chapter2

Chapter 2

 

Why the hell did it had to rain?

 

I hated rains as far as i could remember. Even as a human. They were just too sticky and wet. My sister, then, usually used to burst into a dance and would go misty eyed over its romantic feel but really i never got the point of what the whole fuss was about.

 

As a soul though i was immune to rain like i was immune to sunshine and cold but still i hated rains and never ventured out in case it managed to touch me because these days nothing that i had ever believed in was going on.

 

Yeah she saw me again.

 

I was wandering along the corridors of Ritesh's school again and this time i was cautious so that i don’t run into her again when i saw her walking directly in my direction.

 

At the hindsight i think i was roaming around the school  not because i was wanted to see Ritesh, i think i wanted see her because- well she could see me. And it sounds definitely weird but inside i was giddy with the idea that for the first time a complete human could see me.

 

But when i was considering forgetting the whole damn thing and just hiding till she goes on her way, i heard a loud shriek.

 

I looked at the source of the sound and found her with her mouth open and the papers that she had been holding at her feet.

 

“Oh god not again.” she whined.

 

“Look i can-”

 

“No no i don’t want to talk to a ghost. I am losing my mind. I know i am going mad. I can see a ghost and i can even talk to it hope-”

 

“Will you please stop hyperventilating?” i said loudly enough to make her quite.

And i saw the result, she became quite at once.

 

“Listen; first of all stop calling me a ghost. I am Wandering Soul. Second i don’t think you are losing your mind. Third i want you to tell me if you have a Sight?” I practically hurled the last question at her.

 

“Do i have a- what?”

 

“A sight?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“The ability to see souls.” i calmly replied.

 

“You mean can i see other ghosts like you? No! Or else i would have seen granny. I wish i could see her; i miss her so much and without her, mom is so miserable. You don’t know how my mom is like and how she-”

 

“Yeah i don’t know how your mom is like and seriously i am not even slightest interested.”

 

I sighed when she scowled at me.

 

“Listen i don’t know why and how you can see me but this is not something that i would want to happen. Why don’t we just forget that we ever saw each other and go our separate ways?”

 

“You think forgetting that you saw and talked to a ghost is easy?” she folded her arms across her chest.

 

“No but knowing that a human can see you without having a Sight is not easy to forget either.”

 

She shrugged.

 

“Look let's just pretend that this didn’t even happen okay. Let's just try okay?”

 

She shrugged again.

 

“Hope this is the last time you will see me.” i told her.

 

“Yeah like i am very fond of seeing ghosts.” she rolled her eyes.

 

“I told you. I am a Wandering Soul.”

 

“Whatever. It's the same thing. You are transparent whatever the way you call it.”

 

This time i rolled my eyes at her.

 

“Well hope i will not see you again.” I said as i turned back but she said nothing.

 

And then when i was going to round about at the end of the corridor i heard her small nervous voice again.

 

“Oh god i can’t believe that i just talked to a ghost.”

And then i heard a quick tapping of feet as she made her way back.

 

But what i didn’t understand was, why was i smiling like a fool when i made my way from the school, like i was smiling now as i recounted the incident in my head.

 

When the rain did not stopped for an hour, i decided to move on through the day anyways.

 

I had already spent the afternoon with Ritesh and besides that there was nothing else i could do right now. My other soul friends had gone for a visit to Germany and though i was invited i had politely declined. I had been there and already done everything that they were planning to do. Well when you have been around for as much as i have been, you have to do something to pass the time.

 

I was walking along the tree lined street of the area where the organisation which dealt with newly converted humans was situated. For the normal humans it was a NGO dealing with people who had been victims to life's greatest tragedies, but in real most of the workers there were people with the Sight or the converted human themselves. And that's where we reached when we crossed the bridge to the human world.

 

Due to the rain most people had taken shelter in their homes so the street was deserted and quite. And maybe that is why i saw her sitting on a bench on the side walk and crying.

 

I didn’t waste time in wondering how and why i ran into her again, or why i was almost happy to see her again. I quickly crossed the road and made my way towards her before i could change my mind.

 

“Hey.”I said as i stood in front of her.

