Convergence - Page 12

Originally posted by: Lyla

How do you define obvious? And never assume the obvious to be the truth!

Originally posted by: -Artemis-

You and I, here and now is obvious. Everything else beyond this point is like that blurring drowsiness that cocoons us while we sleep. There is truth in both.

-Art-

Originally posted by: -Artemis-

I hope you [writer] does not think I am spamming your thread. But your words are fascinating, even more so, the picture they paint in subdued hues and yet bring out the vibrancy of the morning sunlight.

-Art-

Miles stretch between him and a lonely tree with golden roots- and sinewy leaves.

To him there is nothing but vast emptiness, and the stifling heat of the ends of time.

Saturn looks for something to quench his curiosity, to his dismay- he finds none.

While the angel that spreads its wings above him sees both the man and the tree

He sees the sinewy leaves flutter only when it's right up there for him to see.

-Art-

Chapter 5:

"Are you okay?" Anjali asked Geet who was brushing her semi dried hair. She stopped the brushing motion and looked at Anjali's reflection next to her in the mirror.

"I am okay now Anjali. It's going to be alright," she replied and sighed.

"You look exhausted. Did you get any sleep at all after waking up from your…dream?" Anjali asked little hesitant. Geet simply shook her head.

"Don't mention what happened last night to anyone, okay?" Geet said as she stood up and checked mirror for one final once over.

"Will your family be worried if I did?" Anjali asked opening the door. When she didn't get a response she turned to look at Geet who was staring at her reflection in mirror.

"Geet?" Anjali called again. Geet snapped out of her reverie.

"Let's go," she said and walked out of the room. It bothered her a little when she felt that her reflection was seconds late in disappearing from the mirror.

-- o00o --

"How are you finding your stay Anjali?" A woman in her mid-forties asked Anjali as she buttered a toast. Anjali looked up from her breakfast and smiled politely at the woman.

"It's been fascinating experience till now aunt Sati," she replied politely.

"Just call me Sati," the older woman smiled kindly. Anjali nodded.

"Your mother is awake, Geet. Meet her before you head out." Kanishk said. Silence settled over table sliced only by sounds of cutlery.

"What's the point? It's not like she knows who I am anyway," Geet said bitterly cutting the toast little harder. Anjali, who was sitting next to her could see the clenched teeth and whitened knuckles. Now even the sound of cutlery ceased around the table.

The sound of cutlery picked up several seconds later and no one spoke for the rest of the breakfast duration.

-- o00o --

Geet stood in front of the staircase and looked up. One look from Sati, she knew that she had crossed the line. Her mother's mental condition didn't allow her to be coherent for more than five minutes and even that happened very rarely. She remembered Sati telling her about it when she had come from boarding school to spend winter holidays at the house with her other cousins.

The memory was vivid in her mind.

"Your mother asked for you Geet," Sati told the seventeen year old sipping hot cocoa in front of her.

"She asked for me?" Geet didn't hide her surprise. She didn't need to; Sati had acted like her surrogate mother after all.

"She remembered having a daughter and she asked if she could meet the little girl. And then she seemed to realize that time has passed, so she asked me if you had grown up to be an intelligent young woman." Sati said softly. Geet didn't say anything for a while but sipped her hot cocoa.

"What do you think goes on in my mother's mind Sati? Does she see the world we see or she sees things that we aren't meant to see?" Geet asked. The beige curtains in her room fluttered in breeze and she thought she saw a shape form amidst those curtains when it flowed back. But the shape disappeared when the breeze blew again making the world behind it translucent.

Sati ignored Geet's second question however tried answering the first one. "I don't know Geet. I have asked her several times and no two times has her answer been similar. Like yesterday for example; I found her talking to a cat. When I asked her what was she conversing about she told me that Lady Bast was sad."

"Bast? The Egyptian feline goddess?" Geet asked, her eyebrows almost hitting the hairline.

"Yes." Sati sighed understanding Geet's surprise.

