Have you ever felt fear? Real fear. The kind that rises up from the base of your spine. The kind that leaves a chill all across your skin. The kind that is accompanied by the realization that this could be the moment of reckoning. The kind that you cannot do anything about.
It was a night made hazy by the smoke of the weed we had lit up. Consciousness was at its edge. The large screen television had a glare too strong for the dazed eyes. The movie was mentally numb. I rolled over and saw The Cap deep in sleep. That’s when I felt it. The bed was weird. It was moving. ‘The bugger’s awake’, I thought and reached out to him to stop him from rocking the bed. But this was a mattress on the ground. He couldn’t rock it. My eyes rose to the level of the bathroom door. The night lamp’s modest glow was reflected in the slightly ajar wooden door. And the reflection flickered for no apparent reason. The fan was off and the room was insulated. What was rocking it? That’s when it struck me.
I looked at the half empty mug of beer next to me. The water was moving, not like Jurassic Park but like a wave in the ocean. To one side, then to the other. My eyes contracted with fear and hair on my body stood at its edges.
I called out to The Cap and told him, ‘Dude, earthquake.’
‘So, should we go down?’
‘Yes’
‘Let me get my phone first’
(As I grab my own phone) ‘Dude, we are on the 11th floor’
(Walking down the stairs of the house) ‘So, basically there’s not much of a point’
‘Yes’
The tremors had stopped. The realization stayed. This could have been it. Life is so fragile. So, short-lived. So fleeting.
Don’t do boring things.
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