The story of a man's journey home.
As I stared into the night, I could see the stars above and the eerie darkness that always enveloped them. I looked at the stars more closely and they looked as if they were all eyes. One eyed creatures, all blinking at me as if I had done no crime.
I had just returned from an Office party. I had enjoyed this one. Particularly because a guy I knew wasn't around. The drinks were from the office and I was so high I felt I could fly.
Soon the star I was watching turned into a blind gray cloud. Everything turned grey and I was watching the next bus home arrive at the bus stop. It was time to go home.
I looked at my watch. 9.42 pm. It was late.
As I entered the bus, I saw 3 people inside. I saw an old guy with a newspaper, a lady with a nice handbag, and a little girl with rags for a dress. I felt sorry for her. I sat near the guy.
I saw his newspaper. I didn’t see it well but it said that the markets were falling. Funny since I had read before that the economy was improving.
"Funny bit of news huh? We expected to improve but things haven't changed much since the last 3 years, eh?"
The old man looked at me. "Things haven't changed at all, my friend."
I saw his face clearly for the first time. He reminded me of an old man, who lived near my office who used to sleep on the roads during daytime, and collect waste plastic and paper items during the day. But I said nothing.
I now turned my attention to the woman. She looked about 65 and reminded me of my friend's mother. I looked at her bag. It looked very new.
The woman saw me looking at her bag. She turned and showed it to me.
"What do you think?"
I was a bit shocked, "I ... Sorry?"
"I bought this bag for my son. What do you think?"
"It's nice. Looks expensive."
"Yes, it is. It was a bit costly. Around 23 rupees. I don't remember."
23 RUPEES? That was a steal! Or was she crazy?
I stopped looking at her and turned my attention to the little girl.
The little girl looked hungry and tired. I took out a Mentos I had brought with me from the party and gave it to her. As she took out her hand to take it, I could see the girl had a deep gash on her right arm.
"The girl's fine," said the lady "and so are we."
I looked at her bag again. Suddenly, it crossed my mind that this bag was at least 20 years old. An old Bata bag that was popular during my school days.
I saw the newspaper again. Barack Obama was going head-on-head with Hillary Clinton in a photo on the bottom page, for the Democrat’s race for presidential candidature.
It was an old newspaper!
And as I looked at my watch once again, I felt I was not too late anymore. 9.42 pm.
