Lost Dream

Fate and Dreams lie on the opposite sides of each other, and dreams have the ability to influence fate.

But a strong will can change the course of fate and destiny.

- -

The sun was setting into the horizon as the sky turned a mix of purple and pink.

Aryan, along with his small group of friends walked out of the school premises after finishing a long day. They were laughing and chattering as Aryan silently followed behind them.

"Hey Aryan, Are you coming?" One of his friend asked, turning around to look at him. "We're going to eat something before going home."

Aryan yawned, rubbing his tired and sleepy eyes. "I cant. I'll just go home and sleep"

"Alright then. See you tomorrow." His friend bid his farewell and joined few other boys as they parted ways in the opposite directions.

The faint chirps of birds in the background filled the silence as the old street lights illuminated the path with a dull glow.

Aryan turned a corner into a four-way crossing as his house still seemed to be a long distance away. He was tired and exhausted as he let out a yawn and wiped his sleepy eyes. He walked a bit further and turned to cross the road without being aware of his surroundings.

"STOP!" A faint voice echoed in his mind, snapping him out of his sleepy state.

But before he could even blink, the loud sound of a buzzer resounded right beside his ear. He whipped his head to the side and his eyes went wide at the scene. A heavy container truck was only couple meters away, rushing in his direction with blinding speed.

Aryan felt a cold chill down his spine and his mind went blank as he stood there paralyzed with fear. Just as the truck was about to hit him, a gust of wind swept towards him, pushing him away from danger. Aryan fell back on the walkway as the monstrous truck zoomed past right in front of his eyes.

He could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he was panting heavily, trying to get his breath back. He ran a hand across his face, looking left and then right but there was no one within sight.

He slowly stood up, confused, as he searched for the source of the voice. There was not even a single person to be seen as the place seemed to be eerily deserted. But he was sure he heard a voice, a gentle and sweet voice filled with concern and fright.

Just as he was wondering if it was his imagination, he felt movement and shuffling noises behind him.

♪♫Beaten and broken, I'm tied down here.

Forgotten and forsaken, I'm suffering right here♪♫

Aryan turned around and saw a narrow alley between two buildings. He walked closer, trying to see through the darkness. "Anybody there?"

♪♫Always scared and shy, thought it was a choice

Here and now I can cry, but you won't hear my voice ♪♫

There was no answer, however Aryan noticed something glowing near the trash bin. He took two more steps into the darkness and saw thin neon strips outlining an iPod in bright green. A thin wire connected the iPod to a headphones glowing in matching neons.

♪♫ The instant your eyes bear to witness

My incomplete story has begun once again♪♫

Aryan crouched down and stared intently at the iPod.

It was dirty and broken in places with scratches all over. But it seemed to have a strong yet sensible aura around it as it lay there battered and abandoned.

'Did the voice came out of it? '

Aryan snorted at his own ridiculous thought as he picked up the iPod into his hands. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past him out of nowhere as the iPod lit up with life.

♪♫ Your touch realigned the gears of the universe

Brought me back from an empty nothingness.

Im here once again, this time, to get my feelings through

then leave forever, with a dream that'll never come true♪♫

Aryan was a bit surprised as he didn't expect the iPod to be still working, in the state that it is. He noticed a crack right through the middle of the screen as the display flashed 1:43PM, with the battery icon blinking a tiny red in the corner.

Aryan thought about it for a moment then stood up, picking the headphones along with the iPod and walked out of the alley.

He doesn't have a habit of picking up things from the streets but this iPod seemed to have a strange attraction to it. And the more he looked at it, the more fascinated he became, as if he was enchanted by it.

♪♫ The dreams which froze for eternity, are now burning once again.

To sing the symphony of the silent love, that will always remain

Untold and unknown

One last chance to fill the hole

that is deep inside my soul♪♫

Aryan reached his house after 10 more minutes of walking. The house was silent as both his parents were away at the moment. He went up to his room, took a shower before changing into his casual clothes.

He sat at his desk and opened his bag, pulling the iPod out of it. And as soon as he held it in his hands, the screen flashed brightly, surprising Aryan again. The clock seemed to be stuck at 1:43PM and the battery was at the lowest level, barely blinking a tiny red.

He quickly pulled open the drawer of the desk and took out a couple chargers. He connected the first one to the iPod and plugged it to the power supply. But there was no reaction, the battery icon was still blinking red. He tried the second charger but the same thing happened.

He tried to connect them once again but it still would not charge. He thought for a while and walked out of his room. He searched all around his house and came back with three more chargers which could fit the iPod, and hopefully replenish the drained and almost dead battery.

He tried them one by one, hoping to see the battery icon turn change. But every time, he could only sigh in disappointment. It was as if the current was not reaching the device at all.

As nothing seemed to work, he pushed the iPod away in frustration. The iPod screen turned off as Aryan leaned back in his chair.

After a few moments of just watching it lay there, he sighed and picked up the iPod. As before, the iPod turned on as soon as he touched it. He looked at it carefully and began to examine the iPod from all sides.

It was just any regular iPod, although it was badly abused as there were cracks and scratches all over. As Aryan continued staring at it, he could almost feel a melancholic aura seep out of it.

'Why do I feel that you have a story to tell. Or is it just my imagination?'

Aryan turned the iPod around and pushed the keys on it. He bought up the Menu and checked the internal memory. It showed the memory to be full but no numbers indicating its capacity.

When Aryan browsed through further, he was surprised to find only one file inside.

Lost Dream .mp3

Eager and curious, Aryan put the headphones into his ears and played the file.

