A Sleepless Night

She checked her phone for the time.Six A.M,it flashed.She rose up from her couch,went to the kitchen and made some coffee for herself.She hadn't slept the whole night,not for a single second. She hadn't even gone to bed,sat on her couch the entire night,and now she knew it was useless to go to sleep,she would have to wake up in an hour anyway.She went to the balcony with her mug,and sat on the swing for which she had searched the entire city.It was a mid October slightly chilly,but marvelously beautiful morning.She loved fall,the season,the falling leaves,the laziness,everything about it always brought back so many memories.She watched the street intently. She saw some kids riding to school,her school,and immediately time traveled seven years in past,when she used to go to the same school.She had studied in it for fourteen years,and it meant home to her. She felt nostalgic.The same she felt about this city,her hometown, where she had lived for the past twenty four years,basically her whole life,first twenty-two with her parents,and after getting a job,in the other part of it.She took another sip and realized the coffee has already finished.She stood up and went back inside.Six forty,she checked the time again."Well the school starts at seven twenty,better hurry up",she remembered her mother yelling every-time she took extra time in getting ready. She giggled "Challenge accepted",and quickly washed her face,picked up her car keys,and rushed out.

She drove towards her school.The stereo was playing low,and the windows were up.Suddenly something was reminded  to her.She switched off the stereo,pulled down the windows,let her hair loose,and started singing the same old songs she used to sing while riding her two-wheeler years back,feeling the chill of the season.Back in those days,her generation didn't had the luxury of smartphones and cars and stereos and social networks,unlike today,about which she was really thankful.She had a real childhood and adolescence and not a virtual one.She gazed out of window,surprised how everything was just the same,exactly same as it was seven years ago.Yes,the roads were better constructed now and traffic more organised,but apart from them,the spirit of that area was just the same.As she neared her school,a sense of excitement hovered around her.Even after living in the same city,she was going to see her school after so long.She can now see so many students of her school,and she smiled at them,knowing that they were lucky,and also knowing how each of them considered themselves to be unlucky.Only if they knew how the world outside was.
She stopped her car just outside the main gate of the school and peeped inside.She had no intention of going in,considering the clothes she was wearing,or her state after a sleepless night.But she knew even if she was properly clothed,she would have not gone in without her friends.
The bluish grey gate was wide open and welcoming everyone.Lower grade students were running inside,playing,shouting.The older students were standing in groups,deeply engrossed in their conversations.Some teachers stood at the corner of the ground,talking and occasionally checking the students.And there she was,sitting inside her car,in front of her home,with tears in her eyes.A deep sense of nostalgia filled her heart,not because of anything that she saw ,but because of that one person whom she hadn't forgotten,and this morning had brought back the remembered again.That person with whom she had fallen in love inside those gates,but whose love has haunted her outside those gates too.Someone whom she had thought of every moment of every hour of everyday since she walked out of those gates.She missed how she used to get up everyday happily,eager to go to school,so that she can see that smiling face.She missed being in that sense of completeness and magic.This is the place she had first fallen in love,and after that,she had never fallen in love again.She had a lot of amazing male friends and colleagues who cared for her,but as soon as she looked in their eyes,she knew that she didn't belonged with any of them.And the one she knew she belonged with,probably didn't belonged to her.

The gates were long closed.She could hear the prayer going on inside.She quickly took out a tissue and wiped her eyes and face,and after composing herself,she drove back.She can still remember all those silly little memories of him and how they used to stare into each other's eyes and the world would stop.She laughed at herself,and stopped the car,the signal was red.She tried to change her thoughts and looked around.Just then,three young boys rushed too fast across her car on their bike,who were probably late for school.She suddenly remembered how someone she knew very well had passed away two weeks ago in a road accident,and he was so young.She hoped that no such thing would happen with anyone again,and thanked God for keeping her and her loved ones safe and healthy.The signal turned green and she turned right.She would have to call her office,there was no way she was going today.She was a good employee,not great,but good enough.Hard-working and punctual,never taking too many leaves,and in return was paid good amount of salary.She would have thought of a lot of self praises,but suddenly she felt too hungry,her stomach reminding her she hadn't treated it with anything since dinner previous night,hours back.She started searching for early breakfast stalls,and very soon she located one.After so long she was going to have some of her favorite local breakfast.She got her food packed,and it seemed that she had probably got packed the vendor's entire stall.She giggled.

She reached her home.The weather had warmed up,she noticed.Eight thirty.She quickly had her breakfast,enjoying every bite and missing how she and her friends used to fight over these things.She smiled and called up her best friend.For the next hour they chatted while she tidied her home.They agreed on meeting up that evening at her home.After that call,she called her team leader and told him she wasn't coming that day.Finally after everything,she took a shower,all her tiredness,worries and memories washing away.She chose her blue jeans and her favorite green cotton kurta,ending slightly below her waist.She poured herself a glass of orange juice,and then suddenly remembered something.She ran to her room,opened her wardrobe and after a minute gently took out her dream.Her DSLR camera,the first thing she bought for herself with her own money.She had always wanted to be a photographer.It amazed her how a simple click could capture so much,and even after years,photos would always tell you the stories.How she used to click so many pictures when she was a teenager.A common passion which both she and he shared.She missed how they used to talk about the latest cameras,lens,and light and angles,even when both of them knew absolutely nothing about photography,and she hadn't connected with anyone like that again.She had always believed that one need to have a same platform to connect with someone.After he was gone,she had stopped photography.But today was different.She kept the camera for charging,and went to the kitchen and drank her juice.

