labyrinth

 “Get back on the table eat the breakfast”, lily shouted.

“Lily, you go I’ll take care of them you can’t miss this job opportunity” cried Emma.

“Now I have to care, you know when he passed he said ‘I trust you’ and he went to sleep”.

Tears filled her eyes. Each tear which fall down her cheeks depicted the life inside her head. Life held her tight torturing her. She closed her eyes and found herself in the wasteland of melancholy, where the curtains of despair covered her hope, where happiness was hidden deep inside the ground, where the air was dense with the denial of truth.

A hand reached her shoulder, warm and soft. She looked at her back and said,

“Where is the way out of this labyrinth?” she cried with distress.

“Lily look around you will find people its only imaginary stop thinking like that” cried Emma.

“Yes you are right I can hear their voices calling me, requesting me to come back and the loudest one is your, but they all are outside the labyrinth. Enough of talking now I should go”

She smiled. But there were tears, tears which showed that there will be no spring to blossom her garden. But she smiled to fool the town.

She stood up and took her purse, CV, and other paper. She stopped and starting staring at her children. She hugged them until a tear dripped down her cheeks and left a wet spot on the shirt of her daughter.

“Sister, you go now I will take care of them” cried Emma.

Lily nodded and unlocked the door and as soon as she stepped out cold air stroked her face.

“Maybe season changed and our love went cold, but you went away with the summer, I miss you” she talked to herself while walking to the bus station. She sat down waiting for the bus to arrive, while observing the birds flying under the ceaseless sky, around the tree creating noise as they fly past the leaves. She smiled. Now she was looking at the grey sky, she stared at those clouds as if they will never let sun appear.

She was distracted by honk of the bus and waited until it stopped. She went inside and sat in the end near the window from where she could stare and pass her time while she waited.

She thought of those birds and wanted to fly to be as free as them. Under the ceaseless sky she also wanted to live her life. But life treated her like slaughtered sheep and dragged her. She was locked in a box with chains in her legs. And freedom was something she could only dream, wanted, and thought of.

Suddenly she looked at her left as if there was someone who wanted to talk to her. As she turned her face to the left she saw an old man in white baggy shirt and black trousers, his white hair were all over his arms and almost half of his white hair had fallen from his head in between she could even see some brown hairs.

“Hi, how are you, I thought to talk to you as I can read despair in your eyes” he said as slow as snail as if his tongue can pronounce them.

“I am fine and it all go-”

“When my wife died I was too sad I felt as if the world ended and I am alone searching the way out of the labyrinth of suffering”

Lily was quiet and stunned. For a moment she was confused and said,

“So did you find the way out?”

“NO, because the labyrinth guided me”

“How”

“When hundred doors are closed one opens which is better than any of those”

“But how did the labyrin-”

“I found monsters, beasts” he interrupted her and continued “and hope cut me lose but I walked, I ran, I tried to climb and cheat the game but we cannot run out of the labyrinth we cannot cheat so I sat down empty handed” he smiled and looked at her.

“But you can’t get out of the labyrinth if you sit down” Lily finally spoke out.

“So can’t you”

“But wh-”  

“You know what” he interrupted her and said “how I find the way outside I am not even sure because maybe it was a test, a test from god I was not prepared because I never learned from my mistakes and practiced my course again and again I thought I don’t have to give anything in return of what He is giving me. I did not wait, I did not pray, I was not able to bare it because I thought I am the prince and I am free I can go wherever I want, do whatever I want but I forgot who the real owner is. I cannot even make an ant He made the world but I thought of ME”

“I am fed up I…I…I just want to-”

“Die, am I right?” cried the old man.

Lily nodded.

“Since he died, I mean my husband, I feel weak I tried to water the flame but it did not extinguish I want to get out of the box because I cannot breath, his death hurts a lot but looking at the grave finishes me inside it breaks all the pieces but till today I lost them too”

“They are around, you will find each of them, his death will hurt but face the reality and remember the flame will extinguish when you will be outside the labyrinth.”

She looked at him in surprise but still bewildered.

“Life will went on leaving bruises on your body, it will tore open your soul and expose its depth, when the asphalt will crack you will have to build another one until you reach your destination.”  

“But it hurts, it hurts a lot” cried Lily.

“Where is your armor? Wear IT!” he cried

They both were interrupted by the honk of the bus and it stopped.

“My stop is here, you shall wait for your”

She nodded. And saw him getting off from the bus, and she whispered ‘armor’ to herself and looked outside the window where she could see the old man waving at her.

She smiled.