Recipes down the memory lane - 2

Chapter -1 : It's a perfect world, so far ...

Chapter 2: From present to past, via the future

April 2008:


Anjali's life has taken its own wild course through the last 4 years. Back when she was in college, not even in her worst nightmares she thought she would end up with what she is doing now. Just like every other fellow-student in her college, she too had dreams of getting a Masters degree from a reputed school in US, make new friends, make money that would entitle her of a good living, explore and ad-venture into some picturesque scenic places that she heard America possesses.

All her close buddies went onto top schools and started pursuing graduate studies. A fraction of them might be chasing a PhD degree now. The others might be with a handsomely paying job with a leading technology company. She least cares about them now. Its been more than an year since she last uttered a word to anyone. Just like the turbulences of a heavy gust of wind blowing away the sand castle along the beach, the unfortunate, unfathomable events put her life into astray.

Back in her college days, when asked what she considers her negative traits are, she would take almost a minute and reply " I dream big! and sometimes I get carried away with the dreams so much that I dont know where to land".And then she would continue on - " then the regulars for a girl - I tend to be overly sensitive over trivial issues, I would be disappointed badly if someone close to me hurts me". She would go on "But I am a sweet lass and that more than compensates for all the negatives". Could someone really go into her brains and alter her genes for their own benefits? How did she let that happen to her? Or is it just her figment of imagination?

It was ten to one in the night. The house looked deserted both from inside and outside - there are no neighbors, no houses nearby. That's not surprising - no one would want to live at a place in the thick of a forest, far away from the mainland. The room was dark, pitch dark that you could miss a glittering cat's eyes in the room. The trees and the guttering winds were making quite a noise and have gone silent for a while, probably informing about an impending rain. Anjali was lying on the floor like a dead-girl, her body stone cold, heartbeat erratic, breathing intervals irregular.

Her mom. Flash. Chemistry lab at her college. Flash. Photograph of her bunch of friends at an amusement park. Flash. Her closest friend. Flash. An ugly little creature. Flash. The wretched cell-phone of hers. Flash. A beaten-up herself. Flash. Rehana Begum's throat cut slit. Flash. The hospital. Flash. Her mom. Fla..

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh" - Anjali suddenly sits up with her heartbeat galloping like a horse, sweat pouring all over her face, breaths taking in more air than her lungs could handle and her face crunching with an excruciating pain in her body.
The past is yet to come ...

To be continued...