The Play ‘time’

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

The Sun was not being merciful to us. The two of us walked almost dragging every part of our body. Sweating profusely, we moved on. We didn’t lack motivation; we had just overestimated the limits of our energy and abilities.

We stopped under a tree with very thin foliage. Not, that we had a choice, the next tree was whole 20 steps away, which appeared to be a long distance at that moment.

My friend laughed, “We still have a long way home, not that I would like to think about it.”

My mind was quite tired, “Who would have thought it would be this tiring.”

There was no public transport in view, not that it would have made a difference. We had spent all our money on buying bottles of water and we had drunk them empty, so we didn’t have any water either.

Sound of a vehicle approaching reached our ears. We both stared in the direction. It was a tractor and behind it was an empty trailer. When the tractor got closer, my friend waved at the rider.

“Can we get a ride in the trailer if you don’t mind?” he screamed.

The driver indicated for us to get on, he slowed down quite a bit, but didn’t stop. As the tractor passed us, we realised the driver had expected us to get on the trailer while the tractor kept moving slowly. So, we ran behind the tractor. We were so tired, even running at moderate human speed was a task that seemed quite impossible.

While running, I heard something. It was so melodious. Someone was playing piano, but who? I stopped running, while my friend got on the tractor trailer and looked back at me. He was screaming something at me, probably asking me to get on, his words were inaudible because my mind was occupied with the music.

Just once, for once I would turn and see where it was coming from and then I will run back and get on the trailer where my friend was waiting. So, I turned…. And my eyes opened.

In front of me was my Bluetooth speaker. It was the source of the piano music. I had apparently fallen asleep while working.
What I was seeing was a dream, but it was dream of a reality that had occurred in the past. In reality I had quite successfully made it to the trailer with my friend and we had safely reached home. It was a day to remember.

We were children studying in school. Nothing in the world seemed impossible to us, it was about that age. Exploring the nearby areas on our own, beyond the instructed limits of our parents, seemed like a great adventure and a fun playtime. ‘We have walked there on our own’ was indeed a great achievement back then. We had ventured far beyond and returned with an everlasting memory.

I know I can walk the same distance again. But, will my mind find it to be the same adventurous playtime and be motivated to find the same enjoyment…. well that maybe a question with a completely different answer.

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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