Short Story
Conversation with a Stranger
Easy is never an option
“This one time, she hugged me a little longer, and my heart almost stopped. As if I’ve felt everything in that brief moment and there was nothing else to live for anymore.”
“Did you tell her that?” The Stranger asked me.
I turned to look at him. I met him just moments ago, but he already knew me. He knew all my secrets.
“You know I didn’t,” I smiled, with sadness in my eyes.
“Why not?” He responded, returning my stare.
We were on a train — him and I — going God-knows-where. The carriage was empty, swaying as it paced towards its mysterious destination.
“I don’t know. I guess I thought that life broke her. Just like it broke me. And I wasn’t good enough to fix her.”
The Stranger sighed. “You think too much, Arnav. And that makes you feel too much. It’s never a good thing.”
“It is what it is. Reality tends to be a tragedy.”
“I doubt it.”
“You can’t be serious,” I scoffed. “You just saw me lose everything before we got on this train.”
“I know. But listen… life is just that: LIFE. You can’t define it. Categorize it. It’s just some disjointed parts strung together by coincidences.”
“Are you saying we can’t give meaning to anything then? Would life be even worth living?” I said.
As you must have sensed it by now, I was getting irritated. The Stranger was testing my patience. I wished he would go on about his business and get this over with. But he shot back his response, of course.
“You are hung up on the extremes, aren’t you? That’s not what I was saying. What I mean is… It’s what you feel here and now that matters. Not tomorrow. Not a year after. Now.”
I shrugged, unable to counter him. “You are rather chatty. I didn’t think you would be.”
The Stranger examined my face for a bit and smiled. “Not with everyone.”
I was confused. But he shifted his gaze and looked on, beyond our carriage, as if he could see the destiny that awaited me.
“We don’t have much time,” he said, suddenly turning back to me. “So, for what it’s worth, let me tell you this. It’s not going to be easy. Easy is never an option. You have to fight for everything you want it.”
“What? I don’t get it. I thought I was…” I got up slowly.
“No, not yet. You still have time, I was told.”
“But the crash? My bike turned to a pulp. It was so bad. I think my head exploded when I landed hard on that tree. I’m pretty sure.”
I fidgeted around the empty carriage as a feeling of unease gripped me. The Stranger, who didn’t move a muscle, finally spoke after a spell of silence, “Sit down. Take a breath.”
“Screw you!” I shouted. “I gave up. I actually gave up. I thought I was dead as a doorknob.”
“I know. But the dice have been rolled. The decision has been made.”
I shook my head and collapsed on the seat behind me. “I don’t even think I am going back to a functioning body. Didn’t I lose a freaking leg or something?”
“You lost nothing that you can’t get back. Of course, the road to recovery will be long and hard. But you can get there. If you really try.”
As he said that, the train stopped. The doors opened to an empty dilapidated station, and all I could see was darkness. Nothing but a lifeless black sea.
I looked at the Stranger, baffled. I had so many questions, but I didn’t know what to ask first.
“You will have to find your way out of here. When you see the light is when you wake up,” He explained.
“What if there is no light?”
Maybe I wasn’t dead, but the optimist in me was. Long back.
“There’s always light, Arnav. You just have to look for it. With as much conviction as you can.”
I bent my head down and ran my fingers over my hair. I realized that I was scared. Scared of going back. Scared of living to fight yet another day.
“This is goodbye for now then?” I asked, suddenly feeling a kinship with the Stranger.
“Yeah, and I hope we don’t see each other anytime soon. As it is, I have a packed schedule.”
“I wish I could tell you not to bother. But… I don’t know.”
The Stranger got up and put his hand over my shoulder. As he looked at me with all the kindness in the world, he said. “Like I told you. One day at a time.”
I nodded. Finally gaining the courage to leave, I stood up and walked out of the carriage into the darkness.
My search for light has just started.
