If aliens arrived tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?
The view is focused upon an isolated moment of a fourteen years old boy, Pravin. Pravin was in his school uniform, sitting on the dining table and having his breakfast. In front, on the table was a plate that looked like plastic but its online ad claimed that bamboo fibres had been used in making it. On the plate were two toasted and buttered breads and an omelette. Beside the plate, a glass of milk, and an apple for Pravin to eat in the school bus was kept.
Pravin was unique in his ability to isolate his thoughts in this breakfast moment; he did it every day as he stared in front at the wall calendar. It was for a very brief period of time, precisely when his mother had kept the last of what was needed on the table to the point where she would return and ask Pravin to have his breakfast quickly or else he would get late.
On the other hand, Pravin’s mother was rather worried watching her boy looking blankly at the calendar, sometimes thinking if any date in particular was occupied in Pravin’s mind for something. However, Pravin’s father assured that it was just something boys and girls do at such age when they begin to realise more of the existences out there.
The thoughtfulness was not a problem at all. It was just part of Pravin’s everyday life. Pravin’s house had a compound on three sides and on the third aside from front or what was usually called the back side of the compound was where the window of Pravin’s room was. Pravin liked to be in his room, looking out the window occasionally at the potted plants and mostly reading books since being in the room had rules. No smartphones, tabs or handheld gaming device allowed inside the room. Pravin had to walk over to the drawing room to gain access to them, where a parent would usually be present to ensure not a lot of time was spent on screen.
Hence Pravin was living a normal childhood like the one people once used to have, and his parents thought it definitely made a difference.
Usually in those moments of thoughtfulness Pravin thought about the book he was reading or how he could get better at playing hockey at school, the daily interactions with friends and family got their fair time as well. But lately there was something else lurking within those thoughts, walking amongst the shadows, its presence could be felt, its movement could be seen, but there was no telling what it actually was.
It happened one night, sometime after dinner, Pravin sat with a bottle of water, study lamp on, he was focussing on writing the answers to the social science questions his teacher had given as homework. The light on this side of the compound was switched off at night. Hence, it was mostly dark apart from the faint light from the only light on the other side.
Pravin felt he heard a sound of someone touching the window. The window was behind him on the other side of the room. Pravin tried to look through the glass of the closed window but saw no one so he returned to his work, only to look back once more and he saw a figure move. Even if it was a human, he/she was too tall because his/her head exceeded the upper edge of the window and no one is that tall normally.
Pravin did not usually panic and he was quite logical in his approach, but this had sent him running across the circular hall to his parents’ bedroom. Pravin’s parents searched outside, they checked the security cameras but found nothing.
Pravin was sure he had seen something; he used logic up to a certain point and did not think of it to be a ghost or anything related, if human, he/she would have certainly been caught on the cameras, there are no blind spots. Hence, he came to the conclusion that some unknown being with the technology to stay invisible to the cameras could only be an alien being from somewhere else. Since then, Pravin has told several people about how we are being watched and now 27 years old, he still does mention it if some related topic is brought up.
Pravin’s mother was really worried back then for a while as her boy investigated the compound very thoroughly for some days, not allowing the house help to clean that side. She thinks he did find something back then, something he has told no one of.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
One response to “Not Usual”
Very nice.
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