Storymania - After Death by Animesh Kar

After Death
Animesh Kar

Early in the morning, when the sun was not so bright, but its rays golden still, they sat far away from each other in the class that they used to study in. His beautiful shining golden hair made him very different in the class. It was an amazing object that Hephaistion would always look for when they were kids. Being children is indeed beautiful as one gets a lot of time to make friends, some of whom do last for at least one entire life. And it was going to be the same in their case also. Hephaistion would always get amazed at the kinds of questions Alexander asked during the discussions to their teacher. He had a great admiration for the boy, he was beginning to fall for! And it so happened that when they were a little more than just kids, they had been together and known each other for such a long time that now they were not two different people.

Alexander was of royal blood, a prince and as he grew, he was put on with more and more pressure of being a prince. He never though complained about it. He knew that whatever happen may, he would always have his companion besides him. He knew that the person, whom he had immense faith on, in the entire world, was the one who loved him for not what he was, but loved him for just who he was! Hephaistion had no other person whom he could admire more than Alexander. They shared their dreams, their visions, their understanding. And when they had for the first time, to go to the battle, Alexander had said, �be with me as you always have been�. And then on, in all battles, in mountains or in deserts, in happiness and in misery, in sun and in night, they stayed together. In their unending saga of victories, they had nothing but their love for each other, taking them to grand victories so swiftly, so painlessly!

During the discussions that were frequently held, before, in between and after the battles, eyes of Alexander would always look for those of Hephaistion to see if whatever decision he was taking was right. They were so much aware of each other�s gestures and feelings that words were not essential for expressing things. And Alexander cared for no one�s opinion as much as he cared for even a slight comment from Hephaistion. He had a vision, a great vision of having all people under the same kingdom, all people being equal and everyone in the world living together. His companion would always be besides him encouraging him for the same.

But then, things do not remain the same, even for the greatest legends, always! Gods do not look at people the same way every time. Whatever his dreams, however powerful, Alexander was still a mortal, and so was Hephaistion. On their last night together, completely unaware of it though, when they saw each other, Alexander told Hephaistion how much he loved him and how important he was for him, may be for the zillionth time! Within the small time that they had in their lives, they seemed to have devoted love for each other to the fullest. And the very next day, he left him. The companion with whom he had began his life since he remembered, was now taken away be death. Heart-broken, Alexander mourned for Hephaistion. Serving his duties to people in every way he could, he had fought battles till now, because the one, whom he cared for was with him. The victories meant nothing for him now. He had, long before death crossed their paths, wanted deep within his heart to return to the place where his childhood memories still awaited for him, for both of them. But now, there was no looking back, he just did not want to return anymore!

It was hard convincing his men to stay back and march forward for the reasons even he could not understand completely! But he had no courage to get back, to retrace the path that had two pairs of footsteps, one of which was gone forever. And in his endeavor to keep himself away and ahead of memories, Alexander finally succumbed, after struggling hard enough, to the battles that had gone on within him since a very long time now! He sure became a legend, but he died as a heart-broken man.

One thing did live on even after death - hope! Hope of meeting that someone special, the only one he had ever loved so intensely, the one whom he had trusted more than his own self, after death was actually something that made him happy on his deathbed, in spite of a thousand wounds he was suffering from. It was a common belief that one�s soul went to the womb as soon as one died. That life was nothing but a tireless process of changing forms that went on and on. And he believed in the same. This one thing gave him the relief that may be, as no one knows, only a few people get when they die! True, as he discovered it was, he was there in the darkness, some place where he might have been in, several times before this. Senses seemed diminished in their power in there. But memories remained as fresh as ever. Physically it was a different weakness altogether. There was no agony because of the wounds that he had normally faced. Rather it was the feeling of great relaxation, of weightlessness that we so many times seek for.

The feeling of being lost, a sense of an internal comfort was all he could feel. He remembered how sometimes he desperately wanted to run away from everything with Hephaistion. How he had wanted to be away from all the bonds and all the relations except for one. And now he felt the same feeling coming so true now! He could sense that feeling of being in the world but at the same time being so distant from it. Sleeping but still not sleeping, in his senses but still so anaesthetized, being there but still sensing absence of his own, he laid there in peace and desperation. Desperate, to see once and just once more, the object of his affection.

