The Guardians of Light

Third Time's The Charm

' I'm sorry to know, but what does it have to do with you showing interest in me? '

' When I first saw you, I thought that you had a silent personality. But with time, I felt that you have unresolved problems. You were acting just like my cousin. So, I decided at that moment that I am not going to let you ruin your life. I took a vow that I'll make you normal again. '

' Whoa, seriously? I appreciate you for your keen interest in me, but I am not in depression. I agree that I had a troublesome boyhood, but I am not a depressed guy, okay? '

' Then why are you like this? No friends, no girlfriends, no conversations with anyone, don't fight back when bullied. It appears to me that you rejected the entire society, maybe this entire world. '

' Yes, I changed, probably on an incomparable scale, its because life hadn't left me with any other option. If I hadn't have turned my heart to stone, I would've had to endure the worst kind of pain. Did your parents ever looked at you with contempt? You have no idea how it feels when your own father makes you feel like a failure. I didn't turn into this version of me accidentally, Mia, I chose to be.'

' Behaviour is what a man does, Ryan. You turned into the very person who you resent so much. Think about it. Your indifference towards the society is similar to your father's indifference towards you. '

' You do make a point and your words seem to have a positive effect on me, Mia. Please continue. '

' Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see it. For you, the beauty of life ceased in your childhood because of your issues with your father. There's a lot more in life, Ryan. Never stop discovering. Think that life is like an exam where you can test your limits. Never stop till you reach the sky and conquer it. '

' Mia, thanks for the enlightenment. You have shed light on my thought process. You turned out a lot more impressive than I accounted for, huh. '

' You are not the only one with tangled quotes, Mr. Psycho. By the way, what's that psituri and foliage that you mentioned earlier. '

' Hahaha. I take the aid of complex words sometimes to shut people up. I'm sorry, though. '

' Oh! My God. Am I dreaming? Did Ryan Bloom just laughed? Its a feast to my eyes. '

' All thanks to you, Mia. '

' You still didn't tell me the meaning. '

' Well, it means, ''The sound of rustling leaves." I have read it somewhere. '

Mia just kept looking in my eyes with an enormous amount of affection.

' What? '

' You would've been an amazing person, Ryan. '

I just smiled for that compliment.

 It started to get dark, so we decided to leave the park. The bruises were minor, so she was able to walk without any support.

' I still have a question for you. How come you didn't get hurt in any way? You took advantage of the situation and caused me scratches, huh. '

' Nah. I tried to kill you, and instead, you walked away with bruises. '

' Better luck next time, psycho. Although if I am gone, no one would even attempt to turn you into a decent human being. '

' We'll see about that. '

And we walked all the way, filled with sarcastic comments, comeback counters and lots of laughter. This is the first time that I laughed this good in years.

Anyway, I walked with her till she reached her friend's home, exchanged goodbyes, and left.

I walked inside my home with a smiling face. When my mother noticed me, she gave me a weird look for a second, which made me realise that I wasn't acting the same.

' Anything new, ' she asked.

' Nothing, ' I replied, which I don't usually do.

I walked straight into my bedroom and went for the shower. The restroom is one of my spots where I could do the thinking.

The effect Mia had on me when I was with her started to decline. The bubbles of enthusiasm that I had earlier started to pop. The reserved version of myself, started craving for me to turn into this cold-hearted animal. I was afraid that I would turn again.

I quickly finished my bath and came out to the living room. My mother already served food for me to eat. I told my mom that I'll be back in a few minutes and walked out of the house.

I ran like a madman to where Mia was staying. I didn't have to knock on the door cause she was already standing outside. She saw me running like a wild horse who has just escaped captivity.

' Whoa, Whoa. Slow down psycho. Can't get enough of me, huh? '

' Mia, I'm afraid that I'm gonna turn cold again. The effect of your words started to diminish as soon as you left me. '

' Look Ryan I can talk a 100 times to try and change you. But it's temporary. It's your will to keep the urge in the hold. '

' How do I do that? '

' Alright. I can give you some tips. Whenever you feel the urge to change, think of all the happy memories that you had. Also, you can start thinking about other people and their feelings so that you won't have to think about yourself more. '

' Whatever you say feels good. I think I can try that. Can I have your number? You know, I can just call you, instead of running like this every time. ' 

She gave me her number, and I left. When I entered the house, I saw my mother still sitting at the dining table.

' Come, eat your dinner, Ryan. You haven't eaten anything since the evening. '

' Okay. Why are you sitting here? '

' I was just waiting for you. '

'For me? Why?'

