Last Regrets

[Day 4]

Day 4

A sudden cold drip on his face woke Nate up in a flash. He opened his eyes to find the subway in the very same state it was in before he fell into the nap. Not much time had passed then. Everyone was still sleeping. Old George's famous snores hadn't died down a bit.

He let out a deep sigh. Now it’d be difficult to go back to sleep…and the drips…perhaps it was raining outside?

The very idea of ‘rain’ and ‘outside’ sent his heart into a spasm of piercing pain and longing at that instant.

He missed it. He terribly missed it. The outside. The sun. The rain... which he used to despise so much. He missed it. The white fluffly clouds, the blue sky, the smell of  fresh air. The feeling of life. He was tired of breathing in the same stale air, full of dust particles and railway engine smoke. A musty, dirty and dangerous air…and they were breathing in it for four straight days. If starvation didn't snatch them as its victims, a severe lung disease surely would.

Four days…four days had passed. Four days since he got on the train. 4 days since the due entrance exam. Four days since their life took a turn for the least expected. Since fate decided it didn't like them anymore.

‘Missing your dog?’

No mistaking Garrett.

‘You awake already?’ breathed Nate.

‘Never slept.’

‘I did…but then…the roof leaked on me. I think it's raining.’

'Or it could just be some Celestial piss.'

Nate did not respond. He was sure the other was feeling the same way he did a few minutes ago at the thought of rain.

‘What the hell is this place anyway? Who the blazes makes such a confined space? Mankind are a bunch of raving lunatics. Not a frikkin hole in the roof for us to breathe through.’

Nate closed his eyes again.

Garrett went on a swearing rant. He swore on the architects (They call this historical failure a subway? It’s 2007 for crying out loud!). He swore on the train pilots (Bloody half-assed idiots. Look at us now! And who wants to become a pilot anyway!?). He swore on the subway passengers (Honestly, are people blind or what? Don’t they see how dangerous this place could be!?). He swore on the ticket collectors (So what if I lost my ticket? I paid for the damn thing! It’s just a few pence. Screw them ticket whores!).

He swore on many other things like raliway tracks, wheels, mechanics, coffee,  hot-dog stalls, beaches, birds, Hollywood. Nate was listening quietly, half amused and half dispirited. He closed his eyes and imagined the rain outside.

The tip tapping…the pichpich sound it made when his shoes filled with water and became heavy. The smell of rain. The taste of rain. The thundery winds which knocked the breath out of you. The little electric shock you felt when you caught a raindrop with your tongue. The wet streets and the children dancing half naked in it. The fresh and alive look of the dew covered plants when the water licked their surfaces. The little insects which propelled out of the soil when their little holed homes get flooded. He wouldn’t mind being one of those insects right now…

Nate didn't notice when, but Garrett’s curses had died down. He too seemed to be immersed in some fantasy, which was probably once, their reality.

The reality they had never bothered to savour before.

You realize the true value of your treasure only after you lose it they say.

Old man George was too wise. It hurt. It actually started to hurt.