YOU ARE PREGNANT

It was one of those days when chores seem a pile of mountains - relentless and unforgiving. Since screaming was not an option either, I headed out to get some cigarettes. Little did I know what that trip had in store for me.

I drove to the store and parked my car on the closest space that was available. Somehow, soon after that, an eerie feeling dawned on me - A feeling of not only being watched but inspected through and through. Needless to say, that this was not doing any good to my already havocked senses. I got out – my furrowed brows met the day and with it a strange man with a set of totally crazed deep eyes.

pic from - callofduty.wikia.com

He looked at me and smiled knowingly. A whiff of filth passed through his parted lips. He had come way too close for a stranger. Alarmed I stepped back and tried to look warningly at him – but my face gave me away – I was petrified. His blood shot eyes pierced my very being. And all he said were three words before he turned around and went away – “You are pregnant”.

His retracing of steps flooded me with a sense of relief that I had never known before. A crazed man, talking gibberish and ruining my already ruined day. I pushed the thought at the back of my head and carried on with trembling legs towards Rite Aid. The urgency of a smoke even more now.

Once inside the store though – I just couldn’t get myself to feed my craving. The words of the man echoed in my ears till my head felt like it was going to explode. I bought a pregnancy test instead.  The 3 minutes in which it would decide my fate is worth the money and the hesitation. A “positive” or a “negative” would mean a subsequent no or yes for the smoke I intended to enjoy.

I used the Rite Aid washroom and then enjoyed my cigarette later. But I can never forget that man. There was way too much conviction in his voice. I cannot help but wonder whether he meant something else or whether the pregnant he meant was metaphorical. Funny how I never saw him after that day and had never seen him earlier in the neighborhood! Funny how everybody else around was sure they had never seen anyone like him before.

That day did something to me. I cannot put my finger on it – but that man was not lying – he was a messenger - only I could not decipher his message. Two days later – I was in the hospital donating blood for a new born who needed red blood cells. The doctor told me that my blood gave her new life.  That man’s face somehow haunted me all day that day….