Connection in Disconnection.(1 opening 3 stories)
Tag: Probably none of this real but it has something to do with the nature of the fabric of ‘normal’. Also, One opening line: Three stories.
Bismillah.
They have never really met and they probably never will; but maybe that is for the best, yet in their disconnection is a connection neither of them can ever be fully aware of. They weave a story without properly sharing a frame, something uncommonly common among them that is not meant to be easily understood.
To the pauper a 20 rupee note (less than 20 cents and even lesser pence ) got most things done and for 50 of them he got 3 units of most products, that’s a 10 rupee discount he will use smartly but for the prince (no kingdom just mount everest of ego multiplied by 2–3 factor) in the same city a 500 is worth less than 5 for pauper. Prince earns his money and spends it all on himself, maybe that is why he wants everything untouched, unused, and branded just for him. Pauper’s every valuable was the polar opposite of that. Pauper’s market had more people than bees at a hive, prince an alligator at a huge pond until one day the bee decided to take a dive.
After scouting the supermarket for days pauper had a perfect plan, arrange proper looking clothes (which were improper but just proper enough ) to not deny him the entrance minutes before closing time and find a place to hide. Masses drained, lights out, the air still, night young. Prince in his comfortable bed with his gel pillow while pauper’s eyes wide open in a closed space.
Fragrances to figure out, shoes to try on, sealed cans to hold, frozen food item boxes to touch… pauper is no thief, he won’t damage anything. No one is to know he was here. He just wants to know what it feels like to have enough money of your own to roam a place like this, even though he just has a battery operated torch and a $16 dumb-phone that were both provided to him. This night is an adventure, probably the biggest of his life. What is the one thing he needs- no wants- most desperately in his life? Hundreds of choices but fourth black shirt in second row spoke to him. The fabric felt like heaven on his skin as he took a ‘selfie’ in the mirror lit by his torch via the VGA camera of his phone and one look at the price-tag and he was not worth the one best thing on the planet.
Next morning, prince looked for the one least-worst thing in the store so he could head home; fourth black shirt in the second row spoke to him.
Story 2
They have never really met and they probably never will; but maybe that is for the best, yet in their disconnection is a connection neither of them can ever be fully aware of. They weave a story without properly sharing a frame, something uncommonly common among them that is not meant to be easily understood.
Eyeless is blind by birth but sightless is worse. Sightless has eyes but does not see beyond the walls of normal but eyeless has no such boundaries. Both are lucky to have supportive parents but eyeless is adapted, yet he has every opportunity sightless has. Life of sightless is like a sheep in a flock but eyeless is blind like a lonely bat. Cricket bat, they were both meant to be physically fit by nature but their nurture made eyeless more fitness conscious. He went on to life the bat for the national blind cricket team that entered the Cricket World-cup for the blind.
“Eat. Sleep. Repeat.” sightlessly for sightless as man of the match trophies began to mount for eyeless. Sightless was sensitive to light from the outside while eyeless to the light of passion from within. Same old breakfast cereal with newspaper in the morning for sightless, increments in morning power workouts for eyeless. Same old stupid group of 4 friends for sightless, new combinations of interesting teammates, international competition, and experienced trainers for eyeless….
Sightless is a self-proclaimed “best version of myself” and eyeless is the man of the series for the World-cup.
Sightless sees eyeless’ photo in the newspaper over breakfast cereal and thinks to himself, “he looks like an ugly version of me.” and flips the page over.
Story 3
They have never really met and they probably never will; but maybe that is for the best, yet in their disconnection is a connection neither of them can ever be fully aware of. They weave a story without properly sharing a frame, something uncommonly common among them that is not meant to be easily understood.
She was his bliss. They met online by chance when they were both abundantly frivolous to abuse instant messaging together. He was eager to get his hands on anything he thought was worth his attention and made it his favorite part of the whole universe for a few weeks yet bliss found satisfaction in being the ultimate version of reality-aware practicality.
“Magically, they never ran out of conversation and always out of time; life happens.” -Repeat.
Timezones apart, romance- less connection grew stronger and stronger and then weak. Absence of responsibilities got patches of reality and then reality was bliss, one that can not be ignored.
They never really met…..
The End.
But, ‘He’ was in the next section to ‘bliss’ in high school separated by a wall, but neither knew.
‘Eyeless’ was abandoned by the parents of ‘sightless’ , they were twin brothers.
‘Prince’ entered the store before ‘pauper’ could leave that day, they exchanged glances at the store.
And.
‘He’ is the ‘sightless’ ‘prince’.
Wasi A. Rizvi.
24 Feb 17.
