It was a cloudy morning. I woke up all exhausted even after 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. My energy levels were down as if my body was running on reserve mode and needed some fuel. I had skipped my dinner which could have been a possible reason for the low. I dragged myself out of bed and placed a vessel to prepare my magic potion which keeps me alive each day. I allowed my coffee to brew for a while so that the aroma fill in the aura and make me feel good about at least something. While brushing my teeth I remembered that I was done with all sorts of human interaction last night and fell asleep while crying myself to the pillow. The splashing of water on my face brought me out of my thought. I had not realized that I had unconsciously completed one of my daily chores. Like a sloth, I moved to the kitchen and served myself the coffee. I took a sip, it did not feel good, after a long time I felt the need to have some sugar in my coffee. This again made me cry. I realized that I wasn't ready to face or talk to anyone today, so I took sick leave.
I stood in the balcony with my coffee, pitying myself with each sip. Suddenly something came flying and got stuck to my face. It was a leaf, I looked at the plants, they were happily dancing in the wind. It appeared as if they had sent the leaf to grab my attention. I smiled and realized how oblivious I was to the beautiful weather since morning. I got myself ready for a walk at the beach. It appeared to be an ideal day for some me-time.
I started walking by the shore, trying to trace a straight line by my foot-prints. Slowly I increased my pace and started running. I felt like one of those old scooters which we had to push sometimes in order to start its engine. After making my heart do some hard work, I sat down at a corner. For some reason, it felt good. While I was waiting for my heartbeat to sync down with the rhythm of the calm sea, I spotted an ice-cream vendor and my sweet tooth returned. I tried to deviate my mind by looking elsewhere.
While I was staring at the waves without blinking an eye, my view was interrupted by the entry of a kid. The kid's tiny feet were sinking in the sand and it felt like he was hopping. He was carrying a small red bucket and a shovel from some toy-set. He seemed very familiar but I couldn't recall how. He sat down right in front of me and started collecting sand in his bucket. I closely watched his actions. It seemed interesting and I also wanted to play with the sand but something held me back. He called out to me asking whether I wanted to join. As if he read my mind. I smiled and quickly reported to his service. I asked him what he was trying to build, he said a castle for the fish. It felt like a deja-vu moment. I remembered saying the exact words to someone before. While building the castle I asked him, why was he building a castle so close to the shore, the waves would destroy it easily. He smilingly said that is the way you look at it. According to me, if the fishes like my castle they will take it with them under the water and live there happily. I was stunned by his answer. After we were done with the castle-build I offered to buy him an ice-cream. His eyes twinkled. He lovingly followed me to the vendor. I ordered an orange bar for myself and when I looked down to ask his preference, he vanished. When I asked the vendor where did the kid go. He laughed at me and informed me that I came all alone.
I took the ice-cream and walked away with a smile. I was returning as a different person. Had I been the person who came to the beach this morning, I would have started googling reasons for hallucinations. But this new me just thought that my past came to the rescue of my present.
