Another Entity

I could only see the palm tree residing in front of my house, through the window. Living in an urban environment was never suffocating to me. I enjoyed seeing the sodium lights, long drives at late night, hilarious advertisements of cinemas, hungry gazes at restaurants and what not! I had a strong bond with my very own city than any other place in the whole wide World! But someone once said, all of your happy moments are not the only moments you’ll be experiencing throughout your life. However, with a drastic experience I found out that, that someone was actually correct.

I never really hated my Chemistry classes. Paying full attention, I was trying to solve a problem of calculus. Leaving the professor dumbstruck , my phone rang out loud playing a creepy ringtone! I just grabbed it and pressed ‘ignore’. My teacher looked a bit disturbed and that look suddenly spoiled my mood and as well as my attention. Then again I started to solve the problem controlling a justified anger for the caller.

I got inside my car and took a breath. I was still trying to control my temper but at last I couldn’t. ‘2030? Is that even fair to call me during my classes? Argghhh! Bloody help lines!’ I was too much angry and felt a bit suffocated. Out of that minor suffocation maybe, I drove my car to the call centre of the carrier I use.

I parked my car beside the garage. Maybe I didn’t feel like maintaining a decency. I ran across the pavement and entered into the building. The receptionist appointed an employee for me instead of the manager. That sprinkled a pinch full of salt upon me. The employee came right away.

‘What’s all these? Don’t you think it’s inhuman? I was on a very important class!’ I yelled at the employee. I also showed him the number I was complaining about.

‘We’re extremely sorry ma’m, but this isn’t our number. We didn’t call you actually.’ He replied.

All of a sudden, I realized how irrationally I was behaving. ‘I should have cross- checked! Damn!’ I muttered to self and apologized to the employee and ran out of the call centre. Picked my phone out of the pocket again, and went through my call list. The number was still there , 2030.

                                                                       •

Mom didn’t seem to be very happy to know my professor’s reaction. She was not at all concerned about that horrifying call , instead she just kept nagging about my Chemistry professor. I found no reason to drag her disgust out anymore so I just quitted explaining my thoughts and went to my room. I dragged out my phone from the cover and took a deep breath. Several things were floating in and out of my subconscious mind. ‘Is it a serial killer? Or am I gonna experience all those scenes from the final destination? Is it a prank? No! I guess it’s the gang who clone numbers!’……….. I was so confused within myself that regardless of my assumptions being so unimpressive, I pressed the call button beside that creepy number.

‘It’s ringing!’ I said to myself. My inner sensations were trying to burst out of me….. Sweat dripped from my neck not realizing the frosty weather………..

The phone still rang………. With a weird clicking sound…….

After a few more rings, I felt that someone picked up the phone.

‘Hello!’ The voice left me devastated! I was feeling sheer pain all through my nerves and felt like I was never going to be okay! ‘How’s it possible?’ I thought to myself!

‘Hello? Ipshita? It’s me! Another entity of yours!’ The voice laughed.

I felt shivers running down my spine……

‘ What the hell is this? How could you even call me? Who are you? This is not at all funny I tell you! Tell me which reality show I’m on? What YouTube video are you making using a familiar voice of mine? Just say it!’ I simply mumbled these while constantly struggling to yell!!

‘Hold on sweetheart! I am in 2030 now. It’s not anymore the way you want it to be dear. People are inventing unbelievable things every now and then! I have finished my project on a calling system today. It’s a system to call someone from the past. And guess what? I’ve accomplished my mission today! We can call and talk to our past selves now! Can’t you see? I am talking to you. And I still have that mole inside my ear. It’s just a bit bigger now. Would you love to see a picture of it? I could mms you. We had the mms system back then in 2008, right?’ She tried to calm me. I just got blanked….. That hollow feeling started killing me from the inside……… I got more furious and again yelled at her.

‘Do you think it’s funny sister? Please say you’re joking!’

‘I am not Ipshi. Why would I confuse my own self? You and I both are real. It’s just that we are leaving in different dimensions.’

‘How can that be possible?’ I asked her… Suddenly, I thought of something…. ‘Let me ruin her prank!’ I thought…

‘ Wait! Where are mom and dad?’ I asked to the newly met entity of mine.