 She looked up at me with her tear stained eyes and then closed them again briefly before opening them again, as if she couldn’t believe i was right there in front of her.

 

“You said that we won’t be seeing each other again.” she quietly said as she wiped her hand across her cheek.

I was glad that she did not freak out like before.

 

“Well what i said was that i hoped not to see you again, but here we are.” I said stretching my arms wide.

 

But she wasn’t amused.

 

“I guess then we should never hope.” she said before two fat tears leaked out of her eyes.

 

“Why are you crying?” i asked her.

 

To my surprise she smiled.

 

“You know what nobody has ever asked me that before. I mean not directly. They have asked why i am upset or am i hurt or anything. But never ever has anybody asked me why I am crying? Just like that.”

 

“But isn’t asking why you are upset and why are you crying mean the same thing?” I asked her.

 

“It does but it never made sense to me. I mean if a person in front of you is weeping her wits out then why does everyone prefer to go for-why  are you upset or coming along asking after going about a series of questions, instead of just simply asking-why are you crying.”

 

And though it did not made sense to me what she was trying to say, i chose to keep my mouth shut and let her speak.

 

“Why does everything have to be so complicated?” she said and i didn’t know if the question was directed at me.

 

“You are asking me?” i pointed at myself.

 

“Who else is here?” she didn’t look at me.

 

“But then am i not the wrong person to be telling you about the aspects of life because in case you missed i am not alive in the way you are.”

 

She then looked at me as if she hadn’t seen me clearly before. And then shook her head.

 

“Why can i see you?” she asked that simple question.

 

“I wish i knew.”

 

“But then you are a ghost. And you are dead and if i can see dead people then i must be losing my mind because there is no other explanation for it.”

 

She shook her head vigorously and her eyes spoke of stress and exhaustion. I quietly sat beside her.

 

“Listen,” i said and then she looked straight into my eyes.

 

If SOULS were capable of imagination then i would have termed that as my imagination. But i had never felt as if my world consisted of one thing. Her. Never felt as if my whole existence depended on her. My heart felt as if it had ceased beating and was waiting for her so that it could beat again.

 

Souls can’t feel anything. They are alien to everything that touched the heart. And i had been running from these complicated feelings my entire life as a human and then as soul, because it was life that had taught me that to feel is to loose. And it was better that you do not feel at all because then it you had nothing to lose. Not your heart. Not your life.

So, i just closed my eyes for a brief moment and when i opened them again, i wasn’t looking at her.

 

“Well what i know is that you are not mad. You are as sane as any of those walking humans out there. But i guess this is just a cliché for a short moment. Maybe after a while you will stop seeing me.”

 

She turned away.

 

“But we got distracted from our earlier conversation,” I continued, “so why were you crying?”

 

“Well because i wanted to.” she simply said.

 

“That’s not an answer.” i exclaimed.

 

“It is.”

 

“It does not make sense.” I told her.

 

“It does. I mean why does there have to be a reason to cry. Why do people need reasons to cry. I cry because i feel. And when i feel something, no matter it is good or bad, i cry.

Because after crying i feel better. It's my way of getting my frustration out. And i don’t care if people think that i am a drama queen and i do that just to grab attention. I cry because i feel everything very strongly and that's my way to vent out my anger, my hurt. I don’t need a damn good reason for it.”

 

“When you talk like that it almost feels that crying is a good exercise.”

 

She gave a small laugh and suddenly my smile widened.

 

“So where do you live?” i changed the topic for mainly a distraction for me to get rid of this new feeling that was crawling it's way inside me.

 

“In that apartment block beside that building.” she answered pointing to a grey building opposite to where we sat.

 

“Can i walk you back home?” I don’t know why i asked that.

 

“Do you want to or you just want to get rid of a freak like me?” she asked with a breath taking smile.

 

“Um no. If i wanted to get rid of you then i would have just ran out of here myself.”

 

Still smiling she said- “but you didn’t.”

 

Shrugging i said - “no i didn’t.”

 

Getting up she said- “my name is Sana, not that you asked.” and she held out her hand to me.

