Final Ch: Volver - The Return

Ch 1: Tele
Ch 2: Tele - The origins
Ch 3: DEEPAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ch4 : The Truth!!
Ch 5: Emotions

Now I'm leaving everything behind. Not just my school, my house or my town, I'm leaving this world and Neha.

Today was the last day I had on this planet, in 20th century. I cannot believe that two days ago I was living a carefree life, going to school, wooing gals and laughing. Yes I've forgotten to even smile after Dad told me the truth. The shock kept me completely silent for day. There wasn't much I could do. Dad had taken the decision to take me to future. All three of us got special permission to go Home.

"This is my real Home. This is where my heart lies." But the thought that I don't belong here brought me back. I couldn't return without saying goodbye to my Neha. Dad must've read that going through my mind. He invited Neha over to lunch with us today.

She looked more beautiful than ever in a white skirt and black top. I couldn't take my eyes off. Somehow I managed to gulp down what was on my plate. After lunch, I invited her to my room. We talked for long, but I wasn't able to bring myself to tell her that I had to go away for ever.

Time flew by and the clock struck 4. Mom called out to me "Tea's ready. Please hurry before it cools". Neha rose from the chair. I bade her to continue being seated and ran to the kitchen to get our tea. Mom must've sensed the reason for my hurry. She asked, "Did you tell her?". I replied no. I held the cups in my hand and returned to my room. While leaving, I had closed the door beind me. She was saying something to herself inside.

"Damn!! how disgusting...they changed my name from Neetha to Neha!!! One day I'll have my payback." I was dumbstruck. Was the dream coming true? Surely she cannot be carrying a gun. I was just being paranoid. I pushed open the door silently and made a snorting sound to indicate I was back. She panicked and pulled the trigger. "Hell no!" I thought.

The pain was unbearable. I fell down. Neha rushed to my side shouting my name. Then she placed her hand over the bullet wound. I want to say "Now it's no use. You've killed me, bitch" but the words never came out. I felt darkness surronding me as I closed my eyes.

I don't know how long I'd been unconsious. My mind wandered between lower levels of consiousness for what seemed like hours. When I regained consiousness, the clock next to me read 9 pm. I looked down at the chest, the place where a bullet had pierced through hours before. It had healed. Miracles ceased to surprise me, but there wasn't even a drop of blood around. What more? I can regenerate?

Dad came in. He didn't look happy. He handed me a letter. I instantly recognised Neha's handwriting as I opened it. The letters seemed shaky like she couldn't control her hand. The ink had blotted here and there by her tears.

"Dear Deepak,

I'm Hari Seldon's heir and I know the Truth. Your dad told me you are going to the future. It hurts me to leave you. You'll always be in my heart.

Love,
Neha."

I turned my head to face Dad. He answered my questioning look.
"She was the one who healed you. Not just once. She was there for you before too. Nothing else could've saved you from the internal head injury when you fell off the scooter that day."

Ch 5: Emotions

Life is all fun and enjoyment, I thought. I was too late to discover that it wasn't so... too late when is discovered myself, my powers. But life gave me a second chance. Here's my story, the story of a woman.

I was born to rich, normal parents, or so I thought. Through my teens i had everything i wanted, be it the Barbie girl, round the world tour, or the Mercedes I got when I was still seventeen. Money was power, and it could buy anything. I was in the second last year in school when I met someone...

He joined my school in plus 2. From the first day itself, I fell for his good looks and cool attitude. I knew I was in love. The moment I looked at him something started burning in my head. It was not like the simile 'burning passion', this was real, physical. I felt some kind of connection between my mind and his, and felt my emotion passing on to him. It was really weird, but the same day, he asked me out. It was heaven from then on.

We dated for months. Then in December, he had to go to visit his parents in Dubai. I didn't see him for a month. When he returned everything had changed. He didn't like me, he never had... It was all my doing, my power had forced him to love me against his will. I was crestfallen. I can still remember that day - it was my 18th birthday.

