The Mirage Fountain

He never left the place where he was living from the last 10 years. His relatives, friends call him an “obsessed person.” Obsessed! Not by someone but by his own house which is certainly not a likable place.

It was the dwarf roof house with dirty walls, the worn-out furniture, and ugly curtains. But it was not exactly like that to him, he was having another world over there beyond the walls and furniture. It was something different that was driving him to stay there. He didn’t tell it anybody but it was something in the backyard which kept him hypnotized all these years. Compared to his house, his backyard was a lovely place covered with green grass all around. There were plenty of colorful and delicate flowers, growing blooming shrubs to revitalize everyone’s sight. This was the best and appealing part of his house.

There was a small fountain structure in that same backyard that used to be covered by white clothes all the time. That fountain has a carved name on it called “Mirage Fountain”. No one has seen that fountain without a cover and no one even cared to inquire about it. But he waited for every night there to run the fountain automatically. It was a mystery for him how the fountain starts working at night when everyone is asleep except him. He was experiencing this phenomenon for a long time and it was vivid happy moments for him.

From when he was not sure, but he used to wake up almost every night to see “her” from that backyard fountain. It was “a girl with a wand” whom he meets every night and who emerges from that “Mirage Fountain” when everyone is asleep. He couldn’t ever touch her and neither had she come without her wand over these all years. She is one with a very smiling face but she never utters even a word. Still, he was affectionate about her and loved her like anything. Was that in his dreams or reality, he never bothered and never tried to find out the reason behind it. He thought “it might be a mystery” but he did not want to run behind it to solve.

Today also he prepared himself for bed. Took a shower, wore his favorite clothing, turned off all the lights, and went to bed. After some sound sleep, he realized that the fountain had started working and his backyard is illuminated with different beautiful lights. He ran frantically towards the fountain and looked in settled water but instead of his reflection, he saw the girl in there. However, it was not surprising for him as this was her only way to emerge from the fountain. She started dancing around the fountain with mesmerizing music. It was pleasant to see her with some dim lights making her face glow. She looked like an angel and she grew with him by years and years as of now. He met her every night till today and they shared some spellbound moments with each other. They know each other for a long time now, they never spoke but their eyes had eloquent to say. He was relishing these moments secretly and hence did not want to be the part of materialistic world.

But today night was something different than usual. A girl stood in the stable water of the fountain. Suddenly, he felt that the cool splashes of fountain stopped and so as the fountain. The girl spread her hands and shared her wand to him. He was surprised to see it but he almost snatched the wand from her and he was feeling tranquilizing inside. He looked around but the girl vanished like an air. He again saw for his reflection in water but to his wonder, he saw his own reflection there. He was startled and watched around if he lost the girl in exchange for the wand but soon he realized there are two reflection figures in fountain water. The reflection was of him and a girl standing side by side. He gradually moved his hands around her and felt her warm touch. His anxious face turned into a happy one and he hugged her saying, “Finally, we met! I was waiting all over my life for this” and she spoke for the first time to him, “Welcome to my world of fountains!! Your only way to go temporarily out of this fountain is a reflection of some human being.”