I was feeling anxious as I impatiently waited at the lounge. Destination was the only thing in my mind, or rather, the things I intend to do there. The lounge was crowded, while I saw many anxious faces like mine, which is quite understandable. I don’t think happy satisfied people would choose to come here. Suddenly I saw a lady approach towards the vacant seat opposite mine. She walked with free hands, just like any other people here, this journey doesn’t need any luggage. Judging by her appearance, she seemed in her late 20s dressed modestly with her tied up in a normal way.
“Where to?”, I asked, typical me who wouldn’t miss the chance for a conversation.
“Future”, she replied smiling.
“What about you?”, she asked me.
“Past”, I replied.
“Do you have a return ticket ?’, she asked quite curious.
“Yes I do, just in case…do you have ?”
“Yes, I have it as well, you won’t know right !”
I noticed that her ticket looked a bit different. It had the branding of a hollow heart symbol with four arrows projecting from its outer surface. Mine had the branding of two olive leaves with half of its leaves coloured red. Maybe each symbols got something to do with our intention or destiny.
“Is it an escape from the present?”, I asked with a bit of curiosity along with a slight apprehension of whether she would reply to that.
“Hm…” she took a deep sigh and continues, “Yes, in a way it is…moving on through some phases is tiring, so I just took the shortcut…future is always bright right ?”
“Well…I hope so..” I replied even though deep within the pessimist in me wasn’t able to agree with it.
“What about you, aren’t you escaping from the present as well?”
“Not exactly, but maybe in a way…yes, need to fix some things and relive some beautiful memories..”
“What if you don’t fix them ?” She asked without much thoughts.
“That’s what the return tickets are for”, I replied showing my tickets.
“What if you fix it?”, she asked again.
“I will give to someone who needs it, not everyone were lucky to get ticket two-ways”.
“Oh, I didn’t know we could do that!”, she said surprised.
“Yes its possible, this ticket can be interchanged, doesn’t require any IDs like in real life”.
“Its funny, me travelling back to escape the present and you travelling forth to do the same !”, I continued.
“Hehe, that’s cause you think the past is “fixable”, while I am sure I don’t have anything to fix, I did everything which I believed was right, so better travel to somewhere that goes beyond my control”, she said looking down while I sensed her thoughts travelling elsewhere.
“Well, that makes sense”, I replied, I will just agree to disagree with that. The bell rang indicating our departure.
“Good bye!, wish you good luck in the future !”
“Nice meeting you too!, wish you good luck in the past !”
I reached my destination. Underwent everything again. It felt like a recreated dream. But memories didn’t feel beautiful as it was in my dreams, I understood that some experiences only when we experience it once and dwell in that memory. That why we call it memory after all ! In the end, I understood that there was no point doing anything different, made no difference. Nothing goes as planned. So I decided to use the return ticket.
I waited at the same lounge, and was curious to know whether the lady I met years before made the same decision as mine. I tried looking around the crowd searching for a modestly dressed lady with a hair tied up in a normal way, but to no avail. Then I noticed a girl coming to the same old vacant seat opposite mine. She looked young, maybe in her early 20s.
“From the past or future ?” I asked.
“Future”, she replied.
“How was it ? Was it worth going ?”, my curiosity didn’t end.
She looked down, stayed silent for a while, then continued, “No, I shouldn’t have gone. Couldn’t quite survive there. You know, sometimes its just better to keep going, instead of thinking much, or when it will end.”
“But now here you are again, in your old present, the return ticket came in handy didn’t it ?, I asked with a smile.
“No, I didn’t have one. It was a one-way ticket, wasn’t fortunate enough to get a two-way ticket…But someone was kind enough to give this ticket to me, and I didn’t know it was interchangeable also. I would be forever grateful to her” her eyes began fill up with tears as she looked at her ticket and I got a good look at it as well. It had the branding of a hollow heart symbol with four projections from its outer surface. The bell rang again coinciding with a big goosebump from my heart, its time to depart.
“Good luck with your present !” I wished her good bye, she wished me back the same.
The branding still clear in my vision as everything else went blank, unfurling a thousand questions into my mind. Was the future indeed bright for her ? Or did she just sacrifice ? Did she find herself in a much better place. Was it an act of kindness ? What kindness ? Is it a random act of kindness that one would show after making sure that you got everything what you wished for ?, like an act of philanthropy billionaires would do every now and then ? Or is it an act of kindness which is truly selfless and done when all you got is nothing ? These questions will keep giving me company along with a million other questions I found out in my journey so far. I don’t have an option but to keep moving accepting that it will remain a mystery, as she is continuing her journey in a parallel horizon of time where I will make never make it again. I wish her good from the bottom of my heart.
livefiction 