Chapter 1

Mein stood silently at the edge and looked three floors down at the dark space below. As usual he could see the silhouettes of the dying plants on the flower bed fighting for their very survival. He understood that the plants were dying because of the lack of water but nevertheless nonchalantly pass them every morning – he had casually accepted that every suffering, every pain should have some symbolic entity. Even a concerned neighbor’s chiding did not have any effect; he had coolly nodded his head when she lectured him on the importance of maintaining the flower bed. The dog as usual had dug up the earth and had snuggled down to sleep as she has been doing every night. Looking straight ahead beyond the dark silhouettes of the trees and the row houses he saw the soft neon light of a hotel next to the flyover. If he could see his own face he would have seen the soft reflection from a near perfect moon as if to challenge the artificial lights from the neon lights. He noticed that the neighborhood street dogs were again fighting for their turfs as the noise of barks and growls came from a distance. However the conclusive victorious barks of one group were drowned out by an approaching train, first a long whistle and within a few seconds a thundering noise of a thousand wheels on the steel tracks. As the train passed beyond the gate mein saw the passing lights from the coaches and a few brief blurred faces of strangers through the open windows. It was going to be three in the morning and he wondered if some of those faces were attached to hearts as sad as his and if they were also looking for answers by visiting ghosts of years gone by. As he leaned forward in the railing mein could not help but think what people say about one life’s flashing before the eyes before one goes- but his mind was blank. He took a step further and set his mind wandering to years long gone, as a song softly floats up from a room down below….tell me your secrets….. and ask me your questions…… oh, let’s go back to the start…… running in circles , coming up tails……. heads on a science apart….mein slowly sways his head to the scientist by coldplay and his ache softens a little….