Unfolding Reality

I.

Darkness, my old friend, arrives earlier than usual these days. When the sun sets, she enters my room quietly, flings her velvet cloak and settles down, making herself at home. The warm glow from the street lamp seeps into the room while the pale moon shines faintly above the city skyline. We sit in comfortable silence and yet, I can't help but feel your absence.

 

With nothing better to do, I pick on loose strands of memories and reality starts to unravel. A yellow post-it note. A postcard with the photo of a blue ocean. An orange T-shirt. A Christmas wish decorated in red and green. And just like the inside of the kaleidoscope you once gave me, the room comes alive with colorful memories ricocheting against these four walls.

 

II.

 

It's raining.

 

The rain and I, we have become strangers. He no longer tells me stories about all the far away places he has traveled, the people he has met and the things he has seen. Our midnight conversations have ceased to exist. He comes and goes without letting me know but sometimes, I catch a glimpse of him through the glass of my windows.

 

I trace my fingers along the creases of a distant memory. When I smooth out the creases, I get to relive again those nights when the rain used to lull me to sleep with rhythmic beats on the tin roof. And I think, in another dimension, the rain still keeps me company as I stay up late reading a book by the candlelight while the whole family sleeps soundly.

 

III.

 

The early morning air is crisp as I weave my way through throngs of people, heading towards the station. Red means stop. Green means go. Wait for the announcement to know when to board and when to get off. Past the ticket gates, up the stairs to the platform and onto the train. I stop thinking and let myself be swept away by the current.

 

I look around at the crowd in the train. Most of them keep their heads down, eyes glued to their phone screens. Some stare ahead, earphones in, listening to voices only they can hear. 

 

I can’t help but wonder.

 

What are they thinking?

What are they feeling?

What kind of reality do they live in?