»-(¯`v´¯)-»HaRiZZZZ»-(¯`v´¯)-»

The moon was missing on that lonely night. There was a cold breeze blowing outside as He sat there staring at the sky and its dark background. And there was something missing in him as well. A fervour lost in his eyes. It was indeed a dull and serene night, the end of a day that has been long and dreary. The gloom and moroseness was emanating from all sides. He was able to sense the darkness surrounding him. The blanket of darkness was engulfing his body and soul. The empty blankness was even scarier as it swallowed those unseen shadows. The chillness and the darkness seemed to have wiped out the dawn that had been waiting to emerge.

His eyes were starting to feel heavy and drowsy but still He sat there gazing. His mind was re-collecting the events of the day that had just passed. He sat back and leaned on his chair. His reflection in the mirror clearly visible to him now. He looked at himself, his face, his eyes. The childhood innocence was lost. Gone was the hope that had lightened up in his eyes whenever in distress. The eyes bore the remains of the tears that had surrounded them for a long time now. They still clutched on to his face just like the drops of rain on his window. His smile had got lost in the gruelling sadness that had taken a fair share on his face.

"Dont I look old?" He thought to himself. He indeed felt old. A year of sorrow and tears. A year that had left him scarred and bruised. His hope and faith that He had held from his childhood was lost and drained. He sighed to himself, idly tracing the outline of his lips with his fingers and forming a virtual smile.

The reflection looked back at him and smiled wickedly. As He looked on, it seemed to change. The eyes were hollowed out, devoid of any feelings or expression. There was just emptiness accompanied with pain and despair. There was some void emotion that seemed as if there were no tears left to let out the pain inside the heart. The eyebrows were drawn together close to each other, as if they had formed a permanent expression on the face. The cheeks were withered, wrinkled and pale. The wrinkles and the lines on the face added on to the gloom on the face. The lips were pursed and etched in a triumphant smile of bitterness. It was the face of a loser. A face that had lost its Heen of happiness. A face that expected more of bitterness at each passing moment.

As He watched in despair, the face seemed to talk to him. "Look at me." it said in angry bitterness. "I am what I am because of you. Because of your blunders and mistakes. Now I have nothing in my life. Nothing at all which leaves me with no reason to live. Each day passing on without any happiness or cheerfulness, dreary and long. I once had dreams, dreams of joy and hope. But now all lost due to your choices. Stupid and unthoughtful choices. Now I have nothing to offer anyone. Nothing to feel happy about. Nothing to be cheerful about. No soul to shed a tear when I am gone. No one to even smile when reminded of me. Do you atleast feel the gloom that I am experiencing? Do you know how lonely I am? How terrible it is to feel with no one for you, the loneliness, totally alone? But, why me? All because of your foolishness!!"

"Now look at me!! What do you see?? I am your future." The face smiled bitterly and continued. "I am your fate!!!"

He looked at the mirror and shuddered for a moment. Was that the truth? Is that what was in store for him?

Silence. Time passed and something seemed to flicker. It seemed like a lightning at a distance. He looked at the mirror hoping that the reflection and the apparition would have gone and it was all due to his imagination. He blinked and the face blinked. But this time, the face had a different feeling altogether. There was hope and cheerfulness in the eyes. They were alive with laughter and He seemed to sense an inner ray of light within those eyes. The smile that lingered on the lips proclaimed the happiness from deep within. The face personified happiness and wisdom. The eyes looked at him with understanding and care, and not with anger or forgiveness, because there was no reason for forgiveness.

"Thank you" The face spoke. "You are the one who taught me the meaning of life. You helped me to understand the true lessons and what I had to do. You made mistakes, but learnt from it. You managed to find something good in all that you did, no matter how bad it seemed to be. Your taught me to find something positive in all that happened. You taught me to be stronger, to grow, to respond maturely, not react when things went wrong. You showed me that the worse the situation, the greater the opportunity. That was the reason that made me look at the positive side of life. It helped me await eagerly for the new beginning, the new dawn. It made me realise the treasures that I had in my life. My family, my friends who cared and loved me a lot. I have so many people with whom I can share my happiness and who make me feel good to be alive. You showed that I was born to show that I was strong despite of all the pain and despair. You showed that I can be something, someone in this world. I can make a difference. I did not search for happiness. It just came to me. I did not yearn for peace. I found it within me. "

"Thank you so much. If given a choice, I would be happy to live the past life once again. I have no regrets."

He stared wide-eyed at the mirror, unable to move. He blinked and when He looked at the mirror again, it showed him the face He saw every day, the marks of tears still evident on it. Had He been dreaming? Perhaps, it had been a long day, perhaps He had slept off. He put the mirror away and glanced out the window again. The night had changed, a full moon was shining, the clouds had blown away and a million stars were twinkling brightly.

"Tomorrow will be a beautiful day!" He thought to himself with a smile as He lay down to sleep.