AN EDGED LIFE

A black-edged sapphire shaded butterfly was taking rest on my pointed nose as I opened my eyes listening to the morning chirps of sparrows. I guess it was trying to suck the nectar because its sting kept tickling me, made me shook my head and it flew away. I could see the striking colours of the sunrise through the rusted window beside me and my body is shaded with its golden rays. It was refreshing and beautiful.

I stepped out of our tiny hut after getting a morning hug from my amma to give breakfast to my appa. Though I see everything daily for 8 years, I fall in love with my village again for its serene. As usual, I crossed all other 17 concrete houses and 25 huts, fought with the old lady sitting on the way to the river, teased the girls who hid under the water after seeing me, imitated the aunties’ carrying their pots on heads and entered into the green land.

The natural breeze was touching each part of my skin as I enter into the fields. A basket in one hand and a stick on the other was swinging in my hands one after other as I move forward, deeper into the greenery. The paddy fields around me have a rhythm in their moves and the maze crops were escorting my way. I reached among the wilting creatures that collapse as the sun hides behind the dusky pillow of clouds and comes out with a desperate tilt as it rises. These sunflowers kept dancing with me in the same tone.

A bitsy flake hit my eye, making my vision go blind for a few seconds. All the omens of positivity had fluttered in a fraction of second due to the obscure view in front of me. I rubbed my eyes harder and tried to open them wider. The entire universe looked like a lie. Everything in my vision is different. The paddy fields to the sunflowers, the sapphire butterfly on my nose to the blue river was all absent. All I could see is the dry broken land, dead filthy branches and bare ghostly life. The land was filled with a bag full of bones, the hazy grey monstrous sky and I am trapped in a land of the beast. The scream of hundreds crying out loud for help.

I started running back to normal but all the directions look similar. The howls are louder now and I’m cornered in this deadly world. I didn’t like it. It’s all dark, scary and deceased. There’s no clue how and why I was landed here. I closed my eyes tighter to escape from the roars around and a tiny gaunt dark-skinned bare hand pulled me. His eyes were red and horrible that I just stared at him. Suddenly, I could hear someone calling my name from miles away. It’s a female’s voice.

The name travelled from miles and I could hear it so loud and closer, making my eyes open wider and scarier from my bed. Before I could relieve myself from that dream, I realised the voice of my name was real. It was my amma calling it and her words look tensed. I adjusted myself and ran to the door. My amma was sitting down looking towards the road, crying, weeping, screaming and hitting herself. I tilted my head up to see the reason. Four villagers were carrying my appa and walking to us. My appa seems lean, left his body weight on them and holding an empty box used on the farm.

“Another farmer committed suicide in our village”, announced the town crier.