"And what did lady Bast say in response?" Geet asked. Now it was Sati's turn to be surprised.

"You don't find it odd for your mother to converse with cats?" Sati asked surprise evident in her voice.

"I do. But I am curious to know the answer from the cat though." Geet shrugged. Sati looked at Geet for several moments in wonder. Where was this going?

"According to your mother, Lady Bast was sad because her people had stopped believing in her thus reducing her powers over years thus making cats an ordinary household pet instead of being worshipped." Sati said. Geet merely hummed.

"What is it?" Sati asked when Geet didn't speak for moments but looked outside the window and held the cocoa cup against her cheek.

"I am just little blown away with the answer, that's all." Geet replied.

"Why is that?" Sati asked.

"An idea is powerful as far as one believes in it unconditionally in its outcome. If the idea is merely subjected to an introductory round of beliefs and is then further diluted by application of rationality and realistic values then it loses its potency; it ends up being bunch of words and something of a – 'could-have-been-amazing'." Geet left the room for hot cocoa refill leaving Sati alone with her thoughts.

Sati wondered if every human was insane and those who were cloaking their insanity were called sane.

-- o00o --

That incident had taught her to watch her words with elders because after that her grandfather had asked her to meet a 'nice woman' who would help her to understand the transition from pre-adolescence to adulthood.

Therapists were the permanent Rorschach on her psyche.

"What are you thinking Geet?" Anjali asked bring Geet back from her reverie.

"Nothing important. Let's go and say hello to my mother," she said faintly.

"I'll wait for you here if that's okay?" Anjali said hesitatingly. Geet shuffled her feet and nodded without looking at her.

"I can understand. But it would be great if you are with me, you know? Like support or something," Geet said slowly climbing stairs. Anjali stood at the foot of stairs and watched her friend disappearing into corridor. Half a minute later, she sprinted across the stairs. She met Geet right outside her mother's room. Geet nodded at her in appreciation.

"Hello mother," Geet said once inside the room. Her mother's caretaker excused herself and moved out of the room.

Her mother was standing by the window with her eyes closed. There was an ethereal touch in the way the older woman held herself clad in all white and her hair open. Wind tousled her hair and she seemed to be talking to herself. Anjali looked at Geet when the older woman failed to respond to her friend.

"I told you it's a waste of time," Geet said and turned back to leave. Anjali didn't know what to do as she seemed to be rooted in her post. "Let's go Anjali," she said.

"Hello darling daughter," Geet's mother said. She hadn't moved an inch from where she was standing and still had her eyes closed. "I have been waiting for you," she added.

"How are you, mother?" Geet asked turning around. Anjali nudged her to go near her mother at which Geet rolled her eyes. Eventually she grabbed Anjali's hand and walked to stand two feet away from her mother.

"I am glad you chose to come and see me now Geet. When I heard that you will be making an appearance at this time, I prepared myself to be presentable," she said opening her eyes and turned to look straight at Geet. Anjali involuntarily took a step back. Geet however stood her ground.

"Thank you for that mother," Geet said keeping her emotions in check. "It must be very hard on you to be this way," she added without thinking much about it.

Her mother's face crackled and contorted with pain. Anjali wanted to physically cause pain to Geet for saying something like that to her mom.

"Yes, it is very hard to be this way Geet and it is painful to let go of the colors that bind me to them," her mother said.

Anjali had no idea what was going on. She decided to stop applying logic to everything she heard in the house, including Geet, since their words confused her more than help.

"I have to go. Take care mother," Geet said and turned around.

"I don't have the energy to protect you anymore, darling daughter," the older woman sighed and leaned against the window.

"Protect me from what?" Geet asked, turning around.

"You know who I am talking about," she answered tiredly.

"Mother, please tell me what are you talking about," Geet literally begged. Anjali noted that Geet wasn't simply asking question because her mother was babbling something; she seemed genuinely desperate to know the answer. What was Geet thinking?

