What do we all want from life?
VIKRAM B S
Copyright 2014 by VIKRAM B S
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All names, characters and settings are fictitious. All content has been written when the mind was in the theta state. Please appreciate the creativity and enjoy the stories. Any resemblance to actual events, names, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Easy Life
Good Teenage Years
Girlfriends
Boyfriends
Money
Easy Life?
Julia started shouting “Please get up and get ready, you need to go to work today.”
Tom woke up and started asking her “Honey, what happened? Why are you shouting? Did you have a nightmare?”
Julia woke up.
“I think I did have a nightmare, in my dream I saw that you had resigned from this present company too and we had fallen short of cash and I was abusing you badly.”
Tom gave a sarcastic smile and said “Abuse me only in the dream; you keep doing it even while you are awake, throughout the day.”
Tom had worked for 12 companies in his career of 7 years. Just imagine twelve companies. Julia was bothered about her future. She had fallen in love with Tom and had got married to him. She did not want to leave her lazy husband and marry someone else. But things were going out of control now. Tom had taken a week long leave in his new company because of his salary.
Julia asked “What are you planning to do with your life Tom? Life is not a bed of roses, until and unless you work hard for something you will not be able to enjoy the fruits of it. And one more thing, please remember that getting something easily in life is good only at the beginning then when you start losing its importance then your mind will force you to continue the easy lifestyle and after that where will you go to?”
Tom got angry and stormed out of the bedroom. Julia started crying and started praying to God. She was a very spiritual person, and she had become spiritual because of the obstacles that she had faced in her life since childhood. She had been staying under the same roof with a very violent father who was a drunkard. Her mother used to work and her father used to grab whatever savings she used to have and spend the entire money on drinks. But, a tough girl that she was Julia had somehow done lot of hard work and had earned a degree through scholarship because of the lack of funds.
Tom then came back to the room and threw a bundle of hundred dollars to Julia’s face, which had become bright red because of her constant crying. Julia said “Come on Tom please understand that I am trying to say all this for our own good. Don’t you want to start a family after marriage? We have been married for seven years without children.”
Tom said “Who would want to have children through a lady who always doubts her husband’s potential.”
Julia then said “Okay, please leave me alone for some time. I need some time to reflect back on our relationship. I have had enough of fighting. All I ask for is a home where there are no fights and you have made sure till date, that this is a farfetched dream for me.”
Tom went out of the room and Julia was able to hear the sound of keys. After a few minutes there was noise of fuel burning at the basement near the garage. Julia was able to make out that she had hurt him so much that he had decided to go out for a casual ride on his bike which Julia herself had presented on his birthday by selling the jewels that her mom had given her before her death.
On his way Tom suddenly applied the brakes and was shocked to find a man suffering from epileptic fits and was struggling on the ground for help. Though man always uses his mind when he his angry, if he would think from his heart then he would probably hear the soul giving instructions. Tom felt bad on seeing the person suffering. He immediately got down from his bike and called the Ambulance department.
Tom searched for information regarding the suffering person. He took out the wallet waiting for the ambulance to arrive; he found out that the person was one Mr. Chris. He was the Manager of a very famous law firm. Along with that there was something that he saw in the wallet which made Tom again shed tears. Tom and Julia knew that their love for each other was real, but fate had other plans. Whenever they had found life to be interesting something had happened in their lives which had made sure that they could not continue their relationship smoothly.
Tom had seen a family photograph inside the wallet where he could see one happy family pose for the photograph. By the time Tom had regained his composure, there was a loud siren which he was able to hear. Somehow Tom had given his bike keys as a grip for the suffering Chris, which had decreased his fits but he was still looking very tired and had not regained consciousness.
The ambulance arrived and all the paramedics used the stretcher and made sure that Chris was comfortable in the van. Tom followed the ambulance on his bike and reached the hospital. Chris was admitted to the hospital and Tom gave a call to Chris’s house and informed his family and left back home.
Back home Julia had also forgotten about their fight and was waiting for Tom. The moment Tom opened the door and went in Julia leapt like a Cat and hugged him tightly and apologised for her behaviour. Tom said “It is I who should be apologising and not you. I am very sorry; I learnt an important lesson today morning, after which I realized all my mistakes. I am going to work hard from now onwards.”
Julia kissed him for about a minute after which he had to push her away from his grip. Tom gave a sheepish smile but still Julia was able to make out that there was something going on in his mind which he was still not telling her about. Julia also felt that a person who had been so adamant about getting back to work for a meagre salary had decided to work hard there and try for other opportunities later on in other companies.
What had changed the mind of Tom? Seeing a man suffer, had changed his mind? There was something that Tom was hiding. What was it? All these thoughts were hitting Julia repeatedly for many days but Tom had indeed changed. He was attending office regularly, without complaining. Julia was very happy that her dream had come true but still in the inner recesses of her mind she wanted to know the truth. She was waiting for that opportune day to find out from her husband.
She made up her mind and asked Tom “Please wait and listen to me, I appreciate the fact that you are working so hard and have given up the old thoughts of lazing around waiting for the right moment to arrive in your life to work for a great company and earn a six figure income, but still I am able to see that you lack enthusiasm, there is something running in your mind, please let me know about it today at least.”
Tom looked into her eyes and started crying like a baby. Julia tried consoling him but he continued crying like a girl child who had lost her doll. After a few minutes when he had calmed down, he got up and dug for something in his cupboard and pulled out a medical report. He threw it on the bed and asked Julia with his eyes still teary, “Can u explain this?”
Julia looked at the report and was shocked on seeing the report. The name of the patient was ‘Julia Smith’. Julia felt her knees weaken and sat down on the bed. She was shocked that the truth that she had been hiding from her husband had finally been unravelled.
Tom asked “You could have told me before doing this. How could you sacrifice something like this for my sake and not tell me. At least I would have tried to get a hand loan rather than risking your life for money.”
Julia was trying to control her tears. But in spite of all this she was happy that her husband had true love towards her and that circumstances had changed him temporarily. Julia had sold one of her kidneys for the sake of money when her husband had hopped jobs and had found it difficult to make en
ds meet.
Tom asked “Why, why did you do this. Didn’t you think about what I would go through? You make this sort of a sacrifice and expect me to live with guilt?”
Julia then hugged her husband and said “I did all of this after verifying the pros and cons from the doctors. The doctors actually have assured me that if they would find a donor then I too would get my kidney back.”
Nothing was entering Tom’s mind. He had become completely blank. Then they were in for a surprise. There was a knock on the door and when Tom answered it he was surprised to see Chris standing in front of them.
Tom said “Hello sir, please come in. Julia can u please come here I want to introduce you to a very important person here.”
Julia entered the room and gave a normal smile that people generally give when they meet strangers. Tom narrated the entire incident to her. Julia felt very proud of her husband.
Chris told Julia “You are very famous. It is your portrait which hangs on the walls of the hospital where I was treated. Donating a kidney for saving a life is a great thing and an act of courage at that. But did you observe the act of fate, if Tom would not have saved me on that day and had taken me to the hospital he would not have realized the love and affection you have for him. So I would like to gift something to