is aspire to be is and will be of my own efforts," he snarled, but with a lesser intensity than before.

"I know you don't believe in all this, Mr. maker of his own destiny but can't make his breakfast," followed by her cute giggle, which he wanted to hear so badly. "But indulge me. You've come so far, endured so much, sacrificed almost everything you wanted out of life, just to achieve this penultimate goal. To give up now, would render all that meaningless. I won't infuriate you by saying 'even others go through sturggles of their own. Yes they do, and NO. Their fights pale in comparison to what you're going through. So just hold on. Fight on.Go on. Just a bit longer. And in days like this, when you feel you're at your limit, remember this. I WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU."

Even the bravest of hearts couldn't have endured what followed. The stars, the full moon drowned in melancholy watching him burst into copious tears.......

As the audio file came to an end with a click.

By Hemanth Thiyagarajan