Shackles

In a small room, consisting of a window, a wooden door, a small wooden study table, a chair and a telephone, a guy aging close 28 finds himself sitting on the chair with his head down on the table and eyes closed. The ambient tone is all that’s present in the room. Out of the blue, the phone on the table rings.

Guy: Yes, hello?

The voice from the other end: So, where are you?

Guy: Ah, me? I am in this room, man. I don’t know where and what the fuck is this; but I’m here. Where are you?

The voice from the other end: I’m in my bathroom.

Guy: Hmmm... Interesting

The voice from the other end: So, what are you doing there in a place that even you’re unaware of?

Guy: I don’t even know, man how I got here. Trying to figure out. Hey, can I give you a call back later?

The voice from the other end: Sure, man. Cheers!

The phone hangs up and the conversation ends. The guy just looks out the window and sees the glass sheet covered with a thick and dense layer of mist. The layer is so thick that it obscures the view outside. The guy looks at the window and then reaches out to try and clean the glass sheet.

The hand outstretches and the guy gets a jolt. His fingertips hit a wall. A rock solid, concrete wall.

What the fuck?, thinks the guy while pulling his hand back and still staring at the sight. He can’t believe what he sees; because what he sees is the window still being there; but when he tries to touch it, he hits the wall. Crap, this can’t be real, he thinks and stretches his hand again to reach out and clean the window; but the same incident again. He hits the wall. He withdraws and sits there back in his chair trying to decipher what is unraveling. He turns and sees the wooden door. He thinks for a second and then gets up. He walks slowly taking measured steps towards the door.

He reaches the door and extends his hand to open the door and he ends up feeling only concrete. The door is not there. It’s only the wall.

Completely baffled with the incident, he thinks - Fuck! This just can’t be real. It just can’t be. He turns around and sees the door right by the table where he was sitting.

Surprised by the goings on, he sits right down there on the floor and keeps looking at the sights outside the window and keeps staring at the door. The view of the world outside the window is completely out of his focus; its obscure - beyond his realm. The exit point is visible; but no exit. He sits there trying to decipher what has he found himself in.

He sits there when the phone rings again. He walks up to the table and picks up the phone.

The voice at the other end: Hey, did you manage to find out where are you? Are you still trying?

Guy: Man, you won’t believe what just happened. Actually even I have not been able to make sense of any of it; but I don’t know. It’s kinda bizarre.

The voice at the other end: What the hell are you talking about? Are you drunk? Or did you just smoke up again?

Guy: No, dude! Trust me, I am fine; but the events here beyond my realm.

The voice at the other end: Can you elaborate?

Guy: Have you ever felt that what you see or at least what your eyes show you have turned out to be an illusion?

The voice at the other end: What? Come again.

Guy: Alright, have you ever felt that what you always knew or believed to be real turns out to be an illusion - other than of course a mirage on a desert?

The voice at the other end: I guess, you are high, man. You need some rest. Take care and I’ll call you later.

The phone hangs up and the guy finds himself in the dilemma again. With absolutely no exit to break free from this captive and no sights of the outside world; he finds himself trapped in a bizarre and an incomprehensible situation.

What the fuck is this? And why the fuck would that guy not listen to me? thinks this guy sitting by the phone.

The guy who was speaking on the phone from the other end gets ready and goes to the office and gets into his cabin. He dumps his computer on the desk and goes out to fetch his cup of coffee and comes back to his cabin. He opens his laptop and plugs it to the charging socket and begins to do his work; but he can’t concentrate.

He is still thinking of the phonic conversation with the guy.

What exactly did this guy talk about? keeps thinking this guy when the door of his cabin is knocked by a woman. He asks her to come in and she walks in. It’s his secretary. She begins to read to him the list of appointments when she realizes the boos is hardly paying any attention to her.

Sir, are you ok? asks the lady.

Yeah, I’m... I’m fine. Ummm... Listen, could we do this a bit later? I’m actually a little disconnected and a little pre-occupied with something else here.

