… they couldn’t agree amongst themselves. One argued that he had left, another said that he hadn’t, one went as far as saying he never came in the first place. But there is a hat on the pillow! His disappearance was as mysterious as his appearance. Blink and you would swear that he never was, but he was, he very much was, he did come and they all sat and enjoyed his tricks and jokes. He mesmerized them, they were hypnotised, carried to a world they did not know existed. They sat glued as he took them on a journey.
And this is how the story goes, on this fateful day, the guest arrived unannounced, what a charmer he was, he was unexpected but who could resist him, he had honed his craft to the T, the art of working his way into people was his forte! He was effortless, smooth as oil. Hurriedly they prepared a bed and made a sumptuous meal. He sat to diner and that was when the magic began.
Without uttering a word, he beckoned every single one to his feet with his enchanting energy and they all sat with folded legs and longing faces as children in kindergarten. They were expectant and he did not dissapoint, one after the other he transported them from place to place in their imagination as he hopped from one story to another recounting all his exploits and journeys. He said his good night and went to sleep.
The following night they couldn’t wait, they hurriedly made his food , placed on the table, sat transfixed in the enchanted position and closed their eyes as they listen to some more stories, it was as captivating as the first night, this went on for a few nights, the routine was set, prepare food hurriedly, sit at table, listen with eyes closed. Today something was different, the story is not as captivating, it’s not hitting as hard, actually the impact has been fading for some time. One of them dared to half open one of the eye and noticed something rather strange, he couldn’t fully make out what was in front of him, so he decided to fully open both eyes and stood up! He was stunned! Right in front of him was an empty chair and on the table, piles and piles of plate of untouched food on top of one another. He shook his mates out of their trance and that was when the argument started.
It seemed like there was never ever any guest afterall, as there the food was untouched and the seat was empty, puzzled they all went to his room, where he was meant to have slept, the bed was fully made and empty! They all held hands quietly allowing it to sink in, and then they saw the ‘hat’. The hat belonged to no one in the house, so he was, he did come, they didn’t dream it all up. If not for the hat, they would have sworn he never was.
They went back to the dining room. The mystery of the uneaten food remained. Was he ever at the table? Was that part a fluke? How did they missed that he was never there? How could they have been placing fresh plate of food on top of uneaten and stale food every single day without even noticing? How does anyone do that? It was pile high, layers upon layers of cluelessness and unconsciousness. One after the other they began to offload, unpack, removing one plate of food after the other and bingo, at last they found it! At the very bottom of it all, there was one scrapped plate, the food was eaten, but just once, the story was told, but just once, they didn’t dream it all up, it did happen, but just once! The rest was just a reverberation of the first encounter, an aroma of the food that had already been consumed, the scent of a person that had already left, the trail of a journey that was over, the sound of a rocket that was already in space, the light of a planet that is yons away.
How come they were so blinded, so clueless, so unaware that they sat and swallowed air, they drank and toasted to nothing! Purely because the eyes were closed. With the first taste of the enchanting encounter they closed the eyes shut and operated in auto pilot, not bothering to check if the person was still in, the scent was still there but his essence gone, his being gone!
How many times have we operated in same manner in life? People have left us and we do not know. We see them, we talk to them, they respond to us, but they have left us, we were just ships passing in the night. Two ships that pass each other with flashing lights at night and are gone. It is insane to keep flashing the lights in the morning, but that is exactly what some of us do. Flashing vigorously when the other ship is gone.
‘I miss you’ he said ‘but I am right here with you’ she replied. ‘No, you are not!’ He replied. He was right, she was not, she had left, but why couldn’t she just say she had left or was leaving? Why couldn’t she just say good bye? Why? The fleer never bid adieu. We just must know when it is over. To declare ‘end’ will ruin the magic and mystery.
And so this story continues …. stay glued to your seat!😊
Beautiful Ivory 