From the Other Side of the Moon

For purposes, I myself haven't formalized as yet, all imagination in this piece is to be done in black and white. Maybe it's to lend this piece a touch of profoundness.The other side of moon, the dark side of the moon is not as 'dark' as it is usually made out to be. In fact, it has nothing to do with dark, sad, gloom, blues, without light or any other senseless idea that lesser mortals associate with it. As the more wise know and is also known to those who love, it has to do with something completely different.

The lights in the room have been switched off for quite some time now. It's the proverbial difficult night. Once in a while, at the end of the day, when trivialties-of-the-day no longer form a traffic jam on the mind's only-road-leading-into-the-big-metropolitan, memories play ring-a-ring-a-roses with your mind. They all come almost together, fly around in a circle, do the 'haisha, haisha, we all fall down' and with the flash of a sad smile on your face, your heart takes a fall from courage. And they stream down your cheeks. She's been changing positions in her bed for 2 hours now. The room's dark as i mentioned before. Also, as a reminder- everything is to be imagined in black and white.

Once a while, these nights come. And bring with them, a feeling of being alone. Away from home, away from people you have loved, away for God knows how long a time, for the purpose of making a life, a career that you probably don't even identify with, these nights tend to come easy.

The clock's been outrunning her heart since the lights went off. You want one word description of the whole frame? Blues. Sad.

It's been raining too. Her room has a large window, that she faces when she lies with her right arm below her. The curtains haven't been drawn. And she can see drops of rain sliding down the pane. Its the big-drops rain- you know, the one with the fast, few, big drops of water. For her, the rain's happening in slow motion. She sees drop after drop after drop slide down the pane and into the seeming abyss below. Nights like these make you feel even your heart's an abyss. And make you wish it wasn't.

She turns to adjust herself so she doesn't have to look at the window.

'Knock'. It's the sound of knocking on glass. The empty expression on her face changes to one of doubtful fear. She instinctively turns to look at the window and lets out a slight gasp.

The white light of the bright lamp out on the street, visible in the very corner of the top left of the window, provides just enough white light to illuminate the outline of a man in an overcoat. He's floating there- outside her window. Quite a surprise, eh? Of course it is. Shock, however would be more appropriate.

There she sits on the bed, gaping at the window. He's wearing a hat. And there isn't enough light for her to make out his face. He's dressed in all black. A man of dark and subtler outlines- outlines of his outfit, outlines of his silhouette.

'Err...ya, that's the usual first reaction I get. But, I assue you I mean no harm.', says the man in a deep, calm, reassuring voice. She stays still, frozen in her place. Mouth still slightly open. Her tears though, have suddenly vaporized- like a liquid suddenly turning more volatie and yet, in other ways, less so. And it seems to have happened due to the man's presence. She feels a sudden sense of reassurance, an unexpected warmth. And even out of all the darkness, she sees smile on the man's face. It's a reassuring smile. It's rare- the reassuring smile, it comes from love.

Smiling still, he knocks again on the glass. And keeping with the level of unexpectedness that's flowing through this piece, she gets up and opens the window. In steps the man, his overcoat lined with slight streams water that makes a course along the rugged surface of the overcoat, flowing off the ends, onto the floor. She steps back and sits down on the bed, mouth slightly open.

The man removes his hat and bows in salutation.

"I am from the other side of moon, young lady. We had received a request from a certain close somebody back in your homeland. I am here to act on that request."

He pauses.

"We deliver love.", he rounds up, in his deep, reassuring voice.

As the girl looks on, still slightly confused, he pulls up a chair. Then, remembering, he asks, "May I?" "Sh-sh-sure..", she says.

He removes his overcoat and removes from within it- a harmonica. Then he plays his song- 'I am here on a job, it's to deliver love...'. Most of you might not have heard that song. Well, it's for the loved few and even they, get to hear it only on nights such as these, in places far away from home, by the man from the other side of the moon.

As he finishes, and gets up to leave, he hands her a business card. It's shown below-