' I don't know. Is it too much? '

' No, no. I was just wondering. That's it. '

This conversation may sound so simple, but there is something about it that made me think. The feeling is totally different from all the causeries we had over the year. 

Anyway, I completed my lunch and got up from the chair. As I walked towards my room, the words my mother told me made me speechless.

She said, 'Good night,' for the first time in ages. 

The sound of it was soothing. I replied good night and left for my room.

The only reason I replied was because of empathy, which I lacked before.

I sensed care in her words. They sounded genuine. Maybe I missed this cause I never really paid attention to them.

While going to bed, I remembered about the Arts professor's homework. I have to draw whatever I see in my dream. I just wished for a good dream and slept.   

                                                                                -----*-----

I woke up and found myself again in the same environment as of yesterday. Everything seemed similar. 

There was a small path with pink lilies on either side. I started walking forward just like yesterday. I don't know what's the time, but I could tell that its between evening and night. Though the aesthetic view was magnificent, I knew where it leads to which disheartened me. 

After walking for a while, I saw a woman getting mugged by a couple of muggers. Though I had the courage to go up against higher being, the fear dominated it and buried it deep down in my heart. But now, I could feel everything that is buried and I had never been so confident in my life before.

I thrashed towards the muggers and shoved them away. There were 3 of them, and everyone had knives with them. 

They started to sway the knives to scare me away, but I stood there fiercely. While swaying, one of the swings cut my hand.   

The muggers ran away from there after that. The lady that I had just saved looked at me and said, 'Welcome.'

                                                                        -----*-----

I open my eyes and realise it's a dream again. I looked at my hand and saw a small scratch. It didn't hurt. It was just there. I thought maybe I got it while I saved Mia from the accident.

Since I was awake anyhow, I decided to complete my task. I have drawn the surroundings including me, and the lady who I saved.  

After that, I resumed my sleep.

The next day in school, the Arts professor went to every student personally and asked about their drawing. He finally came to me and asked me to show my art. I handed him over my drawing.

He took a look at it and asked me what it was. I told him briefly about the dream.

'Nice touch with the surroundings. I guess you remembered your dream very well.' Saying so, he moved on to my bench mate, Damien.

While he was showing his art, I took a little peek at it. 90% of his drawing is a black shade. Though it felt creepy, his work looked amazing.

' Your art looks amazing, Damien. Would you like to tell me about it? '

' It's the darkness consuming everything, ' Damien replied.

After listening to him, I felt like he is going through some rough patch. I wanted to talk to him and make him feel better, but Damien is the reflection of the old me, and the old me doesn't like people mingling in my business or at least I wasn't sure that I could break through his barrier just like Mia did in my case.

Anyway, I didn't try to talk to him.

After school, I waited for Mia at the entrance. She felt happy when she understood that I was waiting for her.

' Whoa! This is a surprise. Psycho is waiting for me. Are you planning on killing me or what? '

' I will, but not yet. I still have to connect with my subject emotionally first. '

' Looking forward to that. '

' Okay. Shall we go? '

' I can't go with you, Ryan. I'm sorry. '

' Why? Did I do something wrong? '

' No, you i***t. My home is the other way. '

' Oh! I totally forgot about it. Fine then, see you tomorrow. '

' Take care, psycho. '

I wanted to tell her about the dream, but I didn't want to after the conversation. Feelings are really complex, I sighed.

When I compared myself to the previous day me, I realised that I am getting talkative. I may have hit a dead-end in sharing prospect, but overall it's an improvement.

I thought that maybe, I should give it a try to reconnect with my parents. I went home and saw my father sitting in the living room and watching TV.

He usually doesn't be at home this early.

I walked silently towards my room.

' Your mother told me that you are coming to the house late these days. Try not to repeat it, ' he said without even looking at me.

' Okay. ' I said and left for my room.

That was weird. We literally didn't have any conversation in months, and out of the blue moon, he tells me to come early. It didn't made any sense. Maybe they were trying to reconnect with me. 

I freshened up, had my dinner, and was ready to go to sleep. From the time I started to think about stuff, I couldn't easily sleep. After an hour of thought process, I could finally feel my eyes getting heavier and drowsy.

                                                          -----*-----

I open my eyes, and yet again, I found myself in the very same surroundings that I was in from the past two days. 

Three days in a row, and that can't be a coincidence.

The place looked the same, but I could see some buildings this time.

Maybe third time's the charm, I thought.