"THE HOURGLASS"

                                         HOURGLASS. 

Rene, Rene, Rene; she muttered gently. Wha- what do you want Kieran!! It’s 5 am. Let me get some satisfactory sleep, for once in my life (Rene said in a manner expressing his anger). “ It's mum,” she muffled

Rene stood up swiftly he asked,  sh_ she- she’s alright right? Kieran replied yes, she is fine; isn’t it time for her medicine? Rene took a deep breath in relief, yes, I’m sorry about that, I zoned out, but- I thought I had my alarm set or did I? That’s very strange if you, Kieran replied to her brother, that must have been a very good sleep you had, sorry I had to wake you up, but Mama needs you. 

“ Yes, it was, I haven't had one in four years,” he said, ``go back to sleep, I will take care of mum. “What were you dreaming about?” she scoffed. Rene replied “an hourglass”. Rene stood up, took a deep breath, gazing out at the environment from his bedroom window. He heard vague lyrics to a song he had never heard before “ hours past, the week- turn into- months and still alone, wondering when I’ll see you while I watch the h0(urglass). 

He sways to the song, he glanced and noticed it was his neighbor, Mr. Gabriel  Birsha, playing the song. Mr. Gabriel !!! Mr. Gabriel -el, Rene yelled, I would like to know the name of the song. Mr. Gabriel came closer, looking over the horizon, he replied “ Hourglass_ the name’s Hourglass”. You should listen to it, it’s a jam, a masterpiece, and it can be very relatable, released in __Mr. Gabriel paused, how old are you son? Mr. Gabriel asked, Rene was profusely shocked by the response he got, he stuttered in fright, I’m_ I’m I am, I’m twenty-five. Mr. Gabriel replied, still grazing over the Horizon “ released in 1986”. Rene shut his window in haste, sat down on his bed for a quick second, stood up, right back, and stared at Mr. Gabriel through his window; as he slowly walked back to his Garden. 

          This must have been a “reasonable coincidence” he told himself, or maybe I’m still half asleep, or it was the song that woke me up in the morning, therefore; my brain is trying to reboot my whole body, they_ the_ they are a scientific name for this, I’m sure about that, I could be in a state of trance, or an absolute state of madness. 

            Rene!! Keiran yelled, coming!! He replied, he walked unhurriedly to the kitchen, to make his mother some green tea for her medicine. Still pondering about what he had just witnessed, he made the green tea in haste, grabbed his mum’s medicines, and walked inside his mum’s room with a kettle and her medicine. “Mama, Mama, turn around it is time for your medicine,” he said, kissing his mother on the cheeks_ oh shoot! I forgot to bring a ceramic cup for your tea, I will be right back mama; As soon as he took the two steps away from his mum, he heard his mum humming a tune he recognized, it was the same song as Mr.Gabriel’s. “Mum, Mum, Mum,” he said; what did you say? She turned around slowly and replied:“ I didn’t say anything” Rene replied yes, I know you did_n’t say anything, but,  you were humming to a song, about a second ago Mama, “oh I must have forgotten” she replied to Rene. Rene ran to his room, grabbed his phone, typed “the Hourglass'' surprisingly, he couldn’t find what he was looking for: “ If everyone around me knows this song, surely, it must be a very famous song” he said to himself, after about ten minutes of searching, he remembered Mr.Gabriel told him the name of the song and the year it was released. Rene was able to find the song, but he was so surprised how unpopular the song is, it had one million views in eleven years on youtube. He ran back to his mum’s room saying in a very gentle voice “ Mum, about ten minutes ago you hummed a song or a tune I just wanted to know how you heard that tune”. Rene’s mum replied, “ it is time for medicine”?. 

         Kieran walked in and found out that mama hasn’t taken her medicine yet. “ Rene! What is the deal with you today? Maybe I should be the one in charge of taking care of Mama!! ( she said angrily). Rene told her to go make Mama some green tea, she asked again “ seriously Rene what’s up with you today?” Rene replied, “I have been having some meaningful coincidence about an hourglass, it is like the universe is trying to tell me something, but, it is a coded message”. 

Or it could just be you are going through a “ spiritual awakening” Kieran said with a smirk on her face. “ I’m sure you won’t get the answers, by ignoring your responsibilities, Mama doesn’t speak zeros and ones, besides she has Dementia” Rene. Kieran made some tea for mama, gave her medicine, and made sure she was well asleep, she shut the door gently to let her mum get some rest. Kieran asked Rene what he dreamt about with a mockery tone, “ in my dream I saw the sand of time in an hourglass, it _ it’s almost like an everlasting entanglement, it symbolizes a passage of time; but, an unending passage of time, in my dream, when the duration of one side is complete, it automatically turns to the other side”. Kieran asked “ what do you think that means? Rene  “I know the concept of an hourglass is simple to explain, but I felt like they are a deeper understanding that I need to know about the hourglass. 

     Ain’t you going to work today? She asked, “ yes I am, my shift today is two to nine, and you would have to take care of mama while I’m out”. Rene had forgotten about what happened earlier a couple of hours passed, he turned on the tv, a voice echoed through the house: “ Rene what time did you say you were going to work”, have to be there by 2 0’clock he replied to Kieran, “ I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but I just wanted to inform you that the time is 2:22 p.m. 

He bolted to his car and yelled “don’t forget to give mama her medicine while I’m gone”. Rene starts his car, and he hears the same song, he takes a deep breath, and the thought of his mother overshadows him. All of a sudden an ad came up: “One of the greatest challenges in this world is knowing enough about a subject to think you are right, but not enough to know you are wrong”.After a long and worrisome day at work, Rene couldn’t take his mother off his mind, he had an idea of what the universe is trying to tell him, he picked up his phone and called his sister asking if mama was alright, all of a sudden, he dropped his phone, he dropped his phone because he knew, a storm of realization came down upon him. 

 “ It was all me all along” in just a millisecond between life and death, his whole flashed before him, his body felt numb,   he understood everything now, he understood “ the hourglass”, he understood why Mr.Gabriel looked over the horizon, he understood the meaning behind Mr. Gabriel's name, he understood his sister’s name, He understood “Rene”. He saw a garden with beautiful flowers, he felt peace, he accepted what was to come, he opened his eyes one last time, he saw the beautiful images of his mother and sister and speedy vehicle, the headlight was bright, but he could see, he could see everything. He told himself “ this wasn’t preordained, it was attractive” and he closed his eyes and embraced it all.