Freedom

"God, please protect me, I beseech you. I am tired of this worldly existence. Call me to your side, to your services. I promise, I shall serve you as long as my soul exists. I beg you, don't place any obstacles in my path to heaven. Don't tie me down to this life, where everything is 'maya', an illusion. "

  Tears flowed down my cheeks as I offered my prayers before the silent deities. The smoke from the incense swirled around me like a protective cloud and mingled with the smell of freshly picked flowers.
  Suddenly, I felt the presence of the strange man. His eyes boring into my back. I stiffened on the prayer mat.
  "What are you looking at?", I said firmly, trying to conceal the ache in my voice.
  "Nothing, just looking at you.", he said.
  "Don't.", I said, even more firmly but he did not move.
  I rose slowly from the ground and flung my wet hair over my shoulder. I did not dare to lift my gaze from the floor and meet his eyes. I walked up to the door where he stood.
  "Let me pass", I said, still gazing at the floor.
  "Why do you want to give me freedom, so soon?", he asked.
  "I am no one to hold you back. You are free, you always were.", I said, cringing as I felt the intensity of his gaze on me.
   "But I don't want freedom.", he argued.
   This time I lifted my eyes and met his, fearlessly. "But I do.", I said before I walked away, leaving him dumbfounded.
  
 

One Night

  "Why are we here?", asked the strange man.
  "We are here to further God's work", I replied. "God created us in his own image. Love yourself, only then can you love God because God lives within you".
   His distant eyes sought the horizon, lost in thought. The sky was ablaze with millions of stars and the full moon made everything around us twinkle. The black river seemed to be strewn with innumerable pearls as if Sita had torn her necklace and cast it into the waters before being harshly carried away by Ravan. The howling wind seemed to carry with it, her desperate cries for help.
   "Do you believe in destiny?", he asked.
   "Yes, of course. This very moment is written in both our destinies."
   "Why don't you love me?", he asked as he turned to face me.
   I had no answer. I only prayed silently that the answer would come to us both.
   "Why do you suffer like this?", I asked. "Set yourself free, cut the invisible cords which connect you to me. Your soul cries for freedom".
   "Walk with me," he pleaded. "No one shall care for you as much as I shall."
   "I do not need caring for, God shall take care of me."
   "How long can you live like this? Watching people from above? One day you will have to fall to the ground, what then?"
    "That will be decided by destiny."
    He sat silently for a moment before he politely took his leave. I smiled to myself and lay down beneath the sky. The light of the stars began to blur and merge into one as my eyes closed and I drifted off to a peaceful slumber.