Strange Button

- Capable of blunder or a wonder?

Fine strokes of nettled sunbeam were hitting me on my visage, as I woke up the next day looking forward to making that so beloved jacket mine now. I left for the shop, a five minutes stroll down the lane and there I was finally. The azure blue board of the shop etched in golden letters read- “Jack never goes up to the hill without a JACK-et”. And, I was fascinated! No sooner did my hands reach out to push the gate wide ajar, my phone beeped and it was a call from the hospital. A call, be it any, but if from the hospital, then for me it meant the call of duty. The captivating red colour of the jacket nearly slipped out of my mind, as I changed my track towards the hospital. Haphazardly, I scurried from the shop to the parking arena.

A ten minutes drive and I was there at the front door of the hospital, I walked inside only to find a beautiful, tall Mädchen languidly waiting for me. But, no sooner as my eyes struck her clothes, the hastiness she wore over her visage vanished. Draped in a beautiful mini-dress, I saw the crinkle of her eyes, the way she was despondently biting her lips, and chanting an inaudible prayer. I was about to step forward to enquire, only until my eyes caught hold of the jacket she wore. Quite similar to the statement red jacket I saw today morning, but, hers was in a charcoal-black shade. “Oh! My jacket.” I exclaimed as I re-affirmed myself to grab it on my way back home. I examined the lady and prescribed her some medications. That day, was a bit unusual, not because of the chance encounters with the jacket, but because it was an unusually free day at the hospital. Though, deep down, I knew what immense satisfaction such days bring to me. Seeing the world recover with more smiles than pains. And, so, as the work was a bit less; I decided to call it a day thence. Wrapping up, took me a bit longer. I saw the watch it needled to 10:30. “Not too early for the Jacket World to shutter down”, I mused. And, thought to re-check for the jacket. But, again in dismay, I reverted with nothing but a grin turned into a frown. The jacket was no longer there, it had exchanged spheres.

With a sunken face and almost teary eyes, I reached my apartment and stood in front of the main gate, searching my bag for the keys. For a while it seemed like a hurricane had just taken over my bag, but, still, I couldn’t find them. ‘How careless of me!’ I deemed. I decided to sit down, turn the bag upside down and then look for it. Deep within, there was a hole as small as a rathole, and there it was, the keys, like a rat, unwilling to show its face. That night, I could barely consume the entire delicacy and the only thing that reflashed in front of my eyes was that Jacket. What is so enchanting about this ordinary jacket that I cannot get it over my nerves? Is it an ordinary jacket or an answer to many unanswered questions, was in itself a question. Thinking about it, I didn’t happen to keep a track of time and sooner I dozed off. A fulfilling night’s sleep with only one dream (you better know what it was). I stood from my bed, freshened up, wore a Turquoise Blue hoodie with my favourite boots, and left my home in a happy stroke of the positive hour for the Jacket World. My body felt as weak as a dangling skeleton to walk that day. So, I chose the road I less travelled by. I took the earliest metro to the shop and sat in the foremost corner at a double seat. Engrossed in my thoughts, it was only when I scrutinized my vicinity and looked out from the window, I came to know the adjacent seat wasn’t empty, rather occupied too! Occupied by a Jacket, but. And, jacket as if triggered me. It was the same colour I have been chasing after for so long. The clon of the jacket, I may call couldn’t resist enough, I picked it up suddenly.

After examining the jacket, I found it a bit bizarre though. The jacket didn't seem to be an ordinary one, but something in it was so captivating that beheld me. ‘That button, what’s with that button?’, I thought. Bamboozled, I decided to press it. Oh, and no sooner I pressed it, I entered a different world, a whole new place. Everyone onboard became a lot friendly, empathetic, understanding. That rowdy gang of teens vacated their seats to a couple of elderly. The bus sped a bit, one could feel the wind smashing over one’s visage as slaps of life, but sweetly. Everything changed, changed for good. Life became a bit worry less, slow, and myriad; giving humans time to introspect their deeds. People became sympathetic to others and their feelings, they ceased inflicting pain on the voiceless, weak, and powerless. In a blink of an eye, everything got a makeover. The black paint washed from the world, the world is no longer gloom and dismay; but bloom and repair. I wonder if such a Lilliputian button can revolutionize something in Blefuscudian humans. Then, our small gestures of affection, and kindness can bring out the essential goodness of this world.