Vantage point




Thursday, May 20, 2004

Empty!

He woke up and his eardrums were almost torn apart by the silence. Complete silence! How did this happen, he wondered. He touched his bed.....yes, it felt solid. So it was still the real world he was a part of. Could this still be a dream?

"Ouch" he muttered to himself, wincing from the pain caused by his own fingers pinching his arm. Still the same, still the deafening silence. Certainly not a dream. He pushed the door.....It Opened!!!....and walked out. The corridors deserted, and quiet. By now he wads getting used to the silence, even enjoying it. His fingers no longer seemed to itch for a mobile phone or a keypad. His feet were no longer trying to remember the accelerator-brake-clutch sequence. His feet were just walking.

He walked out of the building, and was amazed at how beautiful the streets looked when deserted. The wide pavements, uncluttered by office-goers and vegetable vendors, seemed majestic. The air smelt different, it smelt cleaner. By now he was positively relishing the silence and the emptiness that had suddenly descended on the world.

He admired the view for a while, and decided to walk down the road. As he took the first step on to the street,

SCREEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCHHHHHH........WHAM!!!

A din ensued as people gathered around the body. The driver, sweating even in this cold weather got down, hoping against hope that the worst had not occurred. However, it had.

Two men ran out of the building towards the crowd. They dived in to see their worst fears confirmed. Their father's mangled torso still held unharmed a face with a serene smile on it.

The momentary surprise at seeing this unfamiliar expression on their father's face was rapidly replaced by grief......which was, as usual, accompanied by an overwhelming urge to blame someone.

The statement "I was telling you we should take him to the mental hospital. I was telling you" was said at the very same time as "Had you not kept the door open, this would have never happened".