Akhand Singh

I searched her throughout the terminal but there was no sign, as if she ever existed. Running through the crowd, I was so afraid and kept thinking of what could have happened to her until I bumped to an old woman trying to carry her luggage and we fell on the ground.

“Sorry, I am so sorry ma’am” I said

“Are you blind or what?” she yelled

“I am really sorry Ma’am, I just didn’t see you coming,” I say.

She stares at me “what a fool this guy is “she thinks and then she smiles and says it’s alright.

I quickly help her pick up her luggage and place it in order on the trolley hiding the guilt that I just pushed an old woman. Her expressions changes for good, I guessed she realized that I was not just some ass hole in the end. She might have seen the civilized men sitting behind my eyes.

“I am going to the exit; I can assist you if you are also going that direction” I said.

“Oh! That would be so nice of you” she replies. There grabs me something about her eyes, the lucent eyes were like talking to me, like I knew them, I have seen them somewhere before.

While walking towards the exit, my mind kept looking for the girl I met on the airplane. The tension on the eyebrow accompanied with the unstable eyes was so much obvious to the old woman that she could not resist asking, “What happened? Is there a problem?”

At first I thought, I can just ignore her question and do not answer it for the very fact that I did not know her and why would she be interested in my personal life. Then the inner self shouted aloud and I sang like a child. “I am trying to find the girl I met on the airplane,” I said.

“Where is she?” the old woman asked.

“What a stupid question? That’s why I don’t communicate with old people,” I thought

Later I replied, “She was with me until we came out from the gate and then I went to the restroom and she disappeared”, for obvious reasons I didn’t tell her what the janitor said, preventing any chances of her to think that I am crazy, not that I didn’t think that she was already sure of me being crazy.

“She disappeared? What do you mean?” she asked again.

“Seriously, who asks such stupid questions?” I screamed inside my head.

Later she asked again “What did you mean when you said she disappeared?”, something about the old woman was assuring me that I can tell her what happened and she would believe it. So I finally told her what happened, I described the girl I met on the airplane, I told her how attractive she was and how I felt so much of similarity between her and me. I skipped about the wine and about getting drunk just to be sure that she does not think I was high or something. After a long walk towards the exit, she still did not say anything about this girl or she did not even say anything to me at all. Like the story did not have any effect on her, she seemed so calm.

“Why do you think?” she paused. “Why do you think that you two have similarities?” later she asked.

“I don’t know, but there is something about her, like the eyes were same color as mine, lips were same structured as mine, she had the same eye cover as I had, she almost talked like I would talk to myself” I tried to explain but then I paused realizing the very fact that the eyes of the old woman I was talking to were the same color as mine, she also had the same lips structure. For a moment I felt like losing my tongue, I could not feel it at all. “How could this be happening? Am I dreaming?” I thought

Later realizing that it was all real, I looked at the old woman and noticed that she had all the looks of that girl I met on the airplane.  I was freaking out, as I was talking to myself. I looked at her while she was staring at me like I was some crazy and so I kept quiet and started walking.

We walked for another two minutes, “wait” she screams.

“What happened? Are you ok?” I asked her when suddenly she stopped, her face was all red and the eyes were white as if she had a heart attack.   I hurried to hold her in my arms and slowly helped her sit on the ground.

“Water” she whispers

“Hold on, just wait here” I ran towards the fountain nearby to grab some water.

While running to get water I bumped into a man, “sorry sir, can you take care of the old woman sitting on the ground there?” I pointed.

He turns back “what woman?” he asked.

“The old woman who is sitting on the ground” I say and turn back.

“Where is she?” I shout

“There is nobody there buddy,” the man says.

“What is happening to me? I just saw her, she was right there sitting on the ground” I said.

“There is nobody there sir, are you ok?” he asked.

He asks around and everybody denies of seeing an old woman sitting on the ground. The voices of denial suggested me that I am going mad. I quietly start walking.

“Are you ok bro?” the man asks again, I simply ignore him and keep walking to the exit.

To be continued…