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12:30
The full moon looked stunningly peaceful. As Osin stood by the window enamored by her beauty, different thoughts fleeted across his little mind. He wanted to reach as far as the moon. Like the birds that flew free changing their habitat, Osin too nurtured the desire of wandering around. The night, as it grew darker was enticing and forceful. His step mother’s appalling behavior had started frustrating him. With every passing day he was getting into some dark unknown world of depression. Pangs of regret for not having fulfilled his father’s dream filled his heart. There was no other way but to escape from this place and live freely like a bird. Hence, he had decided to leave.
The ship consisted of three apartments and had the shape of a bird. Osin chose the apartment located at the centre. It had a small window that showed the view. Very few dared to sit in that apartment as there was high risk of falling and getting drowned in the ocean. Osin chose this apartment unknowingly and confined himself in one of its edge. His heart was divided into two parts. They were like two warriors fighting with each other. One strived to go whereas other wished to stay back. Ultimately one had to win; the former conquered and Osin chose to leave.
He looked intently at his village from afar, for the last time. His eyes were moist and his heart skipped a beat as the huge ship moved with a wobble slowly towards the North. After some time Osin could barely see his village. Osin wondered if he could ever be able to see it again.
Slowly, he was fascinated by the scenes that came during his journey. Some birds were resting on the beach sharing their pain and agony. They flapped their wings against the wind. The scene was really wonderful. They were dribbling with flow of water making some fountain.They seemed like group of army marching in the field. The sun’s reflection on the spread wings made it more scattered and the view more perfect. Osin watched them gingerly with his tourist eye. The more he delved into, the more interesting he found them to be. After a while the birds were out of sight because of the repulsive motion of the ship. Many people were busy seeing distant scene with their binoculars. Osin didn’t have one. He got an idea to go to the edge of the ship and scream, “Whale, Whale!! Look the whale, so big they are!”
All people from the side went to next side but Osin took opposite direction and returned back to same place. He hurriedly picked one binocular and watched the scene. “Wow! Wonderful” he spoke to himself. The scenes that were so far weren’t as beautiful as they look now. Far out, there were lines of small houses beautifully made, scenes interrupted by the to and fro motion of trees. People were sitting outside the house to wear the heat of sun. Those scenes couldn’t last long. A fat man approached yelling: “Give me my binoculars, you cheat,” he snatched the binoculars leaving a scratch on Osin’s hand.
That man gave Osin such a dreadful look as though he had taken his kidneys. In order to escape those fierce look, he returned back to his own place and began watching the scenes. Finally , the ship reached the port that overlooked a place covered with greenery. It would halt there for some time for the new passengers to board in two hours time.
All the passengers went out for a while and so did Osin. And as usual chose the opposite direction his fellow passengers took.
He had a perception regarding everything, somewhat different from what others thought. He carefully watched the tall trees and lofty mountains hills. “What would happen if we the people could be silent like those trees? They are the most disciplined living things in the world. They neither complain nor regret. They just
follow the system. Their silence and their compromise are praiseworthy. If we were like the trees so somber and silent then there wouldn’t be any problem at all,” he imagined. The beauty and moreover its silence stroked him like sledgehammer and made him compare it with human, but reality was bitter. Imagination was flying high but the reality brought him back to square one and all his imagination drew out no conclusion apart from giving him a high. With microscopic view of each and everything around, he went on in his journey devoid of destination. He stopped for a while to see the lofty mountains and appreciate its beauty and height. They were tall because they followed the system without having to make any effort. Tall, because they never boasted of the tallness. Unlike tree, man had to struggle to acquire that big a stature and break the rules to grow fast. Unfortunately the few that manage to reach the top, soon come down not being able to handle their growth because of their pride. There is one single way of judging it. Confine yourselves to the mid storey. If you look down, your ego develops there, if you look up, you feel you are still down, so which way to go and perceive depends upon one.
In this way, Osin was moving on his path traced by unidentified destiny.
Back in the ship, the crew waited for Osin for a long time. Some even called out his name to no avail. Nothing except the echo of their own voice rippled throughout the forest. Finally, the ship left.
Osin’s heart was allured by the undefined beauty which tranquillized his mind so much that he lost count of time. Moving along with grasses he reached near a sea. He could see the tranquil sea as far as his eyes could reach. The sky seemed to have kissed the horizon. He could feel the gentle breeze, the heat of the scorching sunlight. Immersed in his thought Osin was observing the beauty in its most magnificent form when he suddenly heard a voice, “What are you doing here?”
He looked around but there was no one. He laid down again bending his head.
“Where did you come from? The voice asked again.
He looked around but could see nothing. This time he got up and run across his gaze in all direction. Again there was no one. So, he turned back and made his head little rested on his shoulders and looked upward. There she was, a beautiful lady lying in the sea , staring at him gingerly. Osin was agape with her unsurpassed beauty.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again.
“I am ttt..trying to come up“He shared.
“Do you want to come here and see? “The lady asked.
“Yes” he replied with smile.
Slowly, she stretched out her hand. It was long and they were beautiful too.
“Hold my hand” she spoke softly.
He stared with surprise and some fear.
“Don’t worry, I am there, just hold my hand” she assured him.
Then he slowly caught her hand.
He was lifted up in the air from the ground. Her hands were soft and delicate like any organ. The warmth created between the hands was noteworthy. Slowly, he was made comfortable at the acme of sea. She held him very tightly and both dived into the sea.
Osin was aghast and couldn’t believe his eyes. The upper half of her body was of a woman and the lower half , that of a fish with fins that were flapping against the tide of the water. As they went deeper Osin stared at her without blinking his eyes.
“I know what you are staring at, but there is long story behind it,” she continued. “I was born in a palace near here. We were very rich. In childhood, we used to come in the sea to play. This sea, in those days was very pure, clean. There were many fishes here. Since we loved eating fish, we often came here for fishing. One fateful day, I killed many fishes and amongst them was the Kingfish. One of the fishes emerged out and gave me curse that hence forth, I shall neither be able to live fully like human or as a fish. From that day onwards I have been living like this. I am called a mermaid”.
He went on listening to her gingerly. During their visit in the sea, they saw many fishes around. Some fishes accumulated around one big fish. “What are they doing?” he asked.
“He is our new King, our savior. All of us have to obey his orders. If any calamities occur in this sea, he is the one who will protect us.
Osin kept on listening to the mermaid with great interest mesmerized by the things she told. They visited many places around; there were several kinds of fishes, whales around. Some eve
n tried to attack Osin but the mermaid protected him.
She took him to the Kingfish.
“Who are you?” the King asked.
“He is my friend who has travelled miles away from his village to see the sea” the girl interrupted. “Don’t you know no humans are allowed here? They are the most dangerous of all living beings in the earth.”The king was furious. “Tell him to go back” he continued.
“But…” she tried to defend. Meanwhile, Osin held her and gave a signal to let him go. Slowly, they swam upward with the mermaid holding his hand very tightly as if she wanted him to stay back for ever. As they reached the surface, Osin said softly,“It’s time to leave now.”
“Where are you going?” she asked after couple of seconds.
“Don’t know, I have left my father’s home and have been moving ever since without any destination.”
“Don’t go, please” she insisted.
“I have to go please, but I will try my best to come back” he tried to comfort her.
The mermaid held him tightly and kissed him. It was the longest kiss ever. They were completely into each other, flushed. Osin pulled himself back and started walking away wearily. With every step, he turned back to see if she had left but she stood there half immersed in the deep blue sea hoping