Distant

 I look at my phone. 06:58 AM.

It’s an early December morning. Okay! Maybe not that early, but it’s cloudy and cold outside. I look at my phone again. 06:59 AM. I check the weather, 5 degree Celsius. No sun, not even today.

I look at my laptop screen, it’s light is dimming due to prolonged inactivity. I quickly run my fingertips over the touch pad, phew! No more darkness required in my already dim lit life.

I mentally prepare myself to finish the article I am working on in the next 30 minutes and then maybe take a nap. I love taking naps.

I look at my phone, again. 07:05 AM.

 One new message. A friend sent a meme. I don’t find it funny. I reply – hahaha lol, and keep my phone down. Slightly drawing the curtain near my table, I see it’s quite foggy outside. I close the curtain. One more reason to get done with my work ASAP and take a nap.

I am halfway through my article now, and kind of excited to go to bed again. I hear a distant cry, maybe not that distant, but too distant to be recognized.

 Is it a kid or a woman, or a dog maybe? I don’t know. But I can still hear it. It seems someone is in pain, maybe it is a cry for help. Unclear! Maybe it is the kids from the other building, they are quite reluctant when it comes to going school. Maybe it is the stray dog, did someone hurt him? 

The voice ceases and I bring my focus back to the article. That’s the thing with humans, attention span of a goldfish! Maybe I am exaggerating, but you get my point. I am thinking all this while working on the article

I look at my phone. 07:25AM.

Almost done! Now I am introspecting, not just about myself but my entire species. How distant have we become, just like the cry I heard. We are so engrossed in our lives, so fixated on our selves that someday we’ll hear an actual cry for help and ignore it. A downhill path for sure, mankind!

I am about to save my article when my phone starts to ring. It’s my mom, she’s calling from downstairs.

” Hello Maa”

” Beta, I’m going out in a hurry and I’ve left the gas stove on. Please turn it off!”

” wait! but where are you headed this early? And Why are you in so much hurry??”

” Mrs Mathur just passed. She was trying to light some fire due to the cold. Somehow her clothes caught fire. She was alone and none of the neighbours heard her. Okay, now I have to rush!”

I am sitting on my desk, completely numb.

My phone buzzes and I wake up, heart beating fast. I was so looking forward to going back to sleep that I fell asleep on my desk. I check my phone.

07:05AM. One new message.

It was all a dream, my heart rate is still high. To calm down, I open the message. A friend sent a meme. I don’t find it funny. I am about to reply- haha, when I hear a distant cry.

Maybe not that distant, but too distant to be recognized.