Sure sir. Please do let me know when you want to discuss this; and also please do let me know if you want to talk about something else.

After about half an hour, he gets a phone call. He lifts the phone and the call gets cut.

Post-lunch, the cabin of this guy is filled with foreign dignitaries. They have come from the Gulf for some business deals. While the meeting is in motion; the guy gets a call on his BlackBerry. The number seems familiar to him. He excuses himself from the meeting and goes out to pick up the call and just as he answers the call; the call gets disconnected again.

Back in the small room, the guy still trying to figure out the scheme of things he has found himself in. It appears completely beyond the realm of his understanding; but still. He goes to the wash basin and opens the tap and splashes some water on his eyes and then rubs his face off. He looks at the mirror but he is not even able to see his reflection in it. This sends him into a complete frenzy. He turns around and looks around the room - everything seemed to be slipping out of his grasp. The mirror doesn’t reflect him; the window has blurred the sight of the outside of the world; the door seems to exist; but no exit.

The other guy returns home from the office and sees a packet - seems like a courier that has arrived for him. The name on the packet suggests that it has come from a well-wisher and that the gift is a life-changing experience. He opens the gift wrapping and sees his another wrapping. The parcel is monstrously huge. He opens the second layer of wrapping and chucks the ribbon and the paper and sees another wrapping.

While the other guy in the small room starts smelling in the room trying to sniff his way around; but he senses something strange there as well. He feels that he is losing his sense of smell. He tries to go back to the study table and opens a perfume bottle and sprays some on his hand; but can’t seem to smell it.

While at home, the other guy has already opened close to 6 layers of wrapping; but to no use. The parcel contains more layers of unraveling to do. The guy has already removed his office dress and is sitting in his boxers trying to find his way around the wrapped package when a phone ring breaks his concentration.

He gets up and goes to the phone.

Guy: Dude, where are you?

The voice from home: Nothing man. Just came back from office almost half an hour ago and saw a parcel - a gift package. Been trying to open it; but to no use. I have opened close to 6 fucking layers; but there are many more. It seems like an infinite layer of wrappings. Or I am not sure if I am dreaming. Fuck, can’t make sense of it, man.

Guy: Same here, man. I am still stuck here in this room. And I have encountered some more bizarre incidents. I went up to wash my face in the mirror thinking I might be asleep and all of this might just be a dream; but when I got back up from washing my face, I could not see my reflection in the mirror.

The voice from home: What the fuck?

Guy: No idea, bro!

The voice from home: Bro, is it possible that your sense are dying one-by-one?

Guy: I have no clue, man. Now what the fuck is that?

The voice from home: No man, it might happen, you know. If you do experience your senses dying, then you might lose the touch and feel of things. You might lose their impact, you know.

Guy: Fair enough. But if it just makes you lose the impact; then why am I able to see them and the moment I extend to touch them, I end up just feeling a concrete. Why is that I see the exit; but I can’t escape through it? Why is that I see the window, but the view outside is blurred beyond my realm? Why is it that what I see is not what I feel?

The voice from home: I don’t know man. The similar thing has been happening to me. I was in the office and got a few calls; but as soon as I answered the call - the meter started ticking; but the voice on the phone said the call has been disconnected. This happened a few times, and then I come home and see this huge gift that I have been trying to unravel; but no success, yet.

At this point, the guy in the small room hangs up the phone abruptly and goes to sleep. The other guy also in the room also goes to bed.

Next morning, the guy in the small room wakes up and sees huge opening right adjacent to his bed and sees the opening cut down right into the heart of the earth’s core and going deep down. He is baffled. He steps on the spiral staircase and keeps going down. The depth of the staircase is endless. It goes on and on and on. He keeps going down and down to the nether land. He tries to look back up; but sees the point from where he found himself climbing down from the stairs is already closed and sealed. He finds himself tumbling down and deep.

Now at this point, he hears a phone ring. He looks up; but he feels the vibration in his pant pocket. He is stunned and puts the hand in his pocket. He finds a mobile phone. The number seems familiar. He picks up the call.

