The Dark Night

It was as dark as an empty heart of an abandoned soul. Even the brightest of stars which adorned the sky everyday were hiding that night. It was a New Moon night. The silver light of the moon which lit the dark dungeons of the night sky was not visible. It was as if the moon and the stars had been in a ferocious battle and neither of them won and nor they could come to a conclusion. So as a sign of resentment they both decided not to face each other and hid somewhere far in the galaxy, the place which was out of sight of puny humans. He finished his daily chores and set off towards the nearby hills. If there was something he cherished every night, it was staring at the beautiful starry night. He loved how the shine of stars and the moon motivated him. While he was lurking around in the darkest hours of night, all he could see was some faint lights coming up from distant windows. An irony hit him hard. If the dark night is the place for all evil to occur, it was also the same darkness and those distant lights which inspired many. He was a fickle minded soul. He couldn't decide which side to take, the good or the evil. 

He was surprised how things change, so soon. He wondered how the day and night, being poles apart, blended perfectly into each other. A few hours ago, the sky was red, the sun was disappearing behind those big, mighty mountains. Threads of orangish-red light were lingering in the sky along with trails of clouds. The bright light must have battled the dark light to which it had lost, only to return to take revenge in the morning. Birds flocked together to reach their shelter before the entire world was painted by shades of grey, blue and black. And the mighty moon along with its army of sparkling stars soon adorned the sky. And it happened every day. The change was constant, yet it was there. He looked at the sky which was without the stars today and he wondered if there was a new world up there. And he wondered if there was someone, maybe his counter-part on that side, staring at the same and having the same thoughts. He wondered if there was some limit to that sky or was it infinite?

And the stars had always surprised him, as always. Some of them were dull, merely flickering while there were some bright ones that illuminated the dark sky with their silver light. They were just like the people and situations in his life, some prominent while the others just merely existed for the sake of it. The night sky used to freckle with stars and he felt a sense of relief when he stared at them. He felt as if his worries were nothing, there was something way more bigger than all of it, it was infinite. But today, they were hiding. He was wondering where all of them had disappeared, just like the people in his life which used to hide when he needed them.

 He sighed and set out towards his home to get some rest. Had he done enough things, the kind of things he should have done for himself or the people that meant something for him? He was confused. He didn't know how and why this feeling had been playing inside his head. He unlocked the door to his house. It was dark all around. His family members seemed to have dozed off by now. He climbed up the stairs slowly, careful not to wake up any member of his family. He went inside the toilet and switched on the light. He saw a reflection in the mirror. It was him. He splashed water on his face and looked at that reflection in the mirror. His tired eyes were asking him the same question, the one that he himself had no answer to. The surface of the mirror had black splotches at some places. His image was distorted but he could see his eyes clearly.

Suddenly, a thought hit him hard. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was painted in colours of black, grey and white. Darkness had taken over him, which was evident, as his thoughts told him. And he thought, “We all have it inside us, both the dark side and the bright one. And it’s for us to choose, which path to walk on. And even though the dark side looks more luring and kind of a shortcut, the bright is what is right at the end of the day but still we prefer not to walk down that road. We all have galaxies buried inside us, waiting to be discovered. Yet, we prefer to thrive upon the darkness which feels like home somehow. Maybe because we are too afraid to go out in the light again. And all this goes on, it is infinite, it is meant to go on, always.” 

He laughed over his thoughts. And he took small steps towards his room to sleep. He closed the window and looked out for once. The dark night, it started a whirlpool of questions and bizarre thoughts inside him, the one’s he would be stuck with, for a long time. And they’d only settle when he chose a path for himself, the one he would walk down. He sighed and closed his eyes to ease his mind and get some sleep, something which we really needed to put his thoughts to rest. The dark night challenged his fickle mind and he went to sleep, praying that he would find his answers soon.