The Sea and the Darkness

The fickle sea sent its waves to the shore to ask ‘How long it would take for it to get dark?’

Every wave that crawled to the shore returned touching the feet of humans.

‘No, there is still time for the night to fall,’ said every returning wave. The restless sea sent waves repeatedly every few seconds.

Finally, the darkness started covering the sea. Gradually, the footprints of humans started diminishing on the sands of the sea shore.

Not sure why, the man is afraid of darkness. As it starts getting dark, he enters into his cubical compartments called houses and creates artificial light. He craves for the insensitive light that shows everything shamelessly. He wants to see everything: different colours, small and large sizes, bulge-hollow, straight and curve shapes.. Light shows everything. Disgusting!

*****

‘Why do you take so long to arrive?’ asked the sea impatiently.

‘So long? I just keep waiting up the sky, waiting for the light to go away from you. But, why do you go so impatient for my arrival?’ asked the darkness in return.

‘Not sure! But I feel a sense of dissatisfaction, an incomplete feeling and a sense of orphanhood in light..’ said the sea.

A security guard who had a strange feeling of safeguarding such a mighty sea started blowing his whistle driving away all the remaining people on the shore, as though a sensitive friend creating privacy for the newly-wed couple.

The darkness started speaking again.

‘I find it funny. Everyone loves light. They wait for it. Just not to miss the morning time, people set alarm and wake up. Are you dissatisfied with such light? Thousands of same people come to see you every day.

Then what kind of orphanhood haunts you? And you wait for me!’

‘I don’t just wait; I fidget for you. And the people you spoke about! They are the people of light,

People of sight. As long as I appear well, they come to me to pass time. As soon as you cover me, they turn back to their homes. Some people come from faraway distances. They come today and do not turn up tomorrow. That’s all is their role for me. Some other people, living in the same town on my shore, come every day, once in a week or occasionally, without any bonding. Some come from far and remain distant. Others are close yet remain distant. Everyone returns to their life, to their light.’

‘I?’ asked the darkness.

‘You come from far and remain so close,’ continued the sea, ‘I know you don’t remain close all the time, but I also know you don’t go far. When there’s no one, when the loneliness haunts, when the orphanhood taunts amid thousands of people, I remember your company. One day, you may stop LIVING with me. Because of force of nature, you may just start STAYING with me like billions of people on Earth stay together even after relationship between them dies, but at this moment, you are my only way to drive away the orphanhood.’

The darkness become still more intense for some moments and continued..

‘Except a small space where stars twinkle, only I exist in the entire space of the universe. But believe me, even I suffer from the same sense of orphanhood. The world doesn’t need the width and depths of me. It goes in search of light. It turns its telescopes towards stars. Even the human beings on your planet drives me away. I feel special only in your presence. I find happiness in you. I have no eyes to see or to show. Hence, I don’t know about your colours and shapes. But with my ears, I hear your love through the roaring of your waves. When I stretch my arms far and wide on your surface, I sense the ups and downs of your tides expressing their longing for me. If I could see, mostly your beauty would deceive me. If your beauty would fade away one day, maybe, it would upset me. But I am not light. I can’t see. I can’t show. Hence, I can sense your love beyond your appearance.’

Two orphans thus drove away their orphanhood. Two ordinary creations thus became special to each other.

Far away, in the sky, a fireball was arising, with soft deceptive looks. The world that got light and eyes stopped the ability to see love.