GENESIS- PART 1

The Wake up Call

March 29th, 03.45 a.m
He was sound asleep when the phone rang. It took several rings for him to open his eyes. The phone was still ringing. His eyes were wide open and he spoke groggily.

“Hello”

“Sanjay !! I’ve been trying to reach for you for quite some time”, the voice sounded hysterical.

“Sorry, I dozed off. What happened? Is she fine?”

“Neha is fine. And it’s a girl. You are a father”

Silence

“Come over to the hospital now. I’m informing the others. Bye”
Click

Silence

The conversation had just ended. Vinay has given him the most awaited news. Sanjay was still holding the phone in his palm. He stared blankly unto nothing.

“Well”, he thought, “I just got happy news. And is this how I react?”

He felt light, like he had lost weight and was getting ready to float. Two seconds later, Sanjay realized he was in an off-balance state and slumped onto the couch behind him.

Absolute silence.

He kept staring at the wall and he didn’t know why. A strange ‘feeling’ had originated. He certainly wasn’t sad. He had experienced sadness before. Sanjay was sure that this wasn’t happiness either because the ‘feeling’ was making him uncomfortable.

From the corner of his room, the digital clock on the dresser beeped. The display had just turned 4 a.m. He had to leave soon. Vinay had told him to.

“Well, let me get dressed. I am a father now”

The cold shower replaced his sleepy eyes with wide ones but it couldn’t remove the strange ‘feeling’. This was alien. He had never experienced this before. Palpating it from within only intensified it. However, this did not stop him from finishing his morning chores.

He draped himself in a towel and looked at the mirror. It reflected a 6-foot mannequin looking back at him. Sanjay looked at his lack luster eyes and that’s when the truth struck him like a bolt of lightning.

To be contd.......