‘They are fine dear. Don’t you worry. They are still fit and fine even in their 90’s. I will make sure they be like this till the end.’

‘I wanna see them. Show me.’

‘Of course I will. After I cut the phone, I’ll send you an mms dear.’ She scared the hell out of me by saying this. I knew she couldn’t sound so confident if she was unreal. Then I heard something………. Heard it through the phone……… I heard an old lady calling by my name just like mom calls me. The caller, who introduced herself as me, replied to her…….

‘Hello? Hey? Are you there? Is that mom? What is she doing with you?’

‘Where would my mom go Ipshita? She lives with me!’ She laughed again.

‘You know what I am talking about, don’t you?’ I could feel the depth of my words.

‘Yes. I know. I have my lab just beside my home. She came to see me.’

I don’t know why, but I felt like believing her. My mother’s voice could never be wrong………. She’s the only thing I couldn’t ever be wrong about……….

‘And granny?’ Where’s granny? Tell me!’ I asked her. She didn’t reply…. She tried to blur my question and I didn’t let her………

‘Tell me! Ipshita.’

‘Well, we cannot expect a life to be eternal, can we? She left us in 2009 Ipshi. Look, do not get disappointed or upset please. This is how life is, right? We tried a lot…….. but……… she was………. Hello?........ I can’t hear you anymore……. Are you there?......... Ipsh……………’

I cut the line and threw my phone away. It hit the window,shattering the glass to pieces .I saw the window and maybe immitating it, broke into tears. Tears fell down my cheeks as I wept. I couldn’t believe my own self….. My own ears… Such an oblivion!!! My whole World shattered in front of my own eyes…….

‘Ipshu baccha?’ I didn’t notice granny coming inside my room. She came and sat beside me and wiped my tears with the fringed part of her saree. She looked tensed. She was one of a kind. Who couldn’t even tolerate a paper cut on my body. I didn’t want her to know anything about that phone call. So I just stopped crying and smiled at her. She calls me her sunshine, and that’s how I tried to look.

‘Why are you crying my child? Who made you cry? Show me that guy! I will kill him! Come on, I am not dead yet that someone will just come and make you cry, nah?’ Granny consoled me with her mesmerizing smile. I smiled back to her. ‘How can you leave me, granny?’ I thought. A drift of horror blew through my mind…… I looked at granny, hugged her and told how much I loved her. I hugged her again and again, her fragrance just kept me reminding how it’ll be missed when she’ll go away………. I cried again………. I just cried over and over again……….

                                                                       •

I could still only see the palm tree from my window. It’s dancing to the winds will. This tree always makes me think about myself. I am also living against my will……. No, wait! It’s me, who is reigning in my World! It’s not me……… But it’s me…….. It’s Ipshita………..

It has been a year since Granny left us. It’s 2010 now. She left us last year. After that incident, I frequently talked to Ipshita. Ipshita, she’s another ‘Me’. I couldn’t stop talking to her despite of my unwillingness. …………………. She could tell any single thing about my near future……. All of that she said, proved themselves as correct statements……. I kept talking to Ipshita……. Maybe future attracts!

Now, I know everything! Every freaking thing ! I know how Tanveer’s mother is going to die,……….. how Zara will attempt suicide,…………. how Lutfa apu will face an accident,………… how brutally is Marwa going to get killed……………. I just know about their death!........... And I cannot do anything about it.

I have tried saving people before……….. But none of them ever worked at all! The other Ipshita has warned me not to do this and enhance my pain. Because the future never lies……….

Now I am waiting……………. Waiting to know how my death will come. When it will step towards me and accomplish its desire………….. I am waiting, when I’ll hear another voice from 2030, apprising me about my death…………...... I don’t feel like I won’t be able to face that moment! I am facing deaths every second! I have spent two unbelievable years, dying! Now I know how death feels……….. I don’t have my soul inside me anymore……………. I just don’t want another life to die like me ever! I want myself to be actually dead now! I want to be dead! Dead along with that number……... So that it never kills any other Ipshita……. So that it never roams around anyone’s dream………. So that the bloody number dies………. That bloody number………. 2030……………

-Ashabori