When ‘Strange’ is welcome…(Chapter 6)

CHAPTER 6– Stranger than fiction

“Amy, Amy… Hey Amy, please… I am calling the doctor ” , Jessica’s voice, yes, Amanda could hear Jess’s voice . It sounded distant. She suddenly felt shaken and it felt like she woke up from a deep sleep. Her hands trembling, mouth dry, feet cold. She looked around her, it was her room and Jess stood right there. “Amy, are you feeling sick ? What happened sis ? You suddenly became so quiet , I felt I should give you some space. I made some coffee for both of us, but, saw you were sleeping when I entered your room. I didn’t call you, but after some 3 hours when I returned to check on you again, you were like breathing so heavily, sweating, trembling, I was so scared Amy”, Jessica sat down covering her face with her hands.

Amy sat up, tired. That’s all because of her stress, she knew that. She told Jess in a weary voice, ” I am really tired Jess. That’s why I must have fallen asleep. I had a bad dream too. So don’t worry am fine now. But, I feel I need some rest. By the way, I am supposed to start working from next week on the new project. And you know, that one idea, one work calls for so many sleepless nights. So please I want to rest for some time”. Jess nodded her head in approval , “Ohh yes, even I feel so. You take rest. But, dinner ? What about it ?”. Amanda replied to this, ” I will join you after an hour or so”. Jess got up and hugged her. Then she turned the lights off in Amanda’s room and slowly shut the door behind her.

Amanda sighed . She could still see herself lying down on the floor of the cafeteria, her hands trembling, mouth dry, feet cold, just like when she woke up from sleep. She tried to pull herself up, pressing the floor with her arms. Then there was this somebody who suddenly punched Sam. She could see . She tried to get up, but was slipping since the powder was all over the floor. A packet leaked when she threw it on the floor. She was sweating, so she wiped her face with her hands. She tried to get up fast , to stop the fight or else if the cops come then they would press charges against them and that could affect their career. But, she was slipping badly and now, she was hallucinating too.

She could see Sam reach out for the packet , and start running with it. She stood up finally and called out “Sam !”. Sam looked behind once with an angry face. He did not stop , and kept moving backwards, while facing her. He said, “What did you do Amanda ? I thought you are my girlfriend. We could have earned millions from this business. But you are ruining it. I must go away from you “. And he turned his back towards her, never to face her again. He ran. Amanda suddenly felt a deep hollow inside. She never expected their relationship to end in the first place. She knew Sam since the last two years. Two years might not be a very long time, but, she felt it was just enough to build her relationship so strong with him. She ran with all her might, she was feeling light headed, weary, yet, she didn’t stop. She could see one image split up in multiple images, she was breathing heavily, feeling stronger. She ran faster , yelling out Sam’s name. Somebody pulled her from behind. “Amanda stop. Let Sam go”. Amanda looked at the person who stopped her, ‘Hold on… this man is the strangest man in college, who never ever made any friends, just spent his entire college days sitting in one corner of the classroom. He punched my Sam ? He destroyed everything ? I don’t even know his name , he is so insignificant’, she muttered. ” Who are you to interfere between us? Why did you punch Sam ?I don’t even know you “, Amanda yelled at him. “I am Edward, your classmate. Now…” , he took a deep breath and continued, “I always wanted to tell you that I love you. And Because I love, I care. Sam is not a good person, if you go with him, you’ll land in trouble. He is dealing in drugs and the cops will arrest him soon. So let him go”. Amanda looked at him in anger,” How dare you? You are making up stories to break our relationship, right ? You think you have a fair chance now? Never. Just leave ! I lost track of Sam because of you. Now where will I find him ?” , Amanda screamed, crying as she uttered every word. She couldn’t stand steadily on her feet, she was feeling so dizzy. Yet she tried to run. Edward stopped her again, and said, ” Look at yourself. You still believe in Sam ? You are hallucinating and dizzy and light headed since you rubbed your face. The powder is all over your face” . Amanda touched her face. Edward was right, it’s the powder. She inhaled some of it may be. “What! So Sam was using me. Pushing me forward to do the dealings, trying to save his own skin from the consequences or did someone else forced him to do all this?”, she blurted out. She turned her back towards Edward and started walking fast . Edward ran to stop her again. She was furious then. Hurt and angry. She pushed Edward hard, “Go, just go , I hate you, I will always “. Edward wasn’t expecting this, he lost balance and amidst their conversation they hardly noticed, that they have reached the busy New York streets. Edward fell down from the pavement, on the middle of the road with ongoing traffic, cars driving fast, everyone in a hurry. And ‘Thud…. bam… crash, ‘ , it was such a loud sound, that Amanda turned sharply towards the noise and she could see cars stopping , people rushing to the spot or stopping at a distance trying to see what happened . She walked to the edge of the pavement. She couldn’t see properly, everything she tried to see had the blurry effect that might be an impact of the drugs. But, she could feel who it was. She rubbed her eyes again and again, trying to change what she was seeing. But it was all in vain. She stared in disbelief at what she has done. “Edward….”, she sighed.

Edward was lying down motionless on the streets , in a pool of blood. She covered her face and sobbed hard. ‘What did I do, ohhh ! What did I do ?’, she wept and wept. She could feel people running towards her, all blaming her for her fault. Her dreams, all shattered. She could see a lady walking towards her, as the lady came closer she felt that it was someone huge… like a monster may be. She sprang up to her feet and started running. Everyone around her seemed huge and deformed. ‘What’s going on?’, she said to herself. She ran and ran and ran. She could hear the sirens of the Ambulance and police car. It felt like the sounds were coming from all the directions. Her head was aching badly. She was feeling thirsty but, she just couldn’t stop running, not knowing where she was going. She stumbled on something and fell down, dropping her handbag a few feet away from her. She didn’t have the strength to get up on her feet again. Not knowing what will happen the day after, she closed her eyes….

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