"THE LAST TAXI RIDE"

NO ONE SHOULD TOUCH FIREBALL

ONE YEAR AGO

"'Careful dear!!! Run... Hurry DIVYA!!! hurry.. Thats not safe.. I am coming to you. Watch out..(bang).. And it felt something disappeared."'
"Divya wake up!! Common you are getting late for your office ", mom shouted at me; and my eyes opened.  I looked at her  strangely or probably she looked at me that strange and there was an awkward silence; I was feeling exhausted.
"The same dream? ", she asked.
"Nope... It was the same nightmare; and it will haunt me forever in my life", I sounded weak.
"Move on Divya. It wasn't your mistake at all, my child", mom told me assuringly. But I couldn't respond. I knew deep in my heart that it won't get fine anyway ...any day. It is just supposed to make me feel perished always.
I got up and finished my daily routine.
I gave mom some money to bring daily groceries and paid my brothers fees while heading before to my office.. I was a journalist in "Morning Times" newspaper.

OFFICE
"Hey Divya!  Good morning .."  my colleague wished.
"Hey Sunita.. "
"Why didnt you come to office yesterday? Boss was asking for you!", she asked me curiously.
"Actually I went to my brother's college . He had a parent-teacher meeting and later he was asking if we could to go to park ...it was so long we didn't go to the park. So... ", I told her.
"Oh! Enjoyed?? ", she asked, smiling.
But being an arrogant type my reply was, "That's none of your concern. Anyways, leave that.. Tell me why boss was asking for me? "

"No idea... because he didn't tell me any details", she replied. She seemed to be hurt, by my behavior, but I can't help. Everyone knows about me. I am an arrogant and a rude girl you could ever come across; like a fire ball which is supposed to burn... and everyone knows there's no point touching a fireball...you end up burning your own finger.

I went to my boss' cabin. He congratulated me on my last report on human trafficking. He told me that I am promoted and I am moved to editorial department and besides, he invited me on the 15th anniversary of our newspaper. There was a function held on this occasion and every reporter from our newspaper firm was invited. But Boss knows me. He had became more like a father to me... all these years. I also looked at him as my father and I was so close to him.
That's why he knew that I would not be coming in this party too like others. I wasn't a party freak. I loved silence. I always wished for it to engross me. So he personally requested me to come. There seemed something important in that request so I gave my affirmative. Function was tomorrow in the evening. After completing my other work there, I headed home.

My brother, in the living room, was completing his assignments. He is into computer engineering. He looked at me, smiled and again dived into his work. I was more like a father to him. So there was not any dearly brother-sister kind of relationship in both of us. Mother served us dinner. After dinner, I went back to my bed ... to again face my nightmares. My life is mostly sleep deprived. Sometimes you are so tired of fighting against your own demons that you want to sublime. Your tiredness engrosses you and you search for some hope...and when you are deprived of those hopes too... THEN you are lifeless ... and it happens with me in a worst way. I am just like a statue trying to win a battle to act being alive. My thoughts swallowed me into  sleep.

Next day I woke up and almost forgot that I have a function to attend. Mom reminded me of that. My boss, Sudhir uncle, had called her and told her to remind me; so she did. She is the sweetest and best mother in the world which I would never admit to her. Probably my arrogance had consumed me to that extent where I was not even able cherish my family. Yet, she was only the person who was able to understand my pain and support me everytime. She was like watering a dead plant; and deads don't come alive..
I got ready and left towards my office in noon to attend the function.

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