After two hours she was again on the roads of the city.Traffic had grown,and so had the temperature,but again so had her spirits.She parked her car and started to walk through one of the busiest markets of the city.Making her way through the dense crowd,clicking pictures whenever she spotted an amazing moment or thing or person.She cannot remember the last time she was here.Her high salary had made her a high brand shopper,limited to malls of the city,and lately even it had reduced to online shopping. But today,she was out,in sunshine,talking with strangers and bargaining with shopkeepers,and munching road side food,but most of all,capturing all beautiful sights in her heart and camera.She then spotted a roadside kulhad tea stall,and she ran towards it like a child,as it is one thing to have your tea in a expensive cup,but to have your tea in a pot made of mud and clay,and their natural scent mixed with the flavors of the drink,is a marvelous experience in itself.After having her tea,she knew it was time to head back home.

By the time she was at her doorstep,it was already four.She unlocked the door,went inside,kept everything on the center table,and headed to her bed directly.She was feeling fresh,but only in her heart and mind and soul.Her body demanded rest. She fell asleep,deep asleep in just a few minutes.
She woke up around two hours later,with  a deep warm feeling around her.She didn't knew how it was possible,but only two hours of sleep has given her peace,after a sleepless night and a day full of events,peace which even a full night of sleep had failed to grant her after a dull day in the past.

She went to the kitchen and warmed some milk for herself,and added some chocolate powder to it,a habit about which she was regularly joked for,but she didn't mind it,she loved chocolate milk,as much as she loved wine.She again went and stood by the balcony,sipping occasionally.The park,just outside her flat was buzzing with kids and people.Kids of all sizes were playing,and people of all ages were either exercising or walking or gossiping.She remembered herself as a kid,and how much she used to play,especially in mud,and her mother taking her to doctor later,because of the diseases she would carry in with mud.She smiled again.

After exactly 10 minutes,she found herself standing in the same park,and if the park looked like a crowded park from her flat,then it looked like a beach picnic spot on a holiday from here,with the entire city chilling out.She felt terrorized and vulnerable among the kids running without any direction and feared of going deaf in their screams and noises.She was contemplating the idea of going back,when she spotted an empty bench.She sighed and went to sit on it.The sky was orangish blue,with clusters of small white clouds scattered everywhere.The sun could be seen setting,and the weather was once again pleasant.She was lost in her thoughts when she heard few children arguing,and she turned their way,listening. They were nine in a game of cricket,and to make even teams,they either needed one more player,or needed to drop out one,and they were fighting about who that one would be."May I play with you ?" She asked them.The kids were startled at the unusual proposition of this stranger.They said they don't play with strangers.She showed them her flat and told her name.The kids said that she would play better and it would be unfair to the other team,about which she assured them that she was definitely the worst player amongst them.Kids finally agreed and the game started.She was right,she was terribly terrible. Everytime she would bat,either she was bowled out,or caught out. Everytime she bowled,it was either a six or a four. Everytime she fielded,she would duck around and hide and gave way to the ball,giving runs.Her team members scowled and frowned at her,wondering how someone double their size could have half of their cricketing talent.As it was written in destiny,her team lost.She apologized to her team,standing as a sole criminal,but her judges didn't seem to have a heart.She was punished with 20 sit ups.She was on her 10th,all of them laughing at this stupidity,she included,when her phone rang up.It was her friend.She had totally forgotten about their meeting.She again said sorry to the kids and ran to her home,promising them to come back with better talent.

Her friend was standing at the door,with a big pizza and soft drinks,a photo album,and her purse.The sight of her friend struggling not to drop anything down made her laugh out loud.She teased her and unlocked the door,and after keeping everything on the same table she had kept her things earlier,they hugged tightly.They had been childhood,bestest of friends.Went to the same school,same college,they knew each other like open books.Lately they hadn't been able to catch on each other's lives due to innumerable reasons,but her best friend's presence at that moment made her realize some bonds can outgrow the dimensions of time and distance and can still hold their essence and magic intact.They ate and drank,and went through that photo album,for which she was so grateful that her friend had brought it along.It was their lifetime of memories.Hundreds of pictures they had taken during their school  rested in it.With each photograph,both of them relived hundreds of different stories and moments,laughing and crying at the same time.Some pictures even had him,and she touched the picture through her fingers fondly.Her friend had known she had loved him.His friends had known she had loved him.Probably even he had known she had loved him,but whether he loved her back was a mystery to all;her,her friend,his friends,probably even himself.Her friend closed the album,she couldn't see her friend in the pain of lost love.She tried to change the atmosphere and asked about her work,and life and future and told her about her own work and life and future.She even told that the guy she was seeing since college,finally proposed her for marriage,and as soon she said it,she regretted her words.Her friend who was on the verse of nervous breakdown because of her lost dreams,was now shouting excitedly at the top of her lungs,and the neighbors had probably thought she was being murdered.They hugged again.When one best friend gets married,all the other best friends have the right to behave like it is their wedding.For the next few hours both of them talked endlessly about everything and nothing.Hours flew like minutes and seconds,and it was time to part. Finally they both hugged again and promised to meet up on the  upcoming weekend.

