Up In Smoke

By Yash Gupta

The clock struck 1.

He could hear every tick and every tock of the clock and he just laid there- frozen!

Darkness covered every inch of his dwelling and all one could hear was silence of the night!

Door to the terrace screeched open, Cold breeze danced around his hairs. Yet there was no trace of a smile on his face. He just stared at the endless abyss; hoping for it all to just end!

He slid his hand down his pocket. Out came a cigarette and a lighter. He just forgot that what seemed to be a bundle of joy would eventually turn into a cancer stick.

It was all so poetic! Black of the dark covered the whole canvas. With every drag he inhaled the red of the flame rose, but the flame of his soul weakened!

The smoke around him flaunted with a victory dance.

But he had just stopped feeling it all.

He was lost.

Some said he was addicted to nicotine, while others claimed he was addicted to the euphoria associated with it.

Little did anyone know that he was actually addicted to the momentary escape that he found.

Little did anyone know that he was so vulnerable and broke that he wished to blow the problems out like the smoke.

Did he achieve it? Maybe yes ,maybe no.

But what did it take? Everything!

Every day came with a new challenge, every day came with a new struggle. But his answer to it all was taking a drag.

Concerned friends knocked at the better side of his judgement but the only thing that answered was neglect.

Family appealed to him with every ounce of persuasion they had. But their advice seemed empty to him.

It was like asking a man stranded in a storm to just keep on rowing the boat. Seems pointless, doesnt it?

But it is indeed better than just sitting out there, waiting for another wave to engulf you down.

It is better because it gives you hope and indeed it gives you a way. It might not get you to the place you hoped to be; but it definitely helps you get out of the place you shouldn't be in.

I think humans are just wired in this way. We make mistakes and the problems simply hover around us in disguise.

But why is it that we fail to realise that we are bigger than our problems! You don't need this stick of cancer or bottle of lunatic soup to achieve this assumptious cure.

All you need is composure; and above it all, all you need is patience.

You are not just the smoke, you are the fire!

Maybe dwindling, maybe flickering; but above all facing it all still bright and fighting the ever growing dark.

When everyday is a battle, it's okay to lose on some days. What matters is to keep on fighting.

Because the pandemonium doesn't end, you just kind of become the calm!

By Yash Gupta