Blahsphemy

I was one a million. No make that two. We were racing towards our goal. That's when it struck me. Why follow? I can make my own path. So I raced in the opposite direction. The rest of the fools rushed past me like lunatics. They were jeering at me. They don't know what it takes to be the leader. And what it takes to be free. After all only one or two of them will get to the egg. While I, the renegade, will be roaming free. Is that a light? Looks like I have reached the end of the tunnel. Now it's my time. Hello world, here I come. 

When was the last time you smiled? Genuinely smiled? Don't know? Was it when you looked at that wrinkled face of yours in the morning? Was it when your grandchild climbed on your lap? Was it when you saw your enemy fall? Was it when you scared the family cat? Was it when your Lilys flowered? When did you smile last? Or was it when they laid that wreath on your bony chest?   

I see black flags proclaiming death. On the lamp posts. In the by-lanes. On trees. In front of houses.  A flag and a gathering means the demise happened recently. Just a lonely flag means death was there sometime.  One day the flag will be fluttering in my house as well. Proclaiming that I have set sail to a different realm.  Just like my father, my relatives and a million others who set sail every now and then.      

I saw my brother floating past. Dead like wood. All decked up in ceremonial splendor. Bobbing up and down the waves that lapped the wooden platform on which he lay. Not waiting for anyone. Going with the ebb and the tide. In to the blood red horizon. For salvation.   

Looks like the fog just spared my window to the street. The street lights looked liking smokers in an alley. The cobble stones were wet from the drizzle. The street dogs were busy barking at something. A breeze just unsettled the garbage can's lid. My world hasn't changed much. Everyday I look for some sign of change. Nothing seems to change. I have grown bald. My eyesight has dimmed. My kids have grown. The window pane has gathered dust and dirt. The spiders have evolved. Some old buildings have given way to new ones. The neon signs have gone. Still nothing seem to have changed. Change they say has to come from within. But then, what can come out of an empty narrow dead end?       

This was never the way to Cracas. The GPS seems to be confident that we are on the right direction. Maybe it's a new road that has been built by the invading forces. It seemed freshly paved with something like bitumen. The vehicle was running smoothly over them without disturbing the occupants. There were a couple of droids, a cyborg and a spider all crammed cozily in one corner and a lonely human at the other. They all seemed to avoid each other. And whenever the vehicle jolted they had to fight their fears and gravity to stay apart. Finally a droid broke the silence. It just beeped frantically to alert the driver that it thought we were speeding way too far away from Cracas. The spider just ate a few bytes and spat out something at the cyborg. The cyborg just lay there like a lump of metal. The human just tapped on the window and pointed out to the driver an old neon sign that was looming up ahead. The driver nodded and gunned the machine towards it. The GPS beamed another garble...

He has been losing it quite often nowadays. He lost it twice in the train. Once when the Blackberry man stepped on his sore toe and then when the coffee boy didn't replace his leaking cup. Everyone around him was aware of this. They even have a joke about that. He loses it when he hears that as well. He was aware of it as well. He didn't want to lose it quite often. There are times he had felt that he is just a bundle of nerves walking around. A ticking time-bomb. A rabid dog. A psycho. A F1 car without break. A tsunami. Damn I am losing it too. Why can't the ceiling fan stop rattling? Why is that dog barking its head off? Why is that window creaking? What's wrong with the kid next door? Why do people have to honk? What's that beggar laughing about? Why are you reading this?