“I was on the beach with Jesse Milton; he didn’t die in the accident. We were both shot.” I tried to explain. My mother looked at me with tears in her eyes and walked away. “You need to rest. Don’t worry, everything will be ok?” The doctor said. The nurse gave me an injection and all of a sudden it got blurry again. “I’m not dreaming, I’m not making this up, I’m not…”I struggled to say………
I was at the beach again. This was definitely not real. I couldn’t be here! I looked around and there was nobody around, just how it was the day of the shooting. The shooting, was that why I was here? Trying to figure out what really happened? “Somewhere visible?” Jesse said from behind me. I turned immediately. “You are not real, are you?” I asked. He looked at me and smiled. “Yes I am. I survived the accident. I knew it wasn’t safe to be in the country so I…” He started, but that wasn’t what I meant. “I know about that but I know I’m dreaming. This has happened before.” I explained. He didn’t seem alarmed at all. “You are probably having a déjà vu sweetie.” He added and hugged me. It felt real. I touched his neck, I could feel his hair. Was I going mad? I moved back and looked into his eyes. “This is a dream, just like the first one. You are dead, this is happening only in my imagination.” I said sternly. All of a sudden he gradually disappeared. I watched him with tears rolling down as he faded away………
After two weeks I was discharged. The police came to see me for questioning when I had recovered. I told them I was alone when the shooting started. They did some ‘investigations’ and concluded that it was a stray bullet. The beach wasn’t too far from a military shooting base. I couldn’t be bothered. I might as well be dead. Life didn’t mean a thing to me anymore until one sunny Tuesday one of the police officers brought back my stuff from the crime scene. I collected the box and dumped it at the back of my house. There was blood all over my sketch pad. I grabbed a box of matches. I emptied the box and was just about to light the match when my mouth dropped. Jesse’s necklace was lying next to the box of juice. I picked it up. It was the exact one I gave him on his 24th birthday………
Vishnu didn’t know what to say when I showed him the necklace. He was the only one I could talk to about this. I was sure everybody else would say I was imagining or making this up. “So what are you going to do?” He asked. Wasn’t it obvious? “I met Jesse and it’s still possible he is alive. I’m going to look for him.” I replied. Vishnu was not very pleased with my answer. He didn’t seem to doubt me, he just didn’t like my enthusiasm. “Look, this is crazy. I think you should forget about it. It’s about time you moved on. You are a beautiful girl. I hate to see you waste your life searching for Jesse.”He said politely. I felt like a stupid young girl. Without a word I rushed out of his place. I was completely alone now. My only hope was God. I went to a church to pray. As I sat in the empty church talking to God will tears rolling down both cheeks I realized the necklace was gone; my only evidence. I never took it back from Vishnu so I rushed to his place for it. When I didn’t mean to but I heard a word that made me eavesdrop. “…she is still hopeful that she will find you. Jesse you have hurt this girl too much. I hate having to keep this from her. Do the right thing” Vishnu said over the phone. I slammed the door and he jumped when he saw me. “So you knew all along. Where is Jesse?”………
To be continued……………
No comments:
Post a Comment