How long he’d been there
he had no clue
this much he knew, though
he hadn’t seen light
not in a while.

To begin with, he wasn’t alone
there were others
like minded
able bodied
who fell by the way side
one by one…

Initially, he was mad with them
for having deserted him
for, wasn’t it their belief, too?
Then gradually… as time passed
he understood, perhaps it wasn’t
their fault…
and reconciled to his fate.

But he wasn’t happy with that, either
he raved and ranted
then raved some more
his voice reverberated in the darkness
then fell dead-
to his own ears.

It seemed so funny
that he started to laugh
here he was, all alone
in the middle of nowhere
and all he could think of
was to argue with himself!

There was no turning back, though
there were bridges-
that he had burnt on his way
fully aware, conscious
that once burnt
there was no turning back…

So he started to dig himself out
dug right through the core of earth’s heart
till finally, the tunnel opened…

Light poked a finger in his eyes
he couldn’t stand the glare
so he went back inside, again
and waited.

Time passed
then evening came
this time though
the light wasn’t as sharp
so the man came out
squinted for a while
till his eyes became familiar
took in the environment.

And he had dug his way out
in the middle of nowhere-
a desert.

That night he slept out in the open
there were zillions of stars
strewn across like dot pins
and he’d never seen so many stars
not under one sky
he gazed at them… then fell asleep.

Next morning, he was up
before the sun rose
kept his eyes focussed
least he miss out on some important detail
perhaps some sign of life
he needn’t have bothered-
there wasn’t any.

The sun rose, kept rising
till it was on his top
he looked into the distance
thought he saw a mirage
then started in its direction
but instead of withdrawing
the mirage kept coming at him
the man thought he was hallucinating
seeing things…

Yet the figure kept advancing
till he could see the man-
a lone, desolate man
making his way across
the vast expanse of barrenness.

They both stood there,
in the middle of nowhere
looking at each other
each- the mirror image
of the other.