The Vision

on Posted by Rajesh J Advani
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He woke up screaming.

He'd had a vision, and somehow he was sure that it would come true. The world was going to end. In less than three hours.

He had to tell someone. They had to try to stop it. He ran out into the street, and tried to grab the arm of someone who was passing by. But his arms refused to react. He tried to shout, but no voice came from his throat. He tried to write on the ground with a piece of chalk, but his arms wouldn't move. It was as if the universe didn't want him to interfere. He walked around the town trying to talk to people, to warn them. They stared at him, but never reacted, never interrupted what they were doing.

Time passed, but he couldn't seem to do anything to prevent the doom that he was certain was coming. Every minute, he grew more desperate.

He came to an open space where a crowd had gathered. A man was holding a gun to another, and shouting something about avenging the death of a loved one.

He wanted to jump in the middle of the crowd and make them listen. The world was going to end! Couldn't they feel it? But he couldn't even move anymore. He could only watch. He watched like everyone else, as the man with the gun shouted. He watched as he pulled the trigger. He watched as the bullet struck, and the victim fell to the ground. He was sure, like he knew everyone else in the crowd was sure, that the man deserved it.

The world started to grow dark. This was it, he knew. And he'd been unable to stop it. It was noon, but the sky had turned gray. Even the sun seemed no brighter than a dim lamp. It wasn't just becoming dark, he realized. The world was turning black. All the colors were fading away into nothingness. And just like in his vision, the message appeared in the sky. Glowing white letters on black. In a language known to no one. Two words that meant the end of the world, the end of life, the end of everything.


"Okay," I said, shaking him by the shoulder. "You can get up now. It's over."

"Hmm?"

I pointed at the screen, which now said The End in large bold letters.

"Oh. Good. Hope you enjoyed it.

"It was nice. You should have watched."

"What's to watch? If the bad guy kills the good guy's girlfriend in the beginning of the movie, then in the end, the good guy must kill the bad guy. In between, you throw in a few songs, some fight scenes, and you have a three hour Hindi movie."

"Okay, so it was predictable. But it was still a nice movie. They made it pretty well. And there was some good acting."

"If you say so."

"You know towards the end, in the crowd surrounding the good guy and the bad guy, there was this man..."

"What about him?"

"I don't know. He didn't seem part of the movie. It was almost as if... as if he was more real than the other characters."

"More real? Like he was about to jump out of the screen?"

I grinned even though that's exactly what I'd thought. Hearing the words said out loud made the idea seem absurd. "Nah," I replied. "He was probably an extra who was trying to get noticed."

On the screen, the The End sign slowly faded away.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't get it? Was the man dreaming? Or was he one of those characters in the movie who thought the movie was his world?

Full2 Faltu said...

I guess its the second case. The man in the scene thinks that the movie is his world and he panics because the movie is coming to an end.

Or

he is a ghost who is just caught on a film and he is desperate to get out.

Ofcourse you can interpret it the way you like and everytime we can come with a new interpretion.

Nice one!

-Punds

Anonymous said...

I know what this is. This is the director of the movie and he loved making the movie so much he really doesn't want it to end?

That explains him seemingly being more real, after all a movie is a directors baby to a large extent.

Mudra said...

Hi Rajesh,

I've been reading your blog for some time and I think you write really well. I'd be glad if you could write for Sans Frontieres, the Umang magazine.

Since you're based in New York, maybe I should give you a bit of background about Umang and SF. Umang is an inter-college fest held every August in Bombay. Umang 2006 saw 31000 students, 83 colleges and 55 events. Sans Frontieres has a readership of over 2000 people (again, all students between the ages of 17 and 22) and articles in it by students across the country and well-known journalists and writers.

In your case, I think your fiction is quite brilliant, so maybe you could write something on those lines? Please do email me at umang.sf@gmail.com and maybe then we can discuss it further (your email ID isn't listed here). Thanks! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey man,

U facing writers block or what, no post since March. Hope u get over it and post some great stories

Le conteur said...

I'm dragging you out of your blog-coma.

You've been tagged. Check my blog for more details. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Rajesh,
Superb posts....I went thru almost all u'r posts and found u'r blogspot really interesting....Very good job....but y such a long hibernation?? Reckon, its hi-time u wake up..

Navya said...

Wake up !!

Anonymous said...

New York,
Where Are You? Is it a girl? ; )
Did you abandon us for a Girl?
I hope not. I’m a girl and I've enjoyed your Many post and your personality.

New Orleans

Strider said...

Godgiri boss

Anonymous said...

i thnk its a profound yet subtle manifestation of that which we all know. I believe it is about how helpless we feel about changing things esp. because we know the dreaded end.........
throw in with that the hesitation to own up to the idea of having identified with someone to the extent dat u believe them to be a living "real" part of your world, n volla, u gt ur self dat piece of writing.......
:)

Unknown said...

hey nice blog i really enjoyed it i went through it it was really nice and very nice post
with regards
edgar dantas
www.gadgetworld.co.in

Mona Blue said...

Well done! Pretty good idea for a short story.

Anonymous said...

Hi there!
Have you stopped blogging or have u moved ur blog elsewhere?

You write really really well ( have almost become a fan)

Do reply soon...

TechSlam said...

Thanks for contacting.
It's really an awesome story.
Well I exactly don't know who send it to my mail.And since I liked it,I thought to share it with my readers.
Also at the beginning itself i said Its not my work and full credits to original author.
And I have made changes as you said and also linked to the original post.
Thank you.
Have a nice day

Anonymous said...

Awesome!

Cheers,
Rosh