Night time.
A wedding procession was going on inside the church. Many youngsters were standing near the buffet arranged outside. There was a hubbub of excited conversation from aunties whose daughters had grown to the standard marriage age. Elsy, my Amma, would have loved to be a part of this conversation, or is she already a part of it? I didn’t care. They had given up on me since they couldn’t convince me of a marriage way out of my concept. They had already started pestering my twin sisters.
“Marry them off before the other feminist gets inside their head.” said my relatives. I didn’t know that to be a feminist, all I had to do was reject marriage proposals from my relatives. According to their Wikipedia, a woman with an opinion was all feminist.
My sisters were 8 years younger than me. They were the love children of my parents while I was an accident. I grew up seeing my Appa and Amma fight all the time. The smashing of flower vases, bruises hidden by concealers, and empty bottles of brandy. The bottles became a canvas later in life, where I started my art journey. This all stopped when the priest at my church sent my Appa and Amma to a retreat, which changed our lives forever.
After returning from the retreat, I saw a new hope and light in my mother’s eyes. They were happy and in love. That’s when they had my sisters. The only misfit in my family was me, who reminded my Amma of their broken past. I had a difficult childhood and the traumas I had to carry, which they never understood. I didn’t want my kids to have a troubled childhood. I didn’t want them to feel like an accident. I wanted to marry for love, and making them understand that was difficult.
So where was I? Yeah, the wedding procession; I was staring at the sky with a glass of lemonade. “Ammu?!” it was from a familiar sound. I turned back to see my ex, who is somehow married now. “Oh, hi, I didn’t know you were back home,” I said uninterestingly. Honestly, I didn’t even want to be anywhere near him; I just wanted to disappear, but I had to be nice because it had been many years since we broke up. I didn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea. But he kept on talking. I didn’t want to be there, but I kept smiling and nodding.
“Make him stop, make him stop.” screamed my mind.
“John, I was searching for you everywhere. I need your help with the baby.” I just had one peek at her, and I thanked God for her arrival. She wasn’t happy seeing John with me; who could blame her? I guess John’s gonna have a difficult night tonight, but who cares? He got up and left.
By then, the ceremony at the church had ended. The verger had started ringing the bells. I was still staring at the sky. It was full of stars. A beautiful sky. As soon as the ringing of the bell stopped, I saw the sky shaking as if it was falling. I glanced at the glass of lemonade I had and tried to smell it to make sure it was, in fact, lemonade. I kept them on the bench where I sat, rubbed my eyes, and looked at the sky again. It was falling.
The sound had captured the others’ attention, too. The sky started moving fast. We saw another Earth so close to the surface. It got closer and closer. Until giant flying saucers began to appear in the sky. Then, their pace was slowed. Everyone was too shocked to move. Nobody could explain what was happening. Then the priest came running, “Repent for your sins sinners”. Some kneeled down, reciting the rosary. I saw my Amma and sisters in the maddening crowd looking for me. I walked towards them and hugged them.
One of the flying saucers paved its way to our church’s playground. It landed smoothly. A voice echoed in the surroundings, “Fear not, Earthlings. We are scientists from Eon112. In 100 days, the Earth is going to burst out in flames. We have come to warn you. On the 50th day, we shall arrive again for the children to protect the human species. Anyone above 20 will be left here. We don’t have enough space to accommodate everyone. We would appreciate your cooperation for the protection of your children.”
Was it a prank? Nobody knew; one among the crowd spoke back to them, “How do we know if this is the truth?”
It kind of irritated whatever was inside the saucer. “Alright, Simon, your kids are the first ones to come with us.” Nobody knew how the thing inside the saucer knew Simon’s name. Within seconds, the saucer magnetically pulled his kids inside it and disappeared into the clouds.
I didn’t know if I was dreaming, but with the final magic trick, everyone was convinced. Many consoled Simon, asking him to stay strong, saying they were protected. But what if they are taken to harvest organs or for consumption? We don’t know. Suddenly, Amma pushed me, saying, “Please fulfil my last wish and get married.”
The world was going to end, and this woman was obsessed with marriage. She kept pushing me until I fell out of bed. I opened my eyes, gasping for breath. “Please, it’s my wish to see you in a wedding dress; the guy your uncle Peter had talked about would come to see you today; talk to him at least.” All I could do was laugh. She examined me strangely, “You think I am joking? You won’t understand all this until you are a mother.” She murmured and left my room.
I kept laughing at the strange dream about the aliens and the Indian mothers’ obsession with marriage. Now you know how much my mother had eaten up my brain that even in my dream, she screams marriage.
Reflections 