He did not know how long he was in that darkness, but he knew that it could not be more than nine months! This was not all. He did not feel the same human thing that he used to feel before this. Going beyond just the known limits, he now could feel some strange strength that he was becoming used to. Unlike the physical strength, it was something that came from within his mind. He now could feel the presence of Hephaistion even nearer. He could feel as if he were talking to him. And slowly it seemed all so clear to him that they both were actually talking to each other!

Being separated from each other by vast spaces of land, and enclosed within two different bodies, still they were able to communicate. Initially he thought that he was going to be an oracle, or a priest or someone divine. But then it was enlightening for him when he finally understood that souls in the wombs actually interact with each other, however far they might be. No one had ever talked about this before. No one had ever thought about this before. People had this curiosity of what happened to a person after death. They said it is something that no word can express. That it is something that only can be experienced. And now after death, he finally knew the unanswered questions about death that people talk about, so strangely, in life!

Death, had now become as glorious and for him, as none of his lives might have been. There was this great eagerness in him to meet his love after such a long time. Had he known this earlier, he would have given up his life much before. As no kingdom, no wealth, no fame and no relation was more important to Alexander than Hephaistion. Besides the many truths that he was now becoming aware of gradually, he knew this so well, that this was the most superior truth for him. Restlessly kicking inside to letting him go and see that single person he had ever loved, he passed his days. His conversations with Hephaistion made his anxiety cool down a bit but still that fire within would remain splintering.

Days, and then weeks passed by, everyday would be a new one as there would be more hope of getting to someone that soon. Then one fine day he knew of his love coming from darkness to light. Eager to be out, he awaited for the long night to get over himself. And finally came the day, when he could sense the darkness fading and the light approaching to him in small loud steps. He could feel the mixed emotions of sorrow, joy, excitement and everything else within him and around him during the phase. The same kind of life he had lived, and the many lives he might have lived till now was awaiting him. The glory of his birth was getting well realized by him.

And then his excitement made such an impact on him that he felt like crying, crying like children do. Bitterly, without noticing anyone, with full freedom, to lighten his heart, he cried. He cried like infants and he was enjoying it. For the first time, he guessed, he knew what it means like to be getting delivered, what it feels like to come into the light. And only then did he felt a strong urge for something. Something he had not done for a long time. He knew now that actually he felt hungry. He needed to eat something. And then he noticed, neither could he keep his head upright above his shoulders, nor could he move his limbs freely! He could not talk the way he used to. Sounds, noise and voices he seemed to hear from a thousand miles distance. He had never noticed himself in a more restless condition than this. So many feelings all showed the great ruler his helplessness. Many of these emotions, flooding him all at the same time, made him go mad. The only person he could think of at such a time was his companion � Hephaistion. But where was he? They had not talked since many days now. He missed him oh so much! What next? Hot water, a bath? He thought he needed it the least right now. But he was already being served with it! Such was the force of the mental and physical agony that stormed his heart that he could only cry. Cry more with a greater intensity.

After a long time, undergoing all that he could, he felt something in his mouth after ages. Some liquid that it secreted went into him to calm down his hunger. Tired and feeling broken physically, he now was feeling his hunger and his memory getting depleted at the same pace. Why had no one ever told him about this truth? Why was it happening to him? The life giving mother�s milk makes people to forget their before lives, was just too much to accept for him. But this is what was happening to him exactly.

Slowly the grand victories, all the geographies he had once conquered and all the answers to his curious childhood questions that he had gathered by experience, everything began being cleaned up. But his exhaustion did not allow him to deny the milk he was being fed with. His exhaustion did not allow him to move away. And the last thing he remembered before he was lost in the deep black sleep was the first day he noticed Hephaistion looking at him in admiration. A bright morning with his deep blue eyes, his bright smile, his unusual affection, all staring at him. Oh! How he could almost see his own self in Hephaistion�s eyes. He was drowned so deep into his eyes and was so lost in them for ever that he had not thought twice to say, �He too is Alexander!�. And this was for the last time Alexander cherished himself, before amnesia.