The Wrong Side Of The Bed

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it the moment I brushed my teeth with shaving cream.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it when I burnt my toast and spilt juice all over my shirt.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it the moment I stepped into the puddle of mud while running to catch the bus.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it when I missed that bus.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it when my boss shouted at me in front of the entire office, yet again, for no evident fault of mine, yet again.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it when my tie got stuck in the copier machine and I was overlooked, once more, during the employee appraisal.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it when after working overtime at the office, the elevator got stuck in between floors and I had to wait in the humid, closed shaft for a good half an hour. And the fact that I’m claustrophobic didn’t really help.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I knew it when I had to walk home hungry and tired because I couldn’t find a ride.

And then I saw her. Standing at the corner of the street, waiting for a cab, she looked divine, almost heavenly. She had the face of an angel and a smile that could make you forget all the pain in the world. She had an enchanting, magnetic persona and I found myself being pulled to her, in a way that I had never felt before. It was magical, surreal and yet I felt like I belonged there. Like every moment in my life before this had come together to culminate into this exquisite moment.

I stood next to her, waiting with her. She turned around and our eyes met for a second. I smiled at her and instinctively she smiled back. It was warm and miraculous – like a ray of sunshine, creeping out from behind the clouds on an otherwise cold and dark rainy day. It seemed the start of something special, something unique and yet something so familiar.

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. And I’m so glad I did.

A Leap of Faith

He stood there, looking down the abyss, into the deep, solitary darkness, waiting for it to engulf him in its arms, making him a part of it. Isolation came to him naturally; he was raised that way. To him, it was a part of life, and a part he was always on terms with.

He’d only read about it in the hundreds of books that he’d read and seen it in the countless movies that he’d watched but had never thought would happen to him. He took a step further, took a deep breath and thought about all the nice things that had happened to him.

He thought about his mother who would shower him with all the happiness and joy there is in the world, a love so inexplicable and selfless that it was almost impossible to believe that it existed in a world so cold and cruel.

He thought about his father who would never hug him or tell him how much he loved him, and yet, in a weird way showed how much he cared by being there for him, whenever he was asked to. And more often than not, even when he wasn’t.

He thought about his friends- each one of them. Right from the girl who offered to share her lunch with him in school, to the guy who stayed up all night teaching him before the exams, to ensure that he would pass. He thought about all the times he had been in trouble and at least one of his friends had materialized from nowhere every time and made it ‘their’ problem from ‘his’ problem. Friendship - what a ridiculous concept, he thought, and yet what a wonderful one at that.

As much as he tried not to, his thoughts wandered to her. That girl. If only he’d never set his eyes on her, never been mesmerized by those eyes and that enchanting smile, never fell for that gorgeous face and all the beautiful words spoken by her, things would have been different today. Now he was looking death in the eye and thinking about life. It was tragic, ironic and yet strangely fitting. He held her responsible for what he had gone through, blamed her for the end that was awaiting him with its arms wide open and yet realized that if he’d never known her, he’d never have appreciated life the way he did today. She’d driven him to death while showing him how amazing life was. Women, he sighed.

He took one last look around and took the leap. As a child, he’d always wondered how the feeling would be- to be able to drop down great heights, in one smooth motion. It seemed so graceful and poetic, like a wonderful painting on a canvas. The fear of not knowing what was ahead was gone; the anticipation of a tomorrow was missing. He opened his arms and for the first time, embraced life in the final leap of death.  For once in his life, he felt free. And yet captured, in love.