The Midnight Lane

 

1.

The city clock struck the bell, loudly announcing that the night had crawled past midnight line and begun counting time for another day in its relentless journey. It was the time for the dwellers to be already in their dreams of the earlier hours of deep sleep; quite unusual for the city life, but, it was just like that for the old township called Nature’s Nest. And it was more than unusual for a lone traveler to be at its Metro Station at this hour of the night. 

Nature's Nest is a remote and cornered city bordering a long trail of mountains and an almost impassable forest line that failed to offer any reason to be bisected by an interstate and which is the reason why the small township lying on the lap of nature remained unexpanded in decades with hardly any changes in the number of its population. And more interestingly, the city people are always reluctant to move out of the town to try their luck elsewhere. They just live on with the limited resources without making any complaint. The kids do their schooling, grow up to go to the high schools and colleges established in the town, take up family businesses or other available jobs that neither require higher university degrees nor promise of a bright and upscaling career. Of course, there is a small percentage of youth who move out of the city seeking better education and a rather fast-paced life. A few among them return with the life growing older and the ambition getting lighter. 

     

Robin had a different reason to move out of the city. But he has been maintaining the balance somehow in keeping in touch with the city he loves the most after his loving younger sister.

 

2.

Robin could hardly remember if he had ever wandered about the city anytime closer to midnight. Even at 10pm, the city looks like a fairy land buried deep down the night without any sound caused by human habitations. But it was a different night. He was on his way back home from the Metro station. He was supposed to be here by 8pm, but the train was delayed by 4 long hours. And he was the only one to have got down from the train. It has never been a busy station though. He stepped out of the already deserted station gate.

 

But the scenario seemed to have changed dramatically, with a magical touch by the crafted hand of the most powerful wand. Everything seemed to have flipped over from the real one to a dreamy version of the same street with some shadowed figures aimlessly strolling around on the dwindling traffic under the magical flow of the showering Moon beams. An enchantingly sweet smell started floating over with a gentle breeze flowing in from the forbidden part of the town.

 

The Moon was shining bright but the street lights were shrouded by light white clouds and a mysterious mist amidst a gripping silence. However the streets were not what they were supposed to be. This was the time of the night when the city dwellers stay indoors, having already spent the first couple of hours of their sleeping schedule.  But the streets were not deserted in any sense. People were seen walking along the streets in silence either in couples or in a line. Everyone seems to be in a group and again seems like all alone but in a balanced rhythm; neither looking chaotic nor in queues. A few couples seemed to be holding each other’s hands, sharing thousands of untold things to one another, but there was silence all around; a painstaking silence. No one was seen to ever miss a beat or stumble down on the way. They were spreading all around the place like a blooming night queen, but never in a hurry.

 

It was a few minutes past midnight but Robin was not a bit worried. He was not even concerned about the time anymore. Nor was he aware of the fact that he was the only one to have got down from the train and walked out of the station exit. He was just excited about the surprise he was going to give to his little sister on her birthday. The street lights were on and the road was straight from the right turn off the Metro Avenue; just about 30 minutes of walk was all he needed to get to his home at the end of the Rose Valley. But he never looked puzzled even after crossing past dozens of people on the road at this time of the night. Nor was he aware of the fact that he was walking along the opposite direction to the one he was supposed to take. And the road leads to the Howards End, the end of the unmarked border for the city dwellers.

 

3.

Nature’s Nest is definitely not a night town; there are no night pubs or bars or the night clubs which remain open all through the night like in any other dazzling avenues or squares of the mega cities. The entire city closes at 8pm maximum and people leave the city to the care of Nature and probably which was how the name Nature’s Nest came into being. Peace, calmness and daylight activities in full vigor and jubilance and the social gatherings at the early evening and family time at the dinner table at home are the common things practiced by the residents.

The town was in deep sleep at half an hour past midnight. But Christie couldn’t sleep even after switching off the bedside lamp at about 10:30pm. She was of course excited for her party the next evening. They don’t celebrate the day in a lavishing grandeur. But lots of happy moments with the neighboring friends and her favorite dishes cooked by her mother and aunts are the things she used to enjoy the most since her childhood. And unlike many other girls her age, she kept counting the days, months before her birthday. The excitement was still there; not the reason. For the last couple of years she eagerly waits for her birthday for the presence of her only brother, Robin who she really misses a lot. And he was the reason she was not feeling comfortable for. She knew Robin was coming home next noon. But she just didn’t know why she was feeling so anxious for his loving brother, like she didn’t know why her eyes were full of tears.    

 

4.

It’s been thirty long minutes since Robin started walking along the Metro Avenue. He was supposed to be at the gate of his home by now, but he was nowhere near and he was not a bit concerned about it. In the dimming street light and the shadowed moonlight, the dark forest line was coming into view. But he was not aware of it either. But he had to stop all of a sudden with a sweet scent of body spray, and a clear voice, both so familiar to him.

-Robin, what are you doing here?

He seemed to have got back to his senses and his look went straight to his very familiar and dear face standing just a couple of yards from him. It was his brave, adventure-loving and favorite most, Rayan uncle, in his favorite white tee-shirt. He now knew he was not supposed to be here at this hour of the night; he was not supposed to be anywhere close to the Howards End in a moonlit night. People didn’t even dare to come this far even in the broad daylight. But he wasn’t feeling afraid; his favorite Ryan uncle was there.

-Oh, uncle, how are you? I think, I took the wrong turn after the Metro Avenue. I wanted to give Christie a surprise, so I took the afternoon train. But, there was a problem in the rail line and our train got stuck in the South Dale station for 4 long hours.

-Hum, I know about the line derailment. Now follow me, we get to hurry.    

Robin’s eyes got wet in extreme joy just at the sight of his uncle after so many days. He used to accompany his uncle on many adventurous trips along the hilly treks with their bicycles. The memory lane of his teenage days is crowded with all those sweet and thrilling moments they spent together over the dangerous mountainous treks or on the boating trips to the far east corner of the swamp forest after crossing the Crescent Lake, which were of course unbeknownst to other family members. In fact, apart from the school hours, all his outdoor activities revolved around Ryan Shaw. Instead of playing football with classmates he would prefer going out on a biking trip to the wilderness with his bohemian uncle. 

And now he started following his uncle like those old days. His uncle used to tell him lots of stories but now he remained silent most of the time. But, it was Robin’s turn now. He had so many things to share with his uncle. He kept telling him about the beach close to his university campus, about his new friends in the new town.

It was a long walk home, but to Robin it seemed like just a few minutes. He could see the gate, the high-powered bulb to light the entire lawn. He sped up and stepped inside the gate and suddenly felt a change in the entire atmosphere. He was walking side by side with his uncle and now his eyes caught sight of an old bicycle leaning against a wall of the garage. It belonged to his Ryan uncle. He was on a solo trip to trek the mountain at the Howards End, where he met with a fatal road accident a decade ago. An untimely death at just 30. And it was the reason why Robin had to go through a mental trauma which took months to recover from. And his family had to relocate him to the nearest city, 200 miles away off the Nature’s Nest. 

With all his energy suddenly got drained out, Robin kneeled down the dewy ground, heard the main door creaked open and saw his sister running towards him.

© Atique R.