SHORT STORY
THE QUEST
NIRMAL HENRY
To some people, it
doesn’t matter if its
sunrise or sunset for
all their lives they have
never seen light. I
learnt that we learn not
when there is light but
when it is pitch black.
We grope around in
the dark, we can feel
our instincts sharpen
and our courage rise
against the imminent
danger lurking in the
dark.
I am blessed to have
seen both light and
darkness but lately
the line between the
two has blurred. I ask
myself if this is the
place I wanted to reach
all my life. If yes then
why am I not happy?
Even with many such
questions eating away
my soul slowly, it never
bothered me enough
to find the answers.
It was an unpleasant
evening. The ruins of a
fallen empire lay before
me. The rivers of blood
flashed before my eyes
and the cries of people
being
murdered
echoed in my ears.
My destination lay a
hundred feet away
from me but I felt no
rush. It had been such
a long journey that
I even forgot where
I started but I do
remember that a part
of me believed this will
be all over in a short
span of time.
We don’t realise that
time passes even in
stopped clocks and we
believe we can outrun
it one day. Time heals
you as much as it scars
you. I feel like I’ve run
all my life to reach
here and never cared
to look back but when
I finally am here there
is nothing to look
back to. I feel old and
tired now and I can
sense my spirit dying
too but shouldn’t one
taste the fruit before
axing down a tree?
With a torn ancient
map leading to a
lost treasure forming
the entirety of my
possessions; I started
moving towards the
treasure.
The sun had almost
set and it seemed to
suck my energy with
its descent. Suddenly
I felt weak in the
legs and heavy in
the chest. My head
started spinning and I
crashed on the ground
sending dust into
my nose and mouth.
I started coughing
up blood. It felt like
somebody pulled the
rug right under me; like
somebody is removing
one by one the pieces
of the puzzle I’ve tried
to solve all my life.
The micro blackouts
were
increasing
in
frequency
and
duration. The pain
shot up and my body
started
spasming
violently. My heartbeat
echoed more intensely
in my ears. As sudden
as the onset, the
spasming
stopped.
As a strange kind of
calm settled upon me,
I stole one final glance
into the world. The
sun had set finally and
then everything went
pitch black.
13