It was late at night, Pranit was returning from the hospital. He was there with his childhood friend Samar. Samar’s father was admitted.
The air was mercilessly cold, but the car did a good job of keeping things warm inside. Pranit reached for the coffee in a disposable cup and found it empty. Just then a black sedan abruptly cut in front and Pranit applied the brakes, both the cars came to a stop.
No one stepped out of the black car but suddenly a fire spread over it. Pranit tried to get out of his car but he found that the door handle wasn’t there and that’s when he realised he was having another nightmare and he knew how it would end.
The black car drowned in flames and the flames only allowed a partial sight of what they were consuming and then the fire leapt over to Pranit’s car. Pranit leaned back and closed his eyes trying to not let the dream affect him any further and silence pursued. Samar’s father had not survived the burn injuries, he died in the hospital two months back.
“It is over,” spoke a female voice and Pranit opened his eyes to look
“It is not,” he sighed. His school teacher looked at him, she was just the way he remembered her in school. The strict nature and quick anger, an expression devoid of love and kindness, scared more than a few students. This is where it began for Pranit, the occasional nightmares.
“You have done quite well in life, it did contribute to something good,” she said
“That’s where you are wrong and that is what you never understood,” said Pranit as he closed his eyes once again as he heard the teacher get up from the wooden chair and her footsteps approached him, he distinctly remembered the sounds.
This time Pranit woke up in reality, in front of his laptop. It was late, 2 am. He picked up his phone to see 4 missed calls from his manager and realised there was no way out behind closed eyes from this one.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 