She returned to her home,and looked around it for a few moments.She had cleaned it the same morning,and now at night it looked like a complete mess again.Just like her life.Her friend was educated,had a good job,and was now marrying the person she loved,and who loved her back.And here she was,standing in a messed up house with a messed up life.It wasn't that she wan't happy for her friend,she was really,really happy for her,but it was like she was just sad about herself.She was stuck in a job she had no passion for,had friends who were definitely not real,apart from few,had an unfulfilled dream and an absolute failed romantic life.She sighed.She had no idea what she needed to do.She looked up,and instantly saw the camera,she had forgotten to see the hundreds of photographs she had clicked that afternoon.She rushed to her room with the camera,connected it with her laptop,and started scrolling through the pictures. Some were really good,some were really bad.But with every photo,she remembered the event,and she smiled.Suddenly a thought rippled her mind.She opened up a search engine and started to search something.After half and hour of research,she had phone numbers and email id's of the ten most reputed institutes of photography around the country,and she was going to call all of them tomorrow.She had wasted a lot of her life doing things which really didn't mattered to her,but now she was going to follow her passion.She felt so enthusiastic about this new little project of her's.She was sure her parents would support her,and in the last couple of years she had saved enough to fund her course,and she will independently walk through it.She felt really proud of herself.

Finally,she poured herself a glass of wine,and switched on the radio.She had a habit of listening music,her own track list before going to sleep,it soothed her,but since today had been different,she chose radio over her repetitive songs.It gave her a sense of satisfaction to not have control over something.She again took up her laptop and logged onto her social networking account.She wasn't too much into networking,and couldn't understand why today's teenagers were wasting so much of their precious time on it.She checked it once every night for some minutes,and she thought that much was more than sufficient.Her account opened up,and a sea of photos and posts were in front of her,and she scrolled through everyone's "happy life".She wondered if everyone really had the same awesome life their profile showed,and if yes,then she had a reason to sulk some more about her life.She was going to log out but suddenly the green dot went on in front of a name on her screen.His name.She stopped.Yes,he had been in her touch since all the past seven years,and after some small conversations in the initial months,they had been totally out of contact.She had visited his page more than she had visited hers,and she had some hope left that he wasn't seeing someone.But then again,how can one predict about someone's life on the basis of their social page.She knew he wasn't a public person,but he was a fun person.And even if he wasn't in love with anyone else,doesn't mean he was in love with her.Her heart skipped a beat.She knew she had to do something about whatever she felt for him.She had waited him to contact her first,but that hadn't happen,and she wasn't going to live her whole life waiting and regretting,especially on a day in which she had made some life changing decisions,and she knew this was the most important one.She messaged a hello,and waited,which seemed like eternity.What if he didn't replied,probably so many of her dreams will break.He replied back almost immediately,and they talked for an hour.They talked about her work,her life,their city,his work,his life,his city.They talked about photography and the old times.They talked,and that was something which she couldn't believe.It was so easy and natural,so comfortable,and she cursed herself for not sending that message before ,in her ego.They said good bye,and she came out again in her balcony with her wine glass.He was in their city,pleasantly shocking,and was going to school tomorrow,and had politely asked her if she would accompany him.She had obviously said yes.The breeze was cold and she shivered,the moon was high,although barely any star was visible in the polluted sky of the city.She pinched herself,if all of this was a dream,then she better woke up,because everything was too good to be true.All her life she had been thinking about changing her life and taking charge of it,but had always stopped herself,too scared that the changes were hard to make.But in reality,they weren't. She was going to follow her passion for photography,and was going to meet up that one person she had loved almost all her life so far,after seven years.She didn't knew how her now decisions would unfold in future,but she really didn't feel the need of having thoughts about all of that now.Whatever her future hold,it would eventually disclose itself,and till then,she will live and enjoy her present fully,which she had realized,she needed to do more in her life.

Her wine had long finished,and she felt really tired.She had hardly slept in the past two days,and she needed to be up early tomorrow.She had to go to school again,with him this time.She smiled and pinched herself again.The sleepless night had,undoubtedly gifted her the best dream of her life,and now it was her turn to turn every part of it in reality.She felt her changing's life warmth and dozed off,eager to be up tomorrow morning,to go to school,and see that smiling face,again.





 






                                                                 


  

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