Life After Death

1 June 2014

A woman sits in front of the doctor.

“It’s been a month. Deepak is here… is there any progress in his condition?” she asks, weeping.

The doctor hesitates before speaking.

“Hm… that’s why I called you. Deepak is no longer responding… but we will try our best.”

Suddenly, a nurse rushes in and calls the doctor.

The doctor enters the ICU and calls out:

“Deepak… Deepak… can you hear me?”

Deepak hears everything — the murmurs, the beeping sound.

“Yes… I can hear… but I can’t open my eyes… this darkness is frightening me…”

The doctors continue calling him.

“Deepak… can you hear me? Deepak…”

“Yes… I can… I can…”

Later, there is neither a murmur nor a beep sound. Only silence remains as the darkness spreads.

The alarm rings.

Deepak opens his eyes. He is lying in bed, drenched in sweat.

He turns off the alarm and tries to remember what he had dreamt about, but he cannot recall anything clearly.

“I can’t remember the dream… but something about it was terrifying…”

He picks up his phone and notices the date.

1 May 2014.

He gets ready for work.

After leaving his flat, he gets into his car as the rain pours heavily outside.

While waiting at a signal, a fragmented memory of a car accident flashes through his mind.

Suddenly, amid the heavy rain, a vehicle comes speeding forward and crashes into another car. It is a terrible accident, and people begin rushing toward the scene.

Deepak steps out, his legs trembling. He slowly walks toward the crowd, his heart feeling heavy.

People surround the accident spot. Deepak pushes through them and sees a man covered in blood inside the car.

He freezes in shock.

The man is him.

Exactly like him.

Deepak screams and begs the people around him to call an ambulance, but no one notices him. Everyone keeps talking among themselves while staring at the injured man inside the car, but not at Deepak.

It is as if he does not exist.

Deepak continues begging for help when suddenly a sharp pain shoots through his head. He cries out loudly.

When the pain fades, he notices that his surroundings have changed.

He stands in a dark room.

He searches desperately for light.

Suddenly, a popping sound echoes, and the lights switch on.

Deepak is stunned.

It is Angela.

She is holding a cake with a candle on it and saying something, but he cannot hear her clearly.

“What is she saying…?”

Then her voice slowly becomes clear.

“Happy Birthday, Deepak.”

She walks closer to him.

Deepak stands there, completely speechless.

Angela smiles gently.

“Make a wish and blow out the candle.”

Deepak closes his eyes and blows out the candle.

Both of them smile.

“I love you, Deepak,” Angela says softly.

My life has always been filled with sadness. Every moment of happiness seemed to lead only to lifelong sorrow.

Angela…

She was the one I loved with all my heart, but fate had other plans.

I first saw her during college, walking through the corridor of our department. She entered the classroom next to mine.

At that very moment, I fell for her.

Then began my search to find out who she was. I became friends with boys from her department, and finally, I learnt her name.

It was one of the happiest days of my life.

We slowly started talking and getting to know each other better.

Eventually, we became friends.

But as I said before, happiness never stayed long in my life.

My father died suddenly.

A part of us had wished for it for a long time because his hands were always raised against my mother, and his bitter words constantly echoed in my ears.

Even after death, he refused to let us live peacefully.

He left behind enormous debts. We never knew where all the money had gone — perhaps into liquor.

The entire burden fell onto my mother’s weak shoulders.

She worked every day despite her poor health.

I wanted to help her, but she insisted that I continue my studies and build a decent life.

So I studied harder.

The conversations between Angela and me slowly became shorter.

I scored excellent marks in my MBA and secured an internship with a reasonable stipend.

But after that… my life became nothing but tragedy.

I lost my mother.

She was the cornerstone of my existence.

After that, I changed completely.

The only thing left inside me was the urge to earn money and never become like my father.

And somewhere along the way, I pushed Angela out of my heart — the sweetest part of my life.

One day at the office, I saw Angela waiting for someone.

I did not dare to speak to her, so I avoided her.

I started seeing her at the office frequently, but I never stopped to wonder why she was there.

One day, my best friend approached me.

“Deepak… I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“You know Angela, right? Mm… we’re… we’re in love. We’re going to get married soon.”

I felt frozen at that moment.

He used to come with me whenever I met Angela during college. He even knew that I loved her.

What had happened during all those years?

Noticing the shock on my face, he continued.

“I know you loved her… She used to text me often, asking about you. I even tried to talk to you about her, but whenever I mentioned her name, you walked away without any interest in hearing about her…”

Thereafter, I could not hear another word he said.

“Congratulations,” I muttered before walking away.

There was no one to blame except me.

I had avoided her.

Maybe for her sake…

Or…..

maybe for mine.

But even now, I do not understand why I never confessed my feelings to her.

Why did I run away?

Can we really blame fate?

Or are we the ones who create our own fate by never trying?

“Deepak… here, eat this.”

Angela suddenly offers me a piece of cake.

What is happening?

Am I dreaming?

A sharp pain shoots through my head again.

“Ah…”

“Deepak… Deepak… what happened? Deepak…”

Deepak suddenly opens his eyes.

He cannot see clearly.

Everything around him is covered in thick fog.

Far away, he notices a man standing motionless.

Deepak begins walking toward him, then suddenly starts running.

But no matter how fast he runs, he cannot get any closer.

The distance only keeps growing.

Exhausted and breathless, he suddenly wakes up in bed.

And there she is.

Angela.

She is asleep beside him, resting her head on the bed while sitting in a chair.

Deepak gently touches her hair.

“Baby… are you okay?”

Angela wakes up and immediately begins crying.

Deepak hugs her and gently pats her head.

“I know something strange is happening… but I won’t let you go this time. You are mine. I’m going to live this life… even if this is a dream, another world, or my life after death.”

From the heart, with whispers of love

— Shijila