When I returned home, mom and dad were waiting with my presents and birthday cake. I fell crying on mom's outstretched hands and opened my heart. She took the whole incident with much less surprise than I expected. I asked her, "Mom, is there something I should know?" She replied.

Days passed on, but after knowing 'the truth', it was never the same. Suddenly life seemed to have more meaning. I felt some kind of responsibility to human race. Though we were the superior race, we were the aliens on this planet. The feeling of being alien in a place you called home, it's unnerving.I joined CET the next year.

It was the second day in college that I saw the man of my dreams. He had the looks of Tom Cruise and poise of Hugh Grant. I told myself never to tinker with her emotions. As I walked past him, I tried a weak smile hoping he would notice me. It was beautiful... Amazingly, he asked me out the next week. I couldn't utter the words to express my happiness, but i think my nodding head conveyed the message to him.

That evening, we were at Lords. I was sipping on the last drop of limejuice, when I unintentionally started to pass on my emotion of love unto him. I stood up, trying to control the power. I told myself "I shouldn't make him fall in love with me. It will ruin his life. How would he ever understand that I can control emotions..". He tried to calm me down, and told the story of his life. He didn't know why he had the power or where it came from. His parents were so distance from him that they never cared to reveal to their son 'the truth'.

All that is history. We married and have a son, Deepak. Deepak's dad told me few weeks ago that our son's in love. He wasn't sure the girl felt the same for the boy. And then the day came when the dreaded accident happened. I had gone out shopping and saw the whole thing. Deepak suddenly shifted in his seat and the scooter went out of control. I ran towards them, but the crowd prevented me from getting anywhere near. I saw a girl getting out of the car that stopped just inches from Deepak. My power burst out upon her, and I could see the effect. The girl (whom I later came to know was the girl my son was after) felt an instant urge to help my son. She took him to the car and drove him home. I called out to my hus, but my voice was drowned in the crowd.

When I reached home, dad took me aside and said to me, "Our son knows I can read minds. The time arrives that he should know 'the truth'. And one more thing, the girl he's after, the one who saved him today, is Hari Seldon's heir!"

Ch4 : The Truth!!

"Damn!! how disgusting...these assholes changed my name from Neetha to Neha!!! One day I'll have my payback.". Neha was talking to herself, but she didn't know she is being overheard,Yes!Deepak, it was him.....!!
Stunned by the other side of his dear girlfriend he made a snort, Neetha realizing the presence of a stranger, in panic, shot from her revolver (hidden inside her hand bag) in the direction of the sound. With a loud yell Deepak fell down, Neetha felt a thunderbolt running down her spine and rather caught out.Deepak was rolling on the floor with pain, he was miserable. He felt like the angels calling out to him, "Deeepak....".

