Friend

He drove there, as fast as he could, farther and farther away. He took a turn dropped his bike and sprinted towards the trees, he ran till he came to a cliff. Tears were streaking down his face, he knelt, buried his head in his hands and started sobbing.

It was late evening, the sun had already set, it was slowly getting dark. He sat there like a statue gazing into nothing. His eyes were swollen, his crying reduced to soft sobs and breathing was hurting his chest. The birds had already returned home, and a few stars were already twinkling in the sky.

He lied down on his side, on the cold rocks beneath, his eyes closed slowly. After a few moments, he turned and rested on his back, gazing at all the bright stars in the night sky. He stayed there for a while, a tear rolled down from the side of his eye, his eyes were burning.

He slowly slid his hand in his pocket and removed a pack of cigarettes. He looked at the packet, as a fresh pool of tears filled his eyes. He tossed it in his hands for a while, then he slowly got up and walked towards the edge of the cliff. He took a last look at the packet and a thought of, one last smoke, came to his mind. At the thought his heart started burning again and then he threw away the packet with all his might.

He walked back to his bike, picked it up and left the cliff. On his way back, he was thinking, thinking hard, as if preparing himself for something. He was trying to console himself. Phrases like 'Whatever happens, happens for your own good' 'Time is the best healer' and all that. His heart felt heavy again, and his eyes were so swollen that not a single tear formed in them, and they burned as if on fire.

He stopped in front of a white building, even at this hour of the night, there was a lot of activity going on in the building. An ambulance screeched to a stop in front of the gate and suddenly there was a flurry of staff running around. There was a man on the stretcher, his face was covered in blood, making it unrecognizable.

After the passage was clear, he started moving towards the building. His legs were feeling heavy, and his heart was heavier. He came to a stop in front of a room with glass windows, and peered inside.

The sight of a human body, almost lifeless, with dozens of instruments punched into it, is terribly painful. He stood there, looking at the body of a man, with instruments all around him, beeping, pulsating machines. This man lying in the hospital bed, meant so much to him. He was always there for him, as far as he could remember.

The first time they went to school, they were together. They even got their first bicycles on the same day. The first time they went to college, they were together. They also had their first smoke together. He cursed the day they started smoking.

It was a beautiful morning and their first year results were out and both of them had scored more than their expectations. They were excited as they went to the shack outside the college, to have tea. The whole college gang was there, and everyone was celebrating. He can not remember clearly who offered them the first cigarette and when did it become an integral part of their life. They never even thought of quitting, because it was the 'in' thing and they enjoyed it so much. Soon the count had gone up from one or two stubs to almost 16 a day.

He could see his own health was deteriorating, but his friend's was worse. The moment he smoke, he would get an attack of incessant coughs. How much he urged his friend to stop, but all his efforts went down the drain. He used to steal his pack of cigarettes and throw them away, still somehow he managed to get his hands on some stubs.

On the night of Jan 16th, he suddenly woke up to the coughs of his friend, which just wouldnt stop. He got up and rushed to his bed, and was shocked to see blood on his sheet. He managed to wake up a few others in the hostel and soon they got him to the hospital.

He started walking, and came to a stop in front of another similar door, and a similar sight greeted him, the only difference, this time it was the body of an old man. A boy, almost the same age as his, was attending to him. He was thankful, atleast his friend wasn't inflicting such agony on his offsprings and soulmate. But, at the same time, he thought, about the future of his friend, he had no future at all.

He wondered how a careless attitude left them with nothing, not even a future, which for most of them is the only ray hope. He returned to his friend's room and sat there, staring at the watch as the minutes ticked away, and he couldn't do anything about it. He had to just wait and watch.