I was feeling morose that day. And I wanted to be alone. So, as I walked out of my department and headed towards my hostel, I decided to take the lane least tread upon, literally. It is a side lane to the main path that goes through our main building. I like it because of its silent nature and the trees that surround it. As I walked by, listening to my favorite song, the rustling of leaves and chirruping of birds forced me to stop and take notice. Parrots. They always reminded me of something funny. As I saw tiny parrot-siblings hopping on the swaying branches, I felt a weight lift from my heavy heart.
Squirrels were playing about. As there was no one on that lane, I started humming and then singing quietly. A smile silently crept on my face and spread itself wide. Life is like that. It has its own strange ways of teaching you to deal with it. My problems are not that bad, I reflected and moved on. As I went further ahead, my heart jumped with horror and I let out a cry. A dead crow lay sprawled near the end of the lane. I ran past the crow and shuddered, its image flashing again and again in my mind. I slowed down and paused for a while…. A feeling unknown before filled my whole being. Life’s like that. It has its own ways of making us realize certain things we never want to. And I don’t know why, but I felt my face giving away to a smile once more, but one that was quite different from the previous one.
“I am getting late for my lunch”, I said to myself and moved on…..