"Eh!! What the hell?? Shit!! A nightmare.It is already seven and I'm not ready for school yet.Shouldn't have seen 'The Unfaithful' the precious night." Deepak stopped rolling on the floor and got up to get ready for the school.
But why the hell did he think of Neha as a traitor, the reason she would turn rebel is not going to be as filthy as a name.The question dogged him to the class and he found no respite from his thoughts. Even in Neha's company he felt off sorts.
"Why are you so moody Deepak???",Neha asked.
"OH!! Eh!"as if just waking up from a dream."No,nothing". He longed to tell her about the dream but something held him against.
"Is there anything that i can help you with??"Neha looking very much concerned.
"Its so nice of you Neha darling, but no nothing of a great concern.Just that I'm having a minor head ache.." Deepak evading the temptation to open himself up.
"Ok...then i guess you need to take some time off... "Neha replied.
"Yeah!! I guess i get going now Neha dear..See ya tomorrow...."
Dé·jà vu!! He felt he had talked to Neha in an almost similar manner sometime back. This has become a pretty regular occurrence nowadays this,Dé·jà vu!!
"Some thing's wrong somewhere, the only person,one i can trust, who will have a solution for this problem is my dad..But he's off to some business tour from the next day of our 'small freak accident'. He had left in haste, never gave an indication as to his departure..."
He walked back home for he wanted to stack up his thoughts into a neat pile so that he can figure out whatever his problem was.
A pleasant surprise waited for him back home, his dad had returned from the "tour". Deepak was ecstatic and cried out with joy, for he felt comforted and safe.
At nightfall he went to his dad for some counseling on his problem.
"Dad i believe you might have read my mind already,eh..i don't know what's happening I'm confused..eh..."
"Say no more son...I understand.Once me too felt the same. Yes son you are gifted too..like me and like many others who roam this world.The next few things I'm going to tell you is going to take a lot from your part to assimilate in one go...But I've to do this, the time has come for you to know the truth."
Deepak stood amazed and anxious, what on earth was going on??
"Listen boy, I've been away to see some of my old friends, them belonging to group called The Council of AEI.I know its going to be too much for you to take in but you have to be patient and listen.AEI is 'Aliter Encampments for Ithopia'. The world is not what you see around boy, we are time travellers from the world of Ithopia. The place you call Universe is just another part, in fact the primordial part of a greater system called Ithopia. We are from the future boy! You are unique because during the years of my research about our past you were born. The so called business tour i was away for, was a journey back to our time because after that accident i grew concerned about you, for in this primitive place there is no automotive security and the people here are very slow for they take hours to reach just 500km(less than half a minute journey in Ithopia),I've got the permission from the council to take leave from my assignment for a couple of earth-months. We have the science of psychohistory**(developed by the great mathematician Hari*) so I can most often predict the future correctly, and that's what you know as my mind reading capability.We are researching about the possibility of settling in the past because our world is getting crowded more and more.We live in the planet of Earth in fact right here but a 10000 years hence..And the deja vu you have been having is because you too have the elements of psychohistory in you so you tend to see a lot things of the future through your dreams.Take your time to come in terms with the reality and and when you are ready I'll be taking you for a trip back Home....."

This was too much for young Deepak, he didn't speak a word but stood gaping at the stars wondering if they looked the same from some other world he couldn't even think of and if the dreams were to come true,he would think no more..... He couldn't sleep,he feared he might see something he didn't want to...The world around him was changing and so was he......

**Psychohistory has been assumed to be implanted into the human genome by some technique developed long after our era.(OH!! By the way for those readers who don't know what psychohistory is, its a mathematical thesis presented by the mathematician Hari Seldon in the epic Foundation series .... )

Ch 3: DEEPAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i tried to scream but no words came to my mouth .deepak must have gone unconscious as he showed no sign of movement ..........the driver must have seen deepak in the road .he brought the car to a screeching halt .
i heaved a sigh of relief . the wheels were just inches away from where deepak lay.the car doors opened and from it emerged the most gorgeous girl i had ever seen .she had ruby cheeks and a freckled nose but i think that made her look cute .her hair was straight and she wore a golden spectacles.she was wearing the same dress that girls of deepaks school used to wear which made me confirm that she belonged to his school .on seeing deepak on the road she ran to his side ,anxiety in her face, trembling a bit.the commuters soon started crowding over deepak.soon he had disappeared from view.some guys helped me to get up while some others went to see if the scooter was fine and to remove it from the road as it was blocking the traffic.

i realised that there was no time to waste as i had to go to my sons side.i saw her rubbing my sons hands and giving him a bit of a shake trying to bring him back to his senses .she brought out a water bottle out of her backpack and sprinkled some on to him.he stirred a bit.i could see that there was a bruise on his head (must have happened when he hit the road).the girl asked the driver to take deepak inside the car and that she would drop him to his house.i drove home in my scooter and they followed behind in the car

