Curtain Fall

Not realizing where he was heading to, he trudged on; it did not matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore, he had realized the bitter truth last night as he once again maniacally laughed to himself; his decision was made. 
Sometimes he told himself, he at least got to see the untainted splendor of the world he was on, untouched by the vermin that fed off of it until they nearly killed it. 
Vermin? What would that make him then? 
His lips curved up slightly. Too tired for a proper smile even, he dragged on; one feet after the other. Part of him wanted to plop onto the ground and descend into a permanent dreamless stupor, but some sane aspect still commanded him. He would not go out like that. His end would be his choosing, if God indeed intended for free will, or even the illusion of it, he would take it.

Far off in the sky, he could see the lights of the tenements in the upper layers still burning from the timeless energy sources fueling them. They that were, used to say there was a time when one could see real stars in the night sky. He had always thought of it a myth; in his time nobody living had ever witnessed a real star. For all he cared, stars and ghosts were the same. Ghosts, he scoffed. If they were real, he would be less lonely, wouldn't he? Was the end of the world not yet the perfect moment for their grand reveal? 
Shaking his head out of his ramblings he once more looked around. In between his musings he had lost his way and come downhill some. Letting out a deep sigh, he cursed himself for the delay. He would need to trek uphill again and it sure was some way off still. 

His muscles ached in revolt as usual. But ignoring them he scratched that itch in his beard. A strong stench wafted up his nostrils and he instinctively withdrew his hands from his face and wiped them on the filthy rags wrapped around his legs. His frail legs shook uncontrollably as they begged for some rest, but he had stopped caring about it a while back, it was not like he would need legs where he was going. 
The thought broke open a grin, before he broke into a hysterical laugh that immediately escalated into a scream as he let out another bout of frustration. 
Satisfied and grinning widely to himself now, he dragged on once more; he was almost done, he had completed his purpose and it was time now for his retirement. All he needed to do was tender his resignation and wait for the boss to appraise his performance. 

There was a boss, wasn’t there? He sure hoped so.

Far away, two eyes bored into his hunched back; intently watching his progress, they tried to unravel the webs of destiny wrapped around this puny creature. Something was vital about this man’s steps up the cliff. She knew, the elder wouldn’t let her watch otherwise. Meddle in his plans she does, he would say; but he was letting her watch this time, why? It unsettled her, but she watched in silence, waiting with bated breath; ruminating and calculating.

Panting in exultation, he finally made it to the end of his pilgrimage; the edge of the cliff. His legs gave way under him and he dropped onto his knees letting the strong winds from the sea buffet against him. His once trademark grin returned to his dusty haggard face and all the fatigue he had kept at bay all this while, slowly crept into his soul as he let the warm salty wind brush across his skin. But he was not done yet; there was one finally work before he could hang his apron. 

Lifting himself up, he dragged his body around, finding rocks and stones to build a cairn. He heaved, shouldered and carried boulders, rocks and stones until he made a mound roughly man size. He brushed his hands over the mound as he thought of his family that had breathed its last on this very cliff. Their faces like so many other things had blurred over time in his memories, but he still remembered things; things that had become embedded facts in his head, like how beautiful his wife was and how happy his daughter was. He remembered the feeling of fulfillment he had around them, he remembered his joy. Of course he had long forgotten the actual beauty of their faces, the fragrance of their smell and the feel of their touch; but he remembered still the love he had for them and the pain of their departure. Tears rolled down his eyes at this and pattered onto the mound before he broke down and convulsed into bouts of howling and sobbing. Ignoring the stench, he buried his face in his hands and cried his heart out into the mound. This wasn’t the first time he had broken down so, this life had been cruel to him after all; dooming him to seven years of unmitigated loneliness after taking away everything he had had. 

The End, or to say the apocalypse, had come all that time ago, when people started dropping dead for weird unknown reasons. First it was unexplainable deaths of random people, but before people could realize what was happening, acquaintances, friends and loved ones had passed on, and the world, already down to a negligible population started scurrying into holes and bunkers in an attempt to protect themselves from the unknown. All of humanity went underground, and never resurfaced; all except him. 

Having lost his family to it, he had no reason to fear death. Nor embrace it, for he believed in purpose, and so when all was lost, he set out to find what must remain. And thus, for seven years since the death of his family, he had traveled far and wide, searching high and low across the vistas of the planet for a living soul until a few days ago when he had accepted the truth of his loneliness; he was the only person alive, there was nobody else. 

