THE CHAPTER 1 :: The end of a beginning.

“The airtel mobile you are trying is currently busy. To leave a voice SMS, “

He pressed the red button. The message did irritate him. It’s been 3 days, and he could not get the person on the other side of the phone to talk to him.

He reclined on the blue chair. The chair felt comfortable. He laid his hands over the armrest, held it and it seemed he wanted a holding hand. Leaning back, he tried to relax, but those memories kept on coming. He tried to switch the thoughts that came in, but one thought gave way to another. His head felt heavy. He wanted a break.

The window on his side opened to green fields. The red sun was seen sinking to the fields at a distance. Thick films of wind flew in once in a while, and this time, pushing down a stack of papers carelessly placed at one side of the corner table. He looked down to see one small piece of paper, pale yellow in colour, slowly coming to a stop, near his feet, being pushed by the wind. He felt the paper staring at him.

He stood up, walked slowly to the toilet, and washed his face.

“ I have grown old,” Thought he.

He took his towel and wiped off small drops of water on the mirror. He remembered the number of times he did that, whenever he wanted to call it a day. He didn’t want to do it again. He looked out of the toilet window. A small spider was weaving the web.

“Another life into this world” he thought. Striving to live, striving to catch the prey.

A lean sarcastic grin came to his face. His head was feeling heavier. He walked slowly to the hall.

“My house. My dream. ”

He used to believe in dreams. He believed living one’s dreams was the essence of life.

Well, he used to believe.

Walking out of his house, he gave a thousand rupee note to the familiar beggar he met on the street. He walked straight to the skyscraper nearby, without looking back at the eyes of the beggar he always wanted to watch.

At the lift, he stared at the small kid with the kitten. He remembered his childhood, when he used to play hide and seek. He wondered why the sight of the child did not bring him happiness.

By the time it was the topmost floor, he was alone in the lift. Walking out, he paused a moment, and watched the lift doors close.

“Closed.” He thought.

Taking the stairs to the roof top, he stared at the sky. The sun had disappeared. The fields has turned brown.

“And they call it the dusk”

He remembered he was born at dusk.

Slowly, he climbed the parapet.

And yes,

Without even looking down, he took a step into the air.

..