deepak was soon resting in his bed with the girl by his side .i was sitting a bit far away on a rocking chair.the driver had gone outside to hav a puff.once again i found myself trying to read the girls mind.she looked like she came from a rich family.her behaviour seemed good .one thing that i couldnt understand was why she was giving such a lot of attention to deepak. i presumed that it was because they were from the same school.she looked like she must be in the 7th or 8th standard.
maybe her father was a businessman or perhaps he must be a doctor to be able to afford the esteem car .suddenly it striked me that perhaps the girl might be neha.it was true that i had heard a lot about her from my son but i had never seen her.in fact i had never cared to have a look at her photo.the description given to me about neha matched the girl in front of me.so i decided to ask her name.
Neetha Hari she replied. i asked her whether she knew my son."yes of course he is my classmate"she said.
ohoooo classmate eh were they just classmates or were there something else between them.......i could see something in her eyes which told me that there must be something more than a classmate relationship between them .did my son had more than one girl friend. well he has only told me about one .were he hiding some others from me??
deepak was finally stirring from his bed .i went to his side and helped him sit upright.he rubbed his eyes and asked me what happened.
but before i could say a word he said."hi neha ,how did u reach here?"
"Neha"i exclaimed ."no deepak this is not neha this is neetha hari "
daddy this is neha all right . neha is short for NEetha HAri ......
"ohhhh" i exclaimed .so this was my boys girl friend neha after all..............



{to be completed by someone else}

Ch 2: Tele - The origins

Life has always been different for me. Since I was a baby, I could hear voices in my head...voices that never seemed to exist for others. By the time I'd grown to give meaning to words, I started realising that these voices were peoples' thoughts. I discovered I could read minds. I remember the first time when I tried to control my power. I was in the first standard and the exams were coming up...

Usually when I don't concentrate at hearing someone's thoughts, there's just a faint mumbling.. There's no use trying to decipher it, 'cause it will be a mixture of so many thoughts from all the people around me. That day I was desperate. I was not at all prepared for the upcoming exams. I knew the teacher had all the questions in her mind. I had to get it out of her somehow or I would fail. All day I concentrated on her. But the friends around were making so much noise, both in their heads and otherwise. After the final period, she walked out of the class. I followed her and had my final try at concentrating hard. I started hearing clearly-"I hope the students study enough, especially...". I didn't realise i was walking with my eyes closed. I barged right into her at that moment. She turned around, furious...

No one like their minds to be read. They somehow got some hint that I was reading their mind, like you know when someone's staring at you even if you're not looking at their direction. Maybe that's what distanced me from everyone. Mom and dad were always fighting. They decided to end the relationship when I was in 10th standard. I cried all day, I did not have a single friend to share my sorrow. Dad took me in after that and I buried my sorrow in books. It helped me in getting admission in CET.

It was the second day in college that I saw the woman of my dreams. She'd the elegance of a queen, the innocence of a child and beauty of an angel. I told myself never to read her mind. As she walked past me, I smiled and her lips parted like a blooming red rose. It was beautiful.. Next week, I asked her out. She obliged, I jumped for joy.

That evening, we were at Lords. She was sipping on the last drop of lime juice, when I unintentionally started reading her mind- "I love you and I know you love me". Happiness overflowed in me. Suddenly she stood up, shaken. I realised I'd made a mistake. Was it too late?.. I tried to calm her, but that's when I had the shock of my life. She thought, "I shouldn't make him fall in love with me. It will ruin his life. How would he ever understand that I can control emotions.." I tried to keep my cool. I knew that there was only one way to prevent her from going away. I told of my powers. She is the first and the only person who knows I can read minds. We married 4 years later. Our love bore a son. He's now studying in a school 15 minutes away on our Lamby.

My son wasn't growing up alone, like me. He had many friends, even a girlfriend-Neha. She was occupying much of his thoughts those days. I should've warned him to give more impetus to studies and try to pass in that day's 'surprise' chemistry test. But the cute boy always melted my heart and I could never hurt him. There he came. By the look of it, he didn't seem to have done very well in the exam. Ya, he was thinking just that. We got on the Lamby and were on the way back. Then I thought he'd said something to me. I turned my attention to him.
He asked, or I thought he asked “Eh…… You can read my mind??”.
Unconsciously, the words blurted out of my mouth..“How did you know???”

