The prisoner's eyes

He saw her through the bars that imprisoned him. She strutted about with an air of arrogance. Yet there was something about her eyes that caught his attention. They were so beautiful, so familiar. He loved those eyes because it reminded him of someone he missed terribly, his mother.

The memories of the last time he saw his mother were still fresh. He was very young when it happened. He could almost feel the breeze in his face as he thought about it now. It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear and sun was shining brightly. However he remembered feeling worried. Just the day before his mother had sent him out for a while and when he returned, three of his brothers were missing. When he asked his mother about it, she told him they had gone out and would not be back for a few days. She asked him to go run about and not worry too much. That was the beauty of a young mind. It was so easily distracted. He ran about happily, ceasing to worry because his mother told him so.

 That was when he saw them. Something about them told him he was not safe. He ran to his mother, but they were adept. They caught him. What happened next was a flurry of action. He was very scared. As he frantically searched for his mother, he saw others his age being caught. He found her at last. They took him away as she stood there watching. His last image of her was her helpless eyes.

Those were the eyes he saw now. Not his mother’s, not helpless. Yet somehow equally beautiful. She turned around and looked into his eyes. What was this sudden jolt that he felt? Who was she?

His thoughts were disturbed by a commotion in a nearby prison. He turned to see a familiar sight. A new group was just being imprisoned. He looked at them and felt a surge of empathy. He remembered his journey to the prison.

That day along with him about fifteen others were thrust into a vehicle. He had seen most of them in the vicinity earlier. They looked at each other frantically. Each mirrored the same fear and confusion. They did the only thing the young ones do in such helpless situations. They shouted, they cried. After sometime the cries reduced in volume and finally died. They were revived when they were transferred from the vehicle into their prison. After a point, those died too. He was sure the cries of the new prisoners would die too. It was only a matter of time before the days blended into each other.

Each day the sun rose. The prisoners were given their food. The sun set. Another day passed with nothing to differentiate it from the previous days and with no hope of the next being any better. They did not understand why they were imprisoned but after a while they stopped questioning. They got into a routine that numbed all emotions and with it their hope for freedom. Yet, today was different. The sun rose and they were given their food. But looking into her eyes the previous day had gotten him out of his numbness. He had something to look forward to, something to hope for. He wanted to see her again. This hope made him restless. This was something new. How had spent all these days in the prison without feeling restless? What was he doing? He had no answer.

Then she came. His heart started pacing. What was this he was feeling? He had never felt this way before. If his heart beat any louder, he was sure she could hear it! As if in response to his thoughts, she turned around. Their eyes met. In that moment they were connected. It seemed like they had known each other all their lives. He was consumed by a desire to meet her, talk to her, spend time with her. His desire for freedom had weakened after the initial few days in the prison because it made him believe that there was no purpose to life. But today, she broke this belief. She gave him a purpose. He wanted to spend his life with her, have children, protect her, keep her happy and die with her. He could see it in her eyes that she felt similarly. She took a few tentative steps towards his prison, but the prison guards shooed her away. For the first time, he felt like the bars of the prison were literally choking him. His eyes brimmed up with helplessness. He wished with all his might to be free.

The doors of his prison opened. The food from the last time was still left over. Why then did they enter his prison? They looked at him, nodded and set him free.

He blinked his tears away. He looked around disbelievingly. What was happening? Did his wish come really come true? After so long had they really just let him go? Was he really free? One look at her wiped away all his doubts and skepticism. When was imprisoned without a reason, why shouldn’t he be set free without a reason? Reasons were not of consequence. All that mattered was that he was free. He was free to spend his life with her. With these ecstatic thoughts he ran towards her. However this ecstasy was dampened when he saw that she looked at him with fear. He was confused. Was he delusional when he thought that she had felt the same things? He slowed down.

That was when they caught him. He cried in protest. He did not want to be imprisoned again just when he thought he was free. They were not taking him to his prison. Yet he instinctively knew that whatever was in store for him was worse. He saw several other prisoners being captured. Yet they did not seem to complain. Their time in the prison had taught them to accept everything. This was how he would have been had he not seen her. Where was she? They were taking them into a small room. She came running, but she wasn’t fast enough. The last thing he saw before the door of the room closed were her helpless eyes.

There were five other prisoners in the room. Their legs were tied such that they couldn’t move. The room was well lit. At its centre was a large table with several scary looking metal objects. They reminded him of weapons. His focus then shifted to the two people in the room. Somehow they were scarier than the metal objects. One of them pointed at him and spoke.

“Mmmm… This one looks healthy. He’d make a really good Chicken Biryani. I want to be the one eating him! How can your mouth not just water at the thought?”

He did not understand what they were saying, but he knew that it wasn’t good news. He was carried and put on the table. The other spoke.

“I’ve told you this earlier and will tell you again. I do not revel in butchery. I am happy for you that you’ve started this business and I wanted to be there for the inauguration. But I don’t think I can do it. Look at its poor eyes. They are filled with fear. I can’t help but feeling you are killing not just this chicken but several dreams today. I’ll meet you outside later.”

The first picked up the sharpest of the metal weapons and muttered, “Chickens with dreams? Over imaginative vegetarians… They don’t know what they miss in life”

As he saw the weapon come closer he just knew that it was the last thing he would ever see. He knew this was the last time he could say everything he wanted to tell her. The last time he could express his love for her.

He shouted “Cock-a-doodle-doo”