Mysterious future

My eyes opened to an extremely silent atmosphere. My hands were twisted up with tubes and my face was covered with an oxygen mask. I tried to wake up but then I realised that my physical condition wouldn’t co-operate. I was in a complete confused state.

I heard footsteps approaching me. The door opened a crack and a woman in her mid-forties peeked through. Her face brightened as she witnessed me. She placed the latte she was holding, on the table nearby and sat beside me. 

“How are you feeling, dear” I felt the sweetness in her voice. 

“I’m okay” said I, “And who are you? Why am I here?”

The woman’s face looked terrible out of shock. She ran out of the door and in a few minutes she was accompanied by a Doctor and a Nurse. They examined me and I was immediately rushed into some kind of scanning laboratories. It took them several hours to check me in and out of the creepy machine that I didn’t even know what the hell was happening. I observed the man in white coat and a stethoscope around his neck, flipping the reports over and over with his eyebrows frowned. I was taken back to the previous room with the woman holding my hand. I read the terror in her eyes. 

“Sweetheart! Just hear me” she said, “I’m your mother. You had a terrible accident that a part of your brain is severely injured. Doctors examined you and reported that you don’t remember any of your pasts”. Tears started rolling down her eyes as she spoke. Words started to struggle.

“Mom.. I..Um… I’m sorry. I just can’t imagine the pain you’re going through. This must be very difficult for you, seeing me like this”.

“It’s ok, dear. I’m here with you. I will guide you through this. This isn’t permanent. Doctors said that this may soon return to normal if we continue the treatments regularly”, Mom consoled.

“May??”, I sighed. 

“Everything is gonna be okay”, mommy dear promised and handed over me the chocolate latte which she considered to be my favourite. 

“Yeah! It’s good”, smiled I.

“And that’s why it remains your favourite”. 

Mom instructed me to take a nap and she left home to bring me some clothes to change. I was just observing the things around me. Then, I closed my eyes to relax. 

Something flashed!

I was frightened. I rolled my eyes. I sat still on my bed. I couldn’t express what that was. I wanted to feel that again. What was that? I laid on my bed with eyes closed. The flashes started to flicker. They were the flashes of some events or memories or whatsoever. I could see two girls and a guy with a bouquet in the hands of one of the girls standing in front of me with a warm smile. I hastily opened my eyes. I was all alone. This terrified me and in no time I fell asleep. 

A few hours later, Mom woke me up and served meal. 

“I totally forgot to tell you. Your friends are on their way to see you”, Mom notified.

“My friends?”, I sounded surprised.  

“Yes, Kathy. You love them a lot. You hang out with them almost all the time”.

Mom told me a lot about them which made me feel intrigued. I was eagerly expecting to meet them. My conversation with mom paused as we heard the chattering voices. 

“Here comes your pals”, mom cheered. My happy face dropped as soon as my eyes took a look at them. They were the exact 3, whom I recognised in the flash of whatsoever. Even their attires, the bouquet, everything that flashed were happening to me just like a scripted scene. Mom let the four of us alone.   

“So.. How are you feeling, Kathy?” asked the guy. I was still confused. 

“Ooh.. I’m Joshua. She is Laura and this is Donna. We’re your best buds. And don’t worry, we knew every single detail about you”, Josh cheered.

“Um…No! Look. I don’t recognise anyone. Not even my mom. But when I looked at you, I did recognise. I don’t understand”, I said in a confused tone.

“That’s because, my friend, you are so into us, that your silly brain refuses to erase us”, chuckled Laura.

I told them about the flashes of events that made my head to spin.

“So, you see the future, isn’t it?”, asked Donna. 

“I guess yes. But we can’t decide anything. Let’s give it one more chance to finalise”, declared I.

We spent some time and they showed me some of our pictures together. I felt the bonding between us.

The clock struck half past six. I felt tired. I relaxed myself for a while. The flashes were back again. This time, it was like a series of events. I was in my home, sitting on a black sofa. I had a dog resting on my lap. It was a white lab dog. Suddenly I was on a walk with the dog. Out of nowhere it got hit by a van and was thrown away. There was blood all over. I sensed that the dog stopped breathing. 

I panicked and woke up. Mom was near me. “Your discharge is in a couple of days”, she informed.

I casually asked her, “Mom, Do we have a pet?”

“Yeah! We have a Labrador, Casper. He is so cute and sweet.”

My suspicions were triggered. I didn’t want to bother mom so I decided not to tell her about my illusions. 

2 days later…..

Finally, I have got to see my home, the place where I belong. Mom parked her Volvo in the garage. She opened the front door and let me in. The porch was just alike that flickered in my illusions. Mom made me relax on the big black leather sofa. Casper rushed to me and he licked all over my face. He was indeed cute as mom told. On the other hand, I worried about him. I thought of never letting him die. 

A week passed by….

My health conditions quite improved. My friends kept me engaged all week. 

I was on the dining table taking bites on my sandwich. 

“Kathy, why don’t you stay outdoors for a while? Take Casper for a walk”, she insisted.

My heart skipped a beat. I refused her to take him out. But she didn’t give up. She practically shoved me out of the door with Casper. I was so worried about him. How can I let this cute little doggo die? He, on the other hand, was cheerful and active all the way. He hopped, jumped, swirled. I badly wanted him to be careful. But I couldn’t handle him. Maybe, my amnesia took away all my skills of controlling him. I lifted and wrapped him around my arms. Yet the little mischievous creature turned down to co-operate. He forcefully jumped out of my arms. I noticed a van approaching us at a distant. My eyes popped out. I ran to catch Casper. But it was too late before the van hit him. He was thrown away. Water filled my eyes. I carried him to my mom. 

My mom was heartbroken. She couldn’t see him dead. 

“I’m sorry, mom”, said I, as we buried him in the backyard. 

I phoned my friends to come over and told them those incidents. They considered my foreseeing ability a gift.

‘Knowing the future’ definitely can’t be a gift. I had the illusion of Casper dying, a week prior his death. I wasn’t normal all week. 

We say ‘Life would be interesting if we happen to know what’s next’. But it’s not. We would ruin our present moments just by worrying about the future. Present is a gift. Future is a mystery. Let the future always remain a mystery.   

©Varsha