"Stop searching for him Geet. Please. I beg you." Her mother's voice had raised an octave.

"Who are you talking about?" Geet asked, paled at her mother's words.

"Geet, stop. You are aggravating your mother," Anjali tried to stop.

"I have always protected you. I have always protected you. I have always protected you." Geet's mother started rocking back and forth and repeated the sentence over and over again. Anjali yelled for the caretaker to come.

"Please leave," the caretaker told the two girls. Geet was still glaring at her mother and rooted on spot making Anjali drag her out.

"Don't go in search of him Geet. Please don't go," Geet's mother yelled loudly. Anjali slammed the door shut behind her.

"Snap out of it Geet," Anjali shook Geet who was muttering something incoherent under her breath. Geet finally calmed down and swallowed her residual anger by taking deep calming breaths.

"I am sorry you had to witness that Anjali," she said softly.

"Let's go out today, okay?" Anjali said and started walking towards the stairs without waiting for Geet's response. She had to get out of the house. She felt the house was closing in on her sometimes.

-- o00o --

"Did you do this often?" Anjali said sighing in happiness.

"Whenever I came here for holidays my cousins and I used to come here for picnics," Geet replied. "It's particularly pleasant during this time of the year and we spent hours sitting here and talking about nothing. The stuffiness of the house dissolved with the wind," Geet replied.

The two women were lying on their backs on a large blanket. Geet and Anjali were walking around the estate and had stopped for a picnic on the area by the pond. Couple of specious gazebos was built around the pond area. The two of them however had spread the blanket on a patch of grass which was under much foliage for any sunrays to get in. After a lazy lunch the events of the day started to catch up and the hike done around the vast estate.

"You never came alone?" Anjali asked.

"I used to come here all the time with a book. It has always been my favorite spot for thinking, you know?" She said. Anjali nodded.

Silence fell between the friends as noon progressed. They were both comfortable with that. Geet moved from blanket and rolled on grass and inhaled deeply. The smell of earth, grass and an aroma unique to that spot filled her. She wasn't lying when she said it was her favorite spot. She closed her eyes and allowed the smell to envelop her in its arms.

She fell asleep instantly.

-- o00o --

"I have never been stopped at the Gate before," she said.

"Access changes with time," the griffin replied.

"Isn't everyone welcome here?" She asked.

"They are. But you seem confused," the hippogriff clucked talons.

"What am I confused about?" She asked tapping her boot.

"Are you entering or exiting?" The wyvern said.

"How are they different?" She asked.

"We are gatekeepers," the three answered.

"What do you guard?" She asked, again.

"The gate," the chuckle in griffin's voice came with a hint of condescend.

"Where does the crossing of gate lead?" She was being terribly inquisitive.

"Depends on which side of the gate you are on," the hippogriff answered.

"Which are the two sides?" She felt she was close to a definitive answer.

"There are no sides," the wyvern replied, kindly.

"Then what do you guard?" She asked, fully confused.

"The space separating what you perceive as real and unreal." The gatekeepers replied.

"What lies in this space?" She asked having a feeling of knowing what the answer was.

"You know the answer little girl," the hippogriff replied.

"I don't," she replied, tearfully.

-- o00o --

"Geet!" Anjali shook her friend awake. "Wake up!" She shook again.

"What happened?" Geet asked opening her eyes.

"You were crying in your sleep," Anjali said softly.

"Oh," Geet didn't know what to reply.

"I think whatever happened in morning has taken a toll on you." Anjali was being sympathetic. Geet didn't have a heart to tell her the real reason for her tears.

"Let's walk some more and then go back, okay?" Geet said hurriedly and stood up.

Anjali looked at her friend worriedly as Geet packed their stuff and placed it neatly in picnic hamper.

What was Geet hiding?

To be continued.

Quote: We have seen stranger things in dreams; and fictions are merely frozen dreams, linked images with some semblance of structure. They are not to be trusted, no more than the people who create them. From the introduction to the SANDMAN "The Doll's House" TPB