Even now as he wiped the tears from his face, he hoped the wind that had carried his lament across the land, would bring back a voice in response. He waited with bated breath, but the wind only brought back the final echoes of his own wails. Of course, he thought. 

He had pushed on in hopes of a purpose for far too long, he had persevered for many years making sure he was the last living soul on the planet. And now that that was done, it was time for his end. It was time to meet the boss. He stood up and took a long last look at the mound he had made for him and his family. The last thing humanity will ever make, he thought to himself as he walked to the edge of the cliff.  

He looked down at the churning sea crashing against the cliff face, and wondered if there would be stars where he was going.  It would be nice. He thought back to the seven long years of lonely madness, and the very short span of happiness before that and wondered if his life had been worth anything. 
Why was his life spared? Why was everyone taken?
But at least there would be no more suffering, he thought. And so as he stepped off the cliff, he hoped there would be happiness where he was going.  

Maybe my purpose was to make sure no one was left, he thought a moment before the exhilaration and panic from the free fall kicked in. 
He splashed into the salty waters of the sea and the currents instantly pulled him away in many directions before whisking him off towards a far off rock and dashing him against it.  
And with that the darkness took over his conscience and the last man was no more. 

Far off the descrying eyes were enraged. 

‘Why indeed?’ her booming ethereal voice asked.

‘Just so. All beginning must have an end. That is how it is, that is how it must be, and that is how it always will be.’ the elder god replied.

And then, the darkness too died.

The Boy with the Golden Heart

A long time ago in the far away world of Woeland, lived Little Ed, a boy with the warmest heart that shone golden when he was happy and a smile as cute as was ever seen in all of Woeland. Now this Woeland was not like our world, it was magical. Everyone in Woeland had a doll in their possession and this doll was supposed to be representation of who they were; made by each person themselves when they grew up.

Why was Woeland magical you ask? Because these dolls in Woeland were of all types and varieties, defying any logic known to the men of our world, some were dark, some shone bright, some weakly made dolls crumbled in an instant only to reappear in perfect shape in an entirely different instance, and the dolls of some very vicious people was said to be able to change shape, size and hue as easily as the dryads changed trees. The magic of the dolls and the abilities of the people carrying them, made Woeland the most magical place there ever was. But little Ed had no doll of his own, because he was just a boy, not a grown up man yet. But he always dreamed of dolls, and wanted a special one.

Falling Apart

Strong cold winds buffeted me and my head throbbed lightly from the ever faithful hangover as I stood at the roadside coffee vendor, sipping my morning dose of cheap caffeine. Impatient as always, I checked my watch. I had to sit down with my client in fifteen minutes and my friend was still not here. A drop of water fell on the crystal clear glass of my watch. I looked up.

The skies were heavy with clouds, it would rain soon.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. It didn’t. The weather didn’t calm me like it used to before. Now it was just an element of a passing time. A time that was too slow in my bid to spend my life away. My mind wandered back to a day some years back, to a moment of sweet smell, long flowing hair and a happy laugh on a similar rainy day. Long back, when time wasn’t so slow. Maybe time is getting older like me. I smiled despite my irritation at my friend who had gone on a ‘bass paanch minute’ drive.

The Guardian

Dusk had moved on, and now night had caught up with us when we got to the snacks stall we frequented most days. The vendor, knew our orders and preferences by our faces now, and served us before other waiting customers. We obviously loved the treatment! As we sat down on our parked scooters, I noticed a small girl, not more than ten years old,  standing all alone and talking on one of those fake mobile phone toys for kids. She smiled, and swerved her hips and legs, drawing semicircles on the ground  as you would see girls in movies do when talking over the phone, and she kept up a continuous stream of excited chatter. Ample pauses were given for her imaginary friend to respond, and what must have been apt reactions to her friend's responses followed. I grinned at this, not everyday you saw a sight like this! A kid in the middle of the road talking unabashedly over a toy phone! I showed her to my friend and  he too couldn't help smile. God, joy is infectious to us humans!  But drawn by our more basic desires, we turned our attention to the smoking hot plate of pakoras in our hands. If you concentrated hard enough maybe you could have seen the steam lift the aroma of the food along with it and make a straight course to my nostrils, it made my stomach groan and mouth water.

The Aura of Life

I had slugged through the night, moving in and out of consciousness and had somehow managed to finish my chapter on Auditing (except of course the few things you detest to your core and don't touch no matter how desperate the exam attempt) by, what I like to think must have been the first light of dawn. And the joy and satisfaction of a week long endeavor having finally reached its conclusion made me rush out of the 24X7 library to stretch my legs and get  some fresh air.