Silence…

And then more silence. Aryan checked the screen and it showed the file playing but he could hear nothing.

He sighed in disappointment as he realized that he couldn't expect such a damaged device to function fully. But just as he was removing the headphones, there was a voice.

A girl's voice.

Small and sweet.

Weak and hesitant.

♪♫ The only words I ever wanted to say

Now the words I can never convey

I'm the girl you never knew,

always behind you

In your shadow,

whether sun or snow

Timid and shy I've always been

Wished but I could never be seen

By the one person,

who is the reason

For the love I feel,

the heartbreak I deal

I admired you from the distance,

wanted to be in your presence

Missed many chances, afraid and anxious

Stayed back in silence, always at a distance

Wish I found courage just once

Turned my feelings into a sentence

I would come out and say

By your side I want to stay

You are my prize, my treasure

My purpose and anchor

Your smile sets my heart flutter,

I cant help but stutter

I could only ever write, the feelings I couldn't tell you straight

But no matter how much I write, I never felt light

Don't know why, whatever I try

I could never hide, the emptiness inside

Unable to express my love for you, I could only dream about me and you

There will come a day, when you will look my way

And I won't hesitate to say, by your side I want to stay

Now it is too late to pray,

Fate composed a different play

A tale where I'm the center of a Gale

It is cruel and merciless,

It cleans and makes a mess

I broke my wings when I was about to fly

Far and high, death became my ally

The moment life flashed in my eyes, I couldn't even hear my cries

I did not suffer or struggle, It was all a blur and a lull.

As I drowned in darkness, thick and bottomless

All I feel now is regret, and the love I'll never forget.

If I had one wish to pray

I would want to stay,

for one more day.

Just so I could say

The only words I ever wanted you to hear

I kept them hidden for a year,

in doubt and fear.

I love you…

I would say

By your side I want to stay

Farewell, my love

I'll be watching from above

I'm the girl you will never know

With a love that will forever be

Buried yet free♪♫

Aryan snapped open his eyes, and raised his head from the desk. In a daze and still half asleep, he looked around, confused.

As he slowly removed the headphones, he found wet stains on his hand. He frowned and blinked as his eyes seemed to be blurry. Then he felt his eyes and was surprised to find tears at the corners.

He wiped his eyes quickly and stared at the iPod in front, as his hand unconsciously tugged at his chest, a heavy feeling lingering in his heart.

"Aryan!" He heard his mom's voice from the other room. "How many times do I have to call you? Come down to dinner."

"Coming!" He sighed and stood up, walking towards the door. He turned back and threw one last glance at the iPod before he turned off the light and headed down to dinner.

- - - - -

In the dark and silent room, the iPod screen flashed brightly, and the red battery icon filled the screen. It blinked three times and then the screen turned to black.

That night when Aryan tried to listen to the song again, it was already too late. After another hour of trying to charge it, he finally gave up. But the song and the image of the shy girl remained in his mind for a long while.

The beaten and battered iPod struck a chord in Aryan and found a spot in his heart. Despite its state and shape, Aryan couldn't get himself to throw it away and instead stored it as a memory.

The next morning, on his way to school, he stopped in front of the alley. He just stood there, staring into the narrow space, lost in his thoughts.

"This is not a good spot to daydream, my friend." A voice snapped Aryan out of his thoughts. He turned around to find his friend standing beside him with a smile.

"What do you mean?" asked Aryan.

"There was a terrible accident right here, just a week ago." answered his friend.

"What?"

"Yeah. A drunk driver ran a red signal and hit a girl. She died on the spot."

Aryan's eyes widened in shock. "I-I didn't know"

His friend sighed. "It was all over the news. The girl was a student of the neighboring school, probably our age."

Aryan gulped, swallowing the growing lump in his throat as he shook off the negative thoughts filling his head.

"We even held a prayer at school the next day, don't you remember?" The friend asked, raising his brow. Aryan stayed silent, looking a bit surprised, and his friend couldn't help sigh again.

He shook his head in disbelief. "You never pay any attention to the things around you. That's one of your bad habit. If you don't fix it, you'll miss many things without even realizing. And you'll ending up regretting later."

"Anyway, lets go or we'll be late." His friend finished and walked ahead. Aryan took two steps and turned back, as he stared at the crossroads where he escaped death. His hand clutching left of his chest as his heart felt heavy with unknown emotions.

A light breeze swept past him, brushing his cheek gently as if caressing him.

- - - - -

Roughly a week ago…

It was just another peaceful Sunday evening. A young girl around 15 or16 years of age, was on her way back home from library. She seemed to be in high spirits with a cheerful smile on her face. The bag she slung on her shoulder was bouncing as she was skipping along her way.

She stopped at the crossing and waited for her chance to cross. As the signal turned red, she took a step forward. Two more steps later, she heard the sound of tires screeching followed by frantic screams. And the last thing she saw was a black car right in front of her.

It was all over in a flash. She was knocked away by the impact, blood splattered all across the road. As her lifeless body was thrown away in air, a thin note book and an iPod flew out of her bag. The note book fell down few feet away, torn and tattered, the words inside dyed red from her blood. The iPod however, bounced a couple times, got kicked by the people and ended up in a small space between two buildings, where it was later picked up by a high school boy.

- - - - -

Regrets are far heavier than any problems, because we can solve the problems but we have to carry the regrets every moment of our life. But life is to live, not to relive.

As an inspiring quote says.

Enjoy Today,

because Yesterday is gone

and Tomorrow may never come. – Alan Coren (Writer)