You are just where you aren’t meant to be. This place may be home to you but the world beyond this place has grown. You cling to me and each time a call comes from beyond, you groan and curl up into a ball and sink into the confines of what has become your comfort zone.
I know why you do not wish to leave me. You experience a sense of bliss when you are with me – a Nirvana of sorts. You are transported into a realm beyond your mundane world and the cacophony around you drifts into a mild rumbling the moment you are in my arms.
Besides, you trust me. I know that. I have been privy to your deepest secrets – secrets that even your shadows do not know. I have seen you in the darkest moments of your life when the morning light slunk away in betrayal. I have comforted you and you have felt at peace. We have also spent countless hours together, with you telling me about the dreams you have, the desires that dance within your soul and the songs that flit about in your heart.
Your father and I were good friends during our childhood days. He isn’t like you. He is sporty, dynamic and active. He is up with the lark – you arise at sundown. He gets pretty annoyed with you but I still support you because I know how much you love me.
However, I do agree with him. You need to move on – move away from me. For instance, the doorbell is ringing right now and you seem disinclined to go and check who it is. That is terrible. I feel a sense of unrest within me as I hear the persistent peal of the bell and wish I could answer it myself. I keep watching your sprawled out form, hoping you will get up. But you don’t. You have been chatting away with someone over the phone for the last two hours.
My eyes stray to the pile of unwashed clothes on your chair and the two coffee mugs that have been lying on the table since yesterday.
I sigh. I realise it is time to do what I have always dreaded. I need to shake you up a little – for your sake. So I brace myself and let it happen. The opportune moment arrives and I slide to the ground.
A thundering sound shatters the silence.
You let out a blood curdling cry, pick yourself up and run out of the room. I am broken to the core and I am in pain, but it had to happen that way. At least, I got you to move. I think you even answered the door bell.
And so my dear, I bid you farewell. Remember, I will always love you. As we part ways, I have only one wish – when you buy a new bed, please do not love it as much as you have loved me.
Image – Brett Jordan ( Unsplash )
Written for the January 2024 event organised by the ArtoonsInn.