My son seated in the back seat suddenly shifted his position in shock. I lost control of the scooter and both of us fell down. I fell towards the left, but he fell in the opposite direction, right in front of an approaching car...

[to be continued, by someone other than Inquisitivo and me]

Ch 1: Tele

(this is an endeavor to create a marvellous piece of literature [may sound gibberish to the envious.... :-) ] )

“Haaaa…..”, muscle fibers forming the conjunction between the upper and lower jaws stretched like elastic and a gush of air rushed out of the orifice that resulted. In short, a Big yawn. I sat up in my bed, another not-a-holiday day (sigh), the brain waves, with nightmare^ as its output had it been fed to a CRO, still remained in my head thanks to a prolonged delay time*.

Everyday 7:00 am this used to be the routine, thanks to some scrubbing by my parents(Its to early for me btw). But I realized the importance of the situation and so didn’t bother.

Oh!! By the way … I’m Master X or whatever and I study in a school affiliated to the central government’s board..Err...CBSE they say. Ok … my family was a typical middle class family with my mom and dad doing mediocre jobs earning enough to keep the house going and saving a lil bit.

“How are the zombies doing??” a voice from the other side of a levitating (when the senses are dozing hallucinations are quite frequent) daily asked. He’s always pricking.

“Eh…….ohh……aaaaahhhh”, I replied. “Dad!!!”

A cup of coffee and little visit to the toothing corner. Address nature’s call and some water through my head, (phew) I was ready for school. Dad would drop me off in his 1980’s Lamby (Yuk!!!! I hate it, but I'm obliged). The school was 15 min far on it, 2 min if ‘twas a Karizma and 30 min for a public transport vehicle. I jostled to get my things as he started his scooter.

“Oye…How’s Neha??”Dad asked.

Neha was my gal friend (kinda). But in my house she was just one of my good friends. But the way dad probed me was just annoying, as if he knew the truth.

“Fine, dad”, my trembling voice.

Today I was supposed to have a surprise test (err….in our school surprise tests are scheduled i.e. our profs used to give clues. "Huh!! Why call it surprise test then??") Last night I had chatted off for about four hours and so couldn’t find time to do the not-so-important study. It was chemistry and I hate it like hell. But the prof for the subject was sturdy and obstinate. I used to mug up most of the time but this time I was really in some trouble.

As he let me off in front of the school, dad consoled me to take the test without fear. That sort of chilled me out a lil bit.

But how the hell did he come to know of the test?? He’s spying on me?? Che…. No way... He might have anticipated a test, that's it.Anxiety,suspicion and perception at the same time.

The test went rather bad,in fact horribly terribly wrong, for me and so had to do the imposition for 5 times (they still think I’m in KG).Rest of the day went gloomy.

Again strangely enough dad seemed to realize I had an off day and was soothing me. Such instances of understanding were getting bizarre by time thanks to my sci-fi freak mind. Dad has always been very kind and passionate towards me, but it was like now sort mind-reading or some kinda telekinesis(Or may be I'm taking it too far...aaahhhh).

I thought,”He perhaps can read my mind” so I decided to test it out.”It’ll be cool if he were like Mr. Parkman# in heroes”

Next morning, on the way school. “Dad!! Do you read?? Alpha calling beta...Do you copy??”I thought.”Yesssss..did ya say something??”said dad.

“Eh…… You can read my mind??” I thought without a vocally replying in a questioning and no so questioning tone.

“How did you know???”He asked(without much thought).

Aaggghh…..I almost fell off the scooter…..

^ nightmare-consisted of zombies and vampires.( do vary from cockroaches to blood-sucking Dracula at times, hehe....very versatile dreamer)

* Delay time: like tat of transistors.

# Mr.Parkman- a character in Heroes, a hit series airing on Star World.

(To be continued by someone else....)