He was running as fast as his tiny feet could carry him, tears rolling down his cheek. A couple of pebbles were thrown in his direction which hit him on his back, but not hard enough to hurt him. The other children were roaring with laughter behind his back.
"Coward!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he heard someone yell.
"What a girl, look at him run holding his skirt." another voice said.
Amit did not look behind. He just wanted to run away from everybody. They think he is a coward? Let them. They think he is not manly enough? Let them. When he grows up, he'll show all of them what he is made of. He would be a bigger man than they would ever have dreamt of. But till then, he had to get away. Away from all the teasing, bullying that he had been experiencing ever since he made friends with them. He knew he was physically weak, but one day he would show them brain always prevails over brawn. As of now he just wanted his mother.
"Amit, wait!" a voice shouted behind him. Without stopping he turned around to see tiny Vidya in her usual pink frock trying to keep pace with him. He was so full of anger that he didn't bother to wait. He couldn't wait. His head was boiling with anger, eyes sore with crying and all he wanted was his mother's arms. He continued running out of the park and across the street into the compound of his home. Just as he opened the gate, there was a loud screech behind him followed by a shrill scream. He turned around to see a mass of pink drenched in red lying in front of the car which couldn't stop in time. Everything suddenly seemed to move slowly as the crowd gathered and Amit was frozen at the porch.
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Amit woke up his face dripping with sweat. It was still dark outside. He checked the time to see that it was just 3:20 a.m. He took a sip of water into his parched mouth and laid back on his bed thinking about the dream he just had. The very same dream that had been haunting him ever since the incident happened when he was a seven-year old kid running away from his bully friends. Vidya was his only friend back then but she did not survive that accident. As a toddler, it was one Vidya who came to his aid when he needed a friend, and now at another turning point in his life, another Vidya had become close to him. Too much to be a mere coincidence. Maybe this was the way God played his games.
He pulled the rug to cover his shoulders and thought about his last conversation with her.
"I hope you realise your priorities soon. You are totally messed up Amit." These were her last words before leaving him. It was a clear message that he could either have the one person who had been his friend and stood by him throughout or the one girl who had stolen his heart, his mind, his life. Why did he have to make a choice, damn it! Why can't he have both, a friend as well as a partner. He new life was all about choices, but never thought he would be at such a juncture where whichever choice he makes, ultimately he would lose a part of himself.
He then pulled the rug over his head and closed his eyes in a vain attempt to catch some slumber which had long gone.
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S-C-H-I-Z-O-P-H-R-E-N-I-A
Payal typed on Google. She had to know about it. Was it really a mental illness that Amit was suffering from, or rather, was she in love with a lunatic? Could it be cured? If yes, How?
A million questions had crossed her mind ever since she discovered that Amit's closest friends were actually imaginary. Why did he have non-existent friends? How come nobody realised what was wrong?
".....a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of the process of thinking and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction. The onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood......."
The computer screen displayed.
"I really don't know what to do, Neha." she told her roomie who was sitting next to her reading the information on the computer screen.
"Do you really think that you are in a position to do anything?" Neha asked. "Get a grip over yourself Payal. This is a psychiatric case, and you are no doctor. I feel its better you let it go, the earlier the better."
Payal sighed. Maybe Neha was correct. But should she give up without a try? Maybe she would, but first she needed to know more about his condition and she continued browsing the hundreds of web pages that google had thrown back to her.
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