By the Mount Elizabeth Hospital window at Singapore stands the great river of peace. The birds fly away from the east leading all the souls to the west. Mankind can escape their existence but never the reality of time. It was a hard time for them to face reality.
He has been waiting for his best friend and the wait seemed like a hundred years. Life and time were misery for both indeed. Hence, time is about to end forever. Before starting their journey in a new dimension, standing by the bed is Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father of the United States. He was glad to see his best friend Benjamin Costa after a long time.
“How do you feel now, my old friend,” asked Franklin.
“I am surrounded by hills, the sky looks green and rivers, red. I am limited by my time” said Costa.
Franklin knew what he meant by now, it was a late evening showdown, the doctors had arrived in the room with hope but dejected to see his internal improvements. His lungs are still caged under the fatal claws of infection. It could not be brought under control as all strong antibiotics accepted a defeat.
Costa, a renowned educationist has to face his reality and is waiting for his final call to a paradise. He was tired of his life. Most of the time his mouth is covered by Oxygen masks and every now or then, his hands have to bear the sting of a thousand Hypodermic needles.
Standing on the left, besides Costa’s bed, Franklin was recalling his old memories by the window. When he was alive, becoming a true president was a tough job. After a long time, he had returned to such a fascinating world.
“This word has changed a lot,” said Franklin.
“Yes, indeed, it had to” replied Costa.
“What you’re feeling about facing the factual account of time has long been forsaken with the nobles,” asked Franklin.
“Are you gossiping about the gate of heaven?” asked Costa.
“Oh Yes! I am! Come on, I have flown a trillion miles just to take you with me!
“I am 75 now, I have seen this world and my watch is almost over Franklin; I have lived a single life, nothing to worry about from my past” shared Costa in a low voice.
“Do you like it here?”
Costa kept on narrating his experiences, “I last saw a hospital when I was a kid, but now, they are everywhere. I have trouble sleeping at night. I see nightmares. I feel like I am decreasing. I wake up, scared! It takes me a while sometimes to recall where I am. My family got me into this new place, but I don’t like it here. Fear is inevitable. All I want is to go back to the old days where life made sense. Where I won’t have to be afraid at all. I feel like giving up. It’s so hard to be alone. I feel the absence of my family. Time is never meant to be caged. As time flies away, I look back to the days left behind, a small kid, running around the fields. I had lived my best times with my family. I guess I miss those old days.”
“Like you, I have been in the streets of California, Los Angeles, New York & Washington, D.C. but never heard of a heart-breaking brief memory as you, my friend,” said Franklin.
“Stop kidding me!” said Costa within an agitated voice.
“If you don’t mind asking, who are you talking with Costa?” asked the Doctor.
“You will come to know it after years, my son,” said Costa.
People are praying all over the world, but unfortunately, he has now been chosen to walk along a new path. He has educated uncountable students across the globe. Right now he is still a living legend, but in a while, he will only be in memories. Thus, with this last conversation, his eyes close forever. Life is a brief story of mankind in mist and snow; among the shadows and light, in scorching heat or shivering chilly midnights.
The time came then came the birds came announcing his farewell. Droplets of sorrow remain on his bedsheets to be dried in a blink. Benjamins followed the birds, towards the west as souls, and the bitter legacy stays as a tale untold to us, as there are no tears in heaven!
