The Ghost Story

Pretence

Imagine when you wake up this morning, you are in a strange hollow station. You observed that the platform number says 2020 and the time in digital clock 20:20. In front you, there are two trains. One that takes you to your past and the other takes you to your future.

I sometimes feel regret about a few things in past and always wished to change them. So, I have chosen the train that takes me to my past. It was the day when my CAT results were released. I was so upset and lost hope on my future and life too. What if I could get a chance to change my results? Oh! Yeah I did it. Suddenly my train entered into a new track where I can see a lot of people appreciating and praising me that I AM THE BEST. I resigned my job and applying for loans. And then this pandemic!! This erased all my dreams. The loan doesn’t sanction and there is no source income at this hard situation. I saw myself frustrated, anxious and helpless. I pretty didn’t like that picture so I ran back and back and back.

            Then I saw him. He was proposing me. It was almost 5 years ago and I had not had any damn idea about life. So I did not accept him saying I cannot take such big decisions in my life without any knowledge though I liked him (he was pretty handsome btw). Now, I know about things and confident about my decisions. What if I could…say a ‘yes’ to him? My train changed its track again where I saw myself cooking, washing utensils, serving food to a big family and taking care of all the people in the family. Oh! I became the ‘great housewife’. That’s nice but where is the "me time", where are my dreams gone. I might have to settle like this one day but I’m actually pretty good now. I’m happy for what I am now. I don’t want to go back far so, I boarded the train that takes me to my future.

            I am very excited to see myself, who won’t as everyone lives in dreams than reality. Look! There am I, attending a virtual conference. I am receiving a lot of voice messages regarding the status reports. I am also giving people instructions, conducting a lot of meetings. It seems like I am transferring my pressure to them. I couldn’t see any happy faces there including mine. I am sure this is an IT firm. But, what am I doing here? I mean I… I always wanted to get out of my job, possess different occupations and wander the world! But then what happened to me? It might be my procrastination (postponing something) that made me to settle here. I feel very suffocating, sweat all over my body. I can rarely see anything. I can’t hear anything except a beep sound in my ears. It’s getting louder and louder. I can’t even breathe properly. I decided to jump from the train but I couldn’t move my feet. Finally, I’ve jumped at a glance breaking all the weaknesses.

            A white ceiling with an ivory fan. This is all I see. The room is so calm and peaceful. I walked to the mirror. When I look into it, I see sweat on my forehead and a calendar on the wall in my background. My lips widen up when I see 2020 on it.