“That was the turning point. I didn’t realize it at that time, but on that day, I was reborn.”
I was startled to hear the voice. It took me an hour to reach the edge of the cliff and just a moment before, I was under the impression that I was alone. Apparently, I must have mistook this guy as part of the scenery. He was lying down at the very edge with both feet dangling over the precipice.
“I was no different from you. I had the same dreams, same ambitions. The world was a very different place then. I miss those times. I miss those people…”
He stared at the skies in silence for some time. Whoever this guy was, I was sure he was thinking about someplace. Or someone.
“That one moment, just one moment. I had no idea that the path I was walking had just been changed irrevocably. One word. That’s all it took. It was nothing special, nothing dramatic. Half the people in the world would have heard it at some point. But to me, that particular word, at that particular time… Ah! Wasn’t that something? From that moment on, everything I thought or did was somehow related to that word. I simply couldn’t forget. I could tell you that word, but I don’t see the point. It wouldn’t change anything for you. Remarkable isn’t it, a right word at the right time, it could change everything. Funny that we don’t realize our turning points until we are neck deep in its consequences. Sometimes, not even then.”
Weird though his claims were, I was fascinated by his story. I couldn’t understand most of what he was talking about, but I was being pulled into the vortex of his words. Without realizing it, I slowly walked up to his side and mimicked his posture to stare up at the sky.
“It took some time. But I eventually reached the end of that path. Only then, I understood. I started laughing. I couldn’t stop. That day I was reborn, again. It was one thing to become a different man, but that was something else altogether. I knew what happened to me right then. It made me laugh all the more. It was all so funny. Funny that I had such knowledge, such power. Funny that I wouldn’t be in this world for long. And funny that I knew why.”
I lost him. What was he was talking about? Granted, it was an odd monologue to begin with, but it had become progressively confusing. The last few sentences were downright unfathomable. It seemed he had read my thoughts, for he got up and looked at me as though he had just realized that I was there. Perhaps he did just that. I stood up and started as if to tell something, though I couldn’t figure out what. As it happened, there was no need for that. He continued, and for the first time, it felt like he was actually addressing me.
“I was born a human, but I can no longer claim to be one. Unbelievable, yes, but true nonetheless. You are not in a dream and you are not mad. So, you need not worry. You’ll never see me again, for I’m leaving. Don’t ask me where, you wouldn’t understand. You may be the last human I’d see, so ask what you want to know”
My mind was racing and it took a few seconds to realized that I’m supposed to ask him something. I furiously thought about what I wanted to know and realized that I didn’t know much. To hell with that, I thought, he is not a genie about to grant my wish. I have nothing to gain or lose. So, I asked, “Why wouldn’t you use your.. er.. knowledge and power to help us?”
“Us? You mean humans as a whole. I used to think like that you know. But later, I found that despite of your notions of unity and brotherhood and humanity as a whole, you still remain deeply rooted and couldn’t look or move past the circle you draw around yourselves. I don’t mean that to degrade you. In fact, it may be a strength, in a sense. I could try to help. But I wouldn’t. I’m sorry, but my journey made me that way. But, would you like to try?”
As if in a daze, I nodded in affirmative.
He smiled, nodded back and… vanished.
How did he do that? I had already pinched myself to confirm that it was not a dream. Then how? I thought he’d give me a clue as to where to start this journey he was talking about. How am I supposed to start? What is that journey? Where does it lead?
***
A few years later
“That was the turning point. I didn’t realize it at that time, but on that day, I was reborn.”
P.S.: 100% fiction. Take what meaning you will. Though both characters are using first person, neither of them is related to me. And yay! I’ve written a post without bracketed text or footnotes after a long time. Before you point it out, no, postscript doesn’t count.
