Grey Butterfly

The Messenger

None of this makes any sense. The more I tried recalling my memory, my brain returned to the vacuum. There is nothing past the moment I broke down in front of the small shop. I don’t even remember getting back up after screaming. Feeling like an entire night was edited out as a jump cut like in thriller movies. The more I thought about it, the more noise my mind made. It is not funny or weird by any means, it is literally scary. Not sure how long my mask is going to last, pretending everything is fine. The tea on my side table is ice cold already. Walking towards my car with my tea in hand. Nothing in my car to affirm the weirdness that was yesterday night. I looked for a drop of blood or some charcoal marks on my bonnet. I was relieved that there was nothing in my car, but did I imagine things? Did I arrive home normally and everything was just another dream? If yes, I do not have any memory about a journey from office to home. Thought I would give rest to these thoughts and looked up at the grey sky. It is at the verge of raining but hasn’t rained even once since the clouds covered the sun. Which has been going on for a while now.

Pandemic has brought some changes. Some good and some bad. Meeting people less often is definitely a good thing for me. Hybrid model of work post pandemic lets me work from home on alternate days. I am happy that alternate day is today. I definitely do not want to travel that route tonight. Working in my boxers is something I can’t complain about. Just like that I opened my laptop while sipping on my tea. Corporate emails about mental health always make me laugh. If they would pay more to employees, there would not be any need for mental health emails. I remembered an old facebook quote, “If you are inevitably crying at some point in your life, ensure that you are doing that inside your Lamborghini!” Facebook was fun while it lasted. Nothing important in the mailbox, looking like pretty much a dry day at work. Then I received a notification from the company's internal messenger.

Sabrina N
Hello there! A very good morning.

You
Who is this?

Sabrina N
Isn’t my name visible?

You
Yes, but that does not say who you are to me!

Sabrina N
So you really don’t know me huh?

You
I believe I made it clear already.

Sabrina N
I am sending you something.

You
Why would I want anything from a stranger?

Sabrina N
Listen to the file before yapping nonsense.
**Audio File received**

You
I am not playing that until you identify yourself.

Sabrina N
You will never know me unless you listen to that!

You
Why would I want to know about you?

Sabrina N
To know how you reached home yesterday!

You
Who are you?
How do you know that?
Are you stalking me?
Hello!!!
Reply!

Sabrina N
Stop panic typing. Listen and come back. I’ll wait.

Lot of emotions running through my mind. I clicked on her profile to see which team she is from. Weirdly all her details are invisible. I am able to see only her name and username. Usually I should be able to see which team, site she is from and also who she is working under. The only explanation is that she is not from my office. But in that case, she will not have permission to drop a message, let alone send a media file without requesting permission to message me directly. Not going to lie, it took a lot of courage and thinking before I downloaded the file and played it. I said to myself, here goes everything, or nothing. I clicked the play button after wearing my headphones.