 

“Aarav.”I said sliding my hand into hers. I was greeted with warmth that pulsed through her hand. Comforting warmth that wrapped itself around me like a blanket.

 

“Ouch! You're cold.” she exclaimed after i hesitatingly released her hand.

 

“And by the way don’t call me 'ghost' because i am not one. I am a Wandering Soul.” I said as we started walking towards her apartment block and the rain had suddenly stopped bothering me.

 

“What’s the difference?” she asked.

 

“Well ghosts are nothing, just a term given by you humans to the souls.”

“And what are Wandering Souls?” she asked again.

 

“Well it's a long theory. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

 

“Yes of course.”

 

“Every person is sent to this earth with a purpose. That purpose is to complete a life term as a human and then move on to afterlife. But due to some circumstances some humans are not able to complete their purpose. So God gives them a second chance because he believes in chances and he thinks everyone deserves one.” I stopped and looked at her.

 

“Go on.” she said.

 

“When a person dies when he wasn’t supposed to God gives him a choice. Either he can go on to afterlife or he can turn back to human.”

 

“You mean come back to life?”

 

“Yeah. But humans are narrow minded. No offence.” i said when she scowled at me. “Humans can’t accept a simple fact that a dead person can come to life.so those who wish to be human again wait for several decades till everyone they knew is dead and then they start a new life.”

 

“But what's the meaning of starting a new life when the people you always loved are no longer there?” she asked me.

 

“It is a way of starting afresh, you know. forgetting the past and building up new relationships." i explained.

she just nodded thoughtfully.

“So those who wait to become humans are called Wandering Souls?”

 

“They are actually called the Waiting Ones. Wandering Souls are those souls which choose neither afterlife nor human form.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because they are happy as they are. once a Wandering Soul then you don’t need complications in your life as a human nor you need to limit yourself to one world like afterlife. Plus you can go anywhere without having to twice think about. ” i simply said.

 

She thought over it.

“Are you happy?” she asked.

 

And that question stopped me cold in my steps.

 

“Of course i am happy. Why wouldn’t i be.”

 

Yes i was happy, then why did it felt as if i forced these words out of my mouth.

 

“Oh.”

 

By that time we had reached the short distance to her apartment block.

 

“So what happens when somebody becomes a human again?” she asked once we passed through the main gate and the security guards.

 

“We call them newly converted humans. They are transported directly to the homes where they are taken care of. People with the Sight, those who are humans and can see souls, take care of things such as school if the soul is a minor and get them admission in colleges if an adult  soul wished to study further. Some souls are provided with jobs and homes till they are able to take care of themselves and such stuff.”

 

“Wow. I didn’t know that there is a totally different world going on alongside mine.”

 

“Well there are many more worlds going alongside  yours.”

 

“wow.” she repeated.

 

“Which floor?” I asked once we stood before the lift.

 

“ You want to come inside with me?”

 

“Well no. I asked because it's a gentleman's call to bring a lift to a lady.” i couldn’t help smiling at her.

 

And she smiled too.

 

“You are terribly old fashioned.” she said as she pushed the button for the lift.

 

“i was born in 60's. Sorry can’t help.” I raised my hands in a peace gesture.

 

“Will you tell me about it? About your world and those worlds which I don’t even have       any idea about.” she quietly asked.

 

“Are you really curious or is that an invitation to see me again?” I looked down at her.

 

“You are not that good-looking.” she replied with mock sweetness.

 

“Am i not?”

 

“No.”

 

“But you still admit that i do look good.” I grinned at her.

 

“I never said that.” she said colouring.

 

“You don’t have to. It's written on your face.”

 

She scowled at me, again.

 

“Well see you again.” I said as she got into the lift.

 

“Where?” she asked.

 

“You will know.” I replied grinning at her.

 

“But still-” but the lift had already closed on her face.

 

And i laughed and walked with a spring in my step as i made my way back.

 

Author's Note

please read and review

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

AW, well at least they fnally talked to each other. I think this could b a start to a friendship! ^^

[Daft Jester]

I recommend running a spell check and reading it through to fix the many misspellings. They are rather rampant. I like the concept, though. It brings a new aspect to the afterlife. Good job!