Spider threads caught at my face, a sign of nobody’s presence. A board cracked underneath. An odd howling sound started somewhere nearby.

I dropped the flashlight. What am I doing?

I have been running for so long…A tired body… a freaked-out mind… In desperate need of a soul to rely upon… I can see a figure appearing right Infront of me, whom I haven’t met in years. My voice was trembling.

 Martha, is this you?  Martha…. Ahh! I realized I was going insane at that point of time. But I can’t lose hope. I have been chasing her for days now. I have to find her. I gathered the remaining strength in my body and then continued on my path. My body was drooling, my limbs almost gave up, and just when I was about to give up on all my hopes and dreams to find her, I saw a cave. Light!!! How is this possible? In Front of the caves, I saw someone… A shadow… It led me to a path. I followed it against my will; like I was doped by some unknown drugs. After we reached the light source, I saw her beautiful face once again…. “Mar…Martha…” I blinked and in the nick of time I lost her, “Where did you go Martha?”


 

I sat by the old oak tree, on the verge of losing my energy and consciousness, I felt I heard a voice in my head

Run! Sam Run! You cannot stop. Not now at least… But I could hardly stand up. Then left alone by the woods… the flashback started.

Happy summer days! Martha had her 6th   - month check-up. For the last 6 months after we received the news she conceived, I drove her to her regular check-up. It has been 2 years since we are married, and frankly speaking, we have never been so happy. First-year has been a bit of a downfall due to family drama but we promised to hold on, no matter the situation. And the last 6 months have been the best for both of us… for 3 of us If I must say…

We picked up the framed picture of Martha’s baby bump on the way back home, which we took as a memory. We decided to celebrate the moment by visiting the nearby coffee shop. Later that afternoon we trapped ourselves between this sweet argument of whose name to be accepted for our new member.  We were in this coffee shop discussing how happy we are going to be in the next few months and out of nowhere Martha said “You must find what you seek”. I chuckled because it was quite unnatural of her to say something like this, and our moment got destroyed by a sudden thunderstrike. The newly built frame dropped from Martha’s hand and shattered into pieces and before I could utter another word…

THE ALARM CLOCK RANG…

I woke up more frustrated than usual. These nightmares have been choking my mind for some days now. But this time I felt it was something different. That day after we left the coffee shop, I asked her “What did you exactly mean when you said, “You must find what you seek?” Martha replied “No… Nothing Just a random thought…”. Martha was superstitious which was not an unknown fact to me and it was pretty evident from her random chattering after the photo frame slipped from her hands and shattered. We were on our way back home. On the wall of a shop on 22nd wall street, they put up a new baby’s poster. To cheer up her mood, I showed her the poster. Unfortunately, I got distracted, and this cost me the most precious thing of my life. I lost control of the steering wheel and bumped the car into the lamp post. I hit my head on the steering wheel and I had a concussion. When I woke up, All I could remember was blood, people gathering around us, ambulances, and police vehicles. Then I saw a body on a stretcher. They were wrapping up their faces. I felt my heart stopped beating for a moment. I rushed there, pointed at the body, and asked “Whose…?” They showed me the body. For a moment everything around me paused. I got onto my knees. I wanted to shout and cry in grief but I could hardly speak a word. My whole body trembled. At this point I couldn’t feel the physical pain due to the accident; all I could feel was the emptiness and sorrow of losing her…Martha!!!

I was having some random thoughts about my past while having my breakfast and I noticed that it was already ten o clock. I must leave for work now. I took my office bag and left. Halfway to my office, I realized I had left my access card to my cubicle on my couch. I reached out to my side pocket to make a phone call and sadly enough I was out of recharge. I could see a payphone nearby. I rushed there to make a phone call to my boss to grant me access to my cubicle without the access card. The phone rang for some time. I looked out of the booth and I was left heart-struck. Standing at a distance, not more than ten feet is a woman I know… The woman I loved… But how is this possible!? I cried… ” Martha, I know it is you. Oh my, Martha!!! How have I missed you for so long?  I was looking for you day and night.”  She stood still staring into my eyes as I was speaking. My body got the adrenaline rushes after meeting with the only love of my life after so long. Then She spoke…

“You must find what you seek”. I had a dejavu…..