TREASURE CHEST - PART II

A friend recently commented that his life had become like a boat in the ocean; the trip had started excitingly with birds in the sky, fish jumping in and out of the water, blue green water changing colour, waves, and the sun and moon bowing out at the horizon. Now, it was a monotony of rowing the boat alone towards an unseen and unknown destination on the endless ocean. Maybe he had not looked into his treasure chest and did not realise the boat was heavy with the memories of good times and bad times; he had unloaded the good ones and kept the bad ones still on the boat.

Anyways, back to the night of dreams and visions. The dreamer glanced at his reflection in the mirror and saw an old man staring at him. He blinked and saw the old man transformed into a young lad walking in a park, with a writing pad in his hand, oblivious of the people around him. The young boy slowly grew and a man smiled back from the mirror. He was humming a tune from his past...

The song brought back fond memories of sundays spent singing in the empty waiting room with two of his friends. Later they had realised how angels and mermaids gathered unseen, eavesdropping. The mirror was dark again and the dreamer could see nothing. He turned in his bed and a thin stream of light seem to hit the mirror from a roadside lamp. In the ensuing brightness he saw the same old man again and he realised he was looking at his own present face.

It is said that just before a person dies, his whole life plays itself in front of his eyes. So was this death? The dreamer wondered. Or a dream or a vision... Or was this one of the ways in which life reminds you of your past and the present, gives you a moment to ponder. Old men walk slowly, bent a little, reaching for things. Is it because of age or are they searching for the jewels they lost in their journey called life. He knew when he would go, he would go like tonight, smiling in his sleep.

Leaving you all with a song he would have liked you to sing with him...