"Shift"
"What?"
"Shift a little, I want to sit here"
"There are other empty places"
"No I want to sit here, the lecturer is a bore"
...
"Tell me a story"
"I thought we are not talking"
"We are not, but you are, I am sleepy"
"I see"
"And lets go to the Jhopadi after this"
"You serious, you high or something, I don't smoke, if you forgot already!"
"I wanna smoke"
And then the gesture I hated the most
And as I watched the virtual smoke rising from between her fingers...
"Oh shit he is looking"
"Who"
"The prof! Who else"
"Screw him, tell me a story!"
In some corner of this universe, far from the reach of naked eyes, and the strongest man-made telescope, there exists a planet. A planet, exactly as big as our earth, neither an ounce less nor more. Like all other planets it revolves around a Sun. And not just any Sun, the biggest of all the Suns in the whole of the galaxy. The Sun, an unique one, not because it was big, but because this was a the only Sun that emitted darkness, the most sublime and soothing darkness one can feel, taste. Every morning there was a sunrise and every sunrise fills the planet with a new darkness, a fresh one every day. People would fill their bottles with darkness, and use it in the night, when the sun is gone. They will uncork the bottle and pour out the darkness into their rooms. And the darkness will fill in the room, every corner of it, every inch of it. The room will drown in darkness. and everything in it will be covered with it; and there will be still enough left in the bottle to fill another room, and then another and then another. It was darkness after all, there is no limit to what it can fill. I felt good, because it was comforting, soothing and ignorant.
"This is your idea of a story?"
"hmmm, Why you didn't like it?"
"No, I did, Why did you stop?"
"I thought you are asleep."
"No I just felt it."
"Felt what?"
"Nothing, so what happened next?"
On this planet people ate emptiness, they will get cans of emptiness and eat it raw. They will choose their favorite spot, in their darkness filled room, most of them liked the corner. Some would prefer the cold floor, it was comforting. They will recline on a cold wall and finish their dinner in a nick of time. The food was filling, they liked their stomach to be full. They were happy, at least, they thought so. They will go to bed, fill their rooms with darkness and sleep off in their comfy beds. There was no change in the routine, everyone followed the same routine, had the same dinner everyday, slept on the same bed every night.
One day while sleeping he had a strange feeling. He felt it in his throat. He always had this sensation, he had never paid heed. He has ignored it all his life, he had named it thirst. But today it was a little different. The feeling was stronger than usual. He was restless, even in the comfort of his cold bed. He turned to his side and closer to the cold wall of his darkened room. It felt good, but he can still feel the sensation near his heart. It was exactly opposite of cold. It was not comforting nor was it bearable. He called it warmth. The feeling grew worst. His breath has become warmer than usual and he was moving on the bed to find the exact position that will comfort him. He sat up, He touched things around him, feeling each and everything. He reached for the bottle, the bottle that he has filled in the morning with the fresh darkness. He always wanted to drink the darkness, it was a strange feeling. And then he uncorked the bottle, brought the mouth of the bottle to his lips, and gulped. He felt good, the warmth was dying, dying slowly with every passing moment, He was happy that the warmth is gone. He sipped once again, this time gulping twice as much. He felt every corner if his heart filling with darkness, and this time the warmth was gone. The thirst has started to quench and he felt relaxed again. Everything was normal as before and there he lay on his bed , drifting slowly into the sweet slumber he has been waiting for. His world was normal again.
The bottle laid uncorked on the bed with the darkness spilling out of it filling the entire planet with darkness, the bottle still being full.
"I wanted a happy story"
"This is a happy story"
"No this is sad... hmmm"
"Now I need a smoke.. lets go to Jhopadi"
"I thought you don't smoke"
"Yes I don't you do!"
"Chalo"
*Jhopadi is a small shack like establishment.
