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The End of the Road

Aanchal Bolar (FYBFM)

Sara's eyes fluttered open, and she screamed her lungs off. The pain was making her head swirl. She just lay there on
the ground, too tired to blink, but managed to shut her eyes and dip back her head to take a long, deep breath. She
could hear the soft sighing of the wind, the burbling and chattering of garden birds and her own heart that ratcheted
into a thunderous beat. She opened her eyes and brushed back the strands of her onyx hair off her face and looked up.
It was a long, empty road. Sara could not recognize it. Hell, she could not even recall how she came to be in that
place. She decided she needed a walk to put things together and gathered all her strength to push her body off the
ground. Her head barked in protest and she gnawed on her lower lip until she could taste blood. She tied her hair into
a bun and walked towards the never-ending road. The sides of the road were lined up with ginormous trees and
beyond them Sara could see a labyrinth of bushes and twigs. Her eyes travelled up and widened with surprise and
feral delight as she saw the bruised purple and blushing pink of the morning sky. It was so beautiful that a shudder
skittered down her spine. What was this place? She remembered locking herself in the bedroom when her husband
was listening to the radio. She remembered crying her eyes out. She remembered mustering up courage and walking
up to the balcony. She remembered jumping out of her balcony and falling into oblivion.

Then she had woken up in this gorgeous place. Sara did not know how long she had
been walking until she saw a dead end. She could see a brick wall in front of her. So,
the end of the road had come. She turned back to walk away but instead slammed
face-first into an invisible wall. This is a portent, she thought, as there is nothing
ahead of me, yet I cannot walk back. She gave up after an hour of pulling and pushing
and crying and yelling. She walked towards the brick wall and leaned against it. The
moment she leaned; she fell inside the wall! She immediately heaved back up to her
feet and started to laugh hysterically. I have gone completely crazy, she thought to
herself, this is just a bizarre dream and nothing else, but she was not being honest with
herself; she knew that it was not a dream. She could feel the reality of the place in her
bones. She looked around her and found herself in a waiting room with an
extraordinarily huge window. She edged closer to the window and peered outside.
Beyond, was the most spectacular place she had ever witnessed. The night sky was
star-strewn and beneath it was the moonlit sea that was a rippling mirror of shimmering pink and gold. At the bank of
the sea, was a village of impeccable beauty: small cottages with tiny gardens around each of them; people jogging in
the middle of the road; vendors selling amazing jewellery and clothes of happy colours; maple trees shedding leaves
and a delight for everyone.

Sara sighed dreamily and then,

“Ah, I see you've already had the pleasure of seeing the city,” said an elegant and soothing female voice that made
Sara whirl around. She was the kind of beauty that did not exist, could not exist. With a slender waist and hair that
seemed to have waves of subtle pastels flowing through it, she looked calm and content. Her face was beautiful, like
sunlight on a stream with eyes of deep violet. She was wearing a sky-blue gown that hung to her calves and had a
small slit across her chest that showed a hint of cleavage. The woman...the lady was bare feet, yet she stood about

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