PROLOGUE

Not knowing where life was eventually going to lead, I marched on. A lone soldier amongst millions, no one to worry about, no sorrows, no tears, neither of sadness nor of joy. Life was a long railroad track along which I was swept, like a vagabond sail torn off some old ship ravaged by pirates. Life had no meaning, and even if it did it would have been really painful. It would be good if it continued and ended the same way. There would be the consolation of the thought that it was only something meaningless that had ended. Something that meant nothing to anyone, not even death itself thought much of this mockery, a character whose job was to mimic life. The greatest thing about being what I am is that you can be anyone you want, anyone you wish, anyone you look up to, dream to be, dread to be. Your best and your worst nightmares are at your doorstep; all but a single knock away.
You didn’t even have to close your eyes, and you could be in dreamland. Even if there were an Alice and her fabled wonderland, I had it beat by such a long margin that if she knew she would beg me to let her play. I can be your Knight in the shiniest armor, the last hope for planet earth. Make me your friend and I will be the Huckleberry Finn for you that Tom Sawyer never ever had.
But in reality, I was nothing but a mere daydreamer, a man who had promised a lot, shown the potential of being the genuine article. The prodigious child that every teacher dreamed of having for a student but never got. No, this is not where I daydream, this is where I reminiscence, this is how it all started. The tiny seed that got planted by innocent onlookers, watered by unwitting patrons and my ludicrous imagination which later grew into a thousand-year-old rain forest of hopes; rotten to the root and unable to bear fruit for any creation on this planet. The infection seemingly benign and common had seeped in so bad that not even vultures would have a piece of this cake.
Self pity? You couldn’t possibly know what the word meant, no one could, and frankly I don’t think I will ever know what it really means. I have never shed tears for my self nor felt anything much while shedding them for others in pain. Only the tears roll down when I dream of saving some one in pain and come out all painted in glory. Life has always found a way to get around hardships and give the tiring mind a rest; those are some of the excuses that a man or a woman who wished to dream his troubles away would give, to dream. To run so far away from reality that the taint of society cannot possibly find a way to reach them, hidden in their little hidey-holes where they themselves are only just comfortable. The comfort spawned from the thought that they reside in a place where no one else would ever feel comfortable enough to stay for long and disturb their sleep.