The voice from the other end: Dude, you gotta listen to this.

Guy: What happened?

The voice from the other end: I started my car and started for the office and I found myself driving on a completely different route. My office is on an elevated point in the city; but I found my car driving down a steep downhill. I kept driving down and the road beyond the horizon seemed to converge. At the fag end, my car stopped and I saw the parallel sides of the road I was driving down on converged and there was a board that read “Dead End”.

At this point, almost towards the core of his endless climb down, a light switches on and shows a board that read “Dead End”. The guy gets stuck.

Guy: Dude, you’re not gonna believe this.

The voice from the other end: What?

Guy: I saw a similar board - “Dead End”

The car comes to a screeching halt. The guy reverses the car and drives back home. Back home, his phone rings again.

Guy: What the hell is this, man?

The voice from the other end: Can’t explain, man. This certainly beats my logic. Things that have been happening over the last few days have certainly been something that has defied every single logic of existence. I don’t know what the fuck is this? I just can’t seem to get to anywhere. I seem to feel trapped. And day-by-day my feeling is becoming stronger that I am being fooled and being sucked into something that is just beyond the level of my understanding. I don’t know what to make of all this; but this certainly is supremely perplexing.

Guy: True, man. Looks like our sensory perceptions or perceptory senses (I don’t give a fuck if there’s a word like this in English or not!) are playing with us. Because we are able to see something; but it still feels beyond our reach or beyond our touch. Our visual senses are complimenting us; but we are fooled by our other senses. And I find this to be something I can’t take anymore.

The voice from the other end: Hmmm. I don’t know man; but you do make a lot of sense. I think I now begin to understand what you’re saying. I have felt this all my life up until this point. I have almost always found myself getting sucked into situations that I fail to understand and I come out of them after losing a certain part of myself. This has always happened to me. And I recall that this has also happened to you a lot of times. We have been speaking since time immemorial and exchanging our opinions, perceptions and experiences and we have had similar ones. But here’s one thing that I want to ask you.

Guy: What?

The voice from the other end: I remember every time you initiate the call; you’re one to make the call to me in the first place. You share your experience with me first and after which I start having such bizarre trips. Why is it that? Is there a fibre that binds us so deep; that unconsciously your perceptions and experiences start impacting mine?

Guy: What? Could you please come again?

The voice from the other end: Yeah. You heard me right.

Guy: I thought you knew it.

The voice from the other end: I knew what?

Guy: The fibre that binds us.

The voice from the other end: Which is?

Guy: I’m your internal self. I’m your brain. I’m your master.

The voice from the other end: What?

Guy: Yes. I thought you always knew it. I thought that we are in agreement and our relationship is mutual.

The voice from the other end: No ways! I never knew it. I always thought you were someone external. How can your perceptions influence mine? I mean I have read that I am the one that has the right to decide and control my own self, my own being. I don’t need to bow down to anyone else. It’s what I do that defines me. What right do you have; in fact who in the first place gave you the right to control me? And who appointed you as my master?

You call yourself my master? If that’s true, aren’t you supposed to work for my welfare? For my betterment? I can’t remember any pleasant experiences that I might have had with you. All my life has only been harrowing, thanks to you and your enforced perceptions. Yeah, enforced perceptions. I get that now.

Guy: Enforced perceptions? Did you never have any experiences? And did you never share them with me?

The voice from the other end: Yes, enforced perceptions. You created your reality and then you used to call me and share your created reality/experiences with me, and they caused me to think and perceive. You fucked with me. Yes, you did. You screwed my belief and you screwed my sense of reality. I don’t want to have anything to do with you now. You fuck off!

The guy back at home walks off in a fit of rage while pulling the phone along with him.

After another 15 mins, the phone gets disconnected thanks to the cable between the receiver and the phone body being snapped. In the bedroom, a body lies in the pool of blood while the neck line connecting the head to the body seems severed. The body is that of the guy. He is dead. The head is severed from the body.

Back in the small, room, an outstretched hand opens the misty window and the guy in the room enjoys the sights of the world outside.