Again?

  “It is good to be back home!” sighed Ekanth.

“Yeah, only that it isn’t your home anymore” smirked Prakash.

“It’s always home for me. Anyway, I’ll get going!” said Ekanth to his friend. Prakash bid his farewell and Ekanth got on his bike ready to leave the neighborhood he grew up in.

“It’ll probably take an hour and a half to reach with all the evening rush. I’ll just take a ride around the neighborhood alone for a while, traffic will slightly subside by then, and also, it’s been a long time”

He got on his bike and wandered around the once-familiar streets. He knew every shortcut in the place, and even though it had been a long time, he still remembered where each road led perfectly. Every nook and corner evoked a familiar memory.

Sun was slowly going down, and the birds were flying back home. Ekanth however didn’t feel like going home. This felt like home. The old neighborhood where he no longer had a roof over his head, felt like home. Not the new place where he had to move due to fate being cruel to him.

“If only, a few things had happened the way I wished”

An unforeseen loss, a cruel hand of fate had dealt a severe blow to a life he had looked forward to spending it in the same neighborhood.

“This is where I celebrated my first cricket tournament victory!”

He stopped his bike at his favorite snack shop to grab a bite. He ordered his favorite snack, a hot masala puri with a tinge of sweet chutney on top.

” I miss this so much there! This is where I would come for comfort!”

His favorite snack didn’t feel appetizing with the nostalgia running in his head. He had to throw it halfway. And he got back on his bike to go to the lake located at the end of the neighborhood.

“Sunset looks so beautiful on the lake, unlike the smog filled sunsets I witness there!”

Indeed, the sunset on the lake was beautiful.

” Why did all this have to happen to me? Why couldn’t it be different?”

Sky was slowly turning dark and the stars had begun to appear in the night sky. The moon had begun to shine bright on the lake.

” If only I could go back in time. Just once, once”

“Your wish has been granted; you can go back to the time you want”

“Who’s speaking?”

He was perplexed. He looked around, there wasn’t anyone around except for a few old folks walking in a distance. It wasn’t them, then who?

“It doesn’t matter who, your wish has been granted. Just do as I say and you can go back to the time you want.”

“But how is that possible? Who are you? Why can’t I see you or hear you?”

“Consider me your wish-granting angel. All you have to do is believe in me. Just look at the reflection of the moon on the lake. You’ll understand me better”

He got up confused and peered into the bright reflection of the full moon on the lake. The bright reflection turned dark and he could see someone moving in the reflection. It was him and his friends dancing wildly in their college fest!

“How is this possible? How am I even able to see this?”

“Do you believe in me now?”

In the water, he saw another memory. This one had his parents buy him his first computer.

“That day! Man! One of the best days of my life”

“Do you fully believe me?”

“Huh...Yes! Yes! How can I not? What should I do? Will I get back to that time if I do what you say?”

“Yes, you will. All you’ve to do is think of the time you want to go to. And jump in the lake.”

“Jump in the lake? And I’ll be transported back in time?”

“Yes. You’ve to believe in me.”

He looked around, but there was no one around. And there was another memory in the water now, it was him landing his first job. After which he had to move out of his neighborhood. And he had to live this cursed life. Every day had just been one struggle after one another.

“All I’ve to do is jump? And I get back in time.”

He couldn’t believe his luck; this was too good to be true. But the water was full of his memories and all he had to do was take a nosedive into those memories and live his life to the fullest again!

“I’ll go back to the time when I finished 10th Grade. I’ll make better choices now.”

Suddenly his phone rang, it was from work. Something which he hated.

“Not now, anyway who cares!”

The phone kept ringing. Annoyed, he picked up. There was something wrong, he felt like throwing his phone. However, something kept him hooked. He listened to it in detail and gave out his solution.

“Well, I did become something after all this struggle.”

 

“The struggle wouldn’t end anytime soon, your window to get back in time will close soon. If you don’t jump.”

Past seemed lucrative. And jumping in seemed the best thing to do.

“I did enjoy the fest. I did enjoy my days here. I’d like to experience it again. But will it be like the first time?”

“You’ll lose your chance to go back in time”

“Should I really do this? I don’t want any regrets later”

The water was cold. And he felt better than ever.

“ It’s good to be back home!” sighed Ekanth

“Back home? You never left. You really need to do something with your life. You’ve had everything going easy for you. Get working now at least!” Said, Prakash.

“Meh… I’ll do as I please.” Sighed Ekanth.

Prakash left angrily; Ekanth remembered it had been 10 years since he took the dive in the lake.

The last 10 years had been tiring with no surprises, no complexities, and no problems. Ekanth had led a safe and easy life.

“I think I need to go to the lake.”

He remembered each and every road perfectly. The place which he never left to do anything. He could smell Masala Puri from his once-favorite snack shop. The smell made him sick.

The sunset at the lake was nothing special. 

He went to the lake and peered into the water. He could see nothing now. 

No voice was heard and the phone rang. However, he just heard another complaint about him being good for nothing.

He jumped into the lake this time, for a different reason.