Mosaic of memories...

Originally posted on katyan.quora.com

She felt the texture of the paper, slightly frayed at the edges. A faint musty smell lingered around her. The fading ink enclosed her treasured memories. Date exactly 10 years back, she smiled wistfully at the page. Reminiscing…

Her lashes were moist but a childish grin played across her lips as she rediscovered and devoured the pages of her diary. The days unfolded and memories danced in front of her. She felt like an alien observer of her own past, an invisible audience watching her younger self.

She raised an eye brow, as she first found her ‘best friend’ bitching behind her back and the bitter tears that followed. ‘I should have known’ she mocked herself at the naivety of her 13 year self and immediately reprimanded herself ‘I was a little girl, meant to stumble and learn’.

She delved deeper into fragments of her life, as bits and pieces joined to form a mosaic of memories. She walked down the color changing corridors, observing her daily life through the new looking glass she found. She found herself entering a long gone adolescence, with long forgotten people and stories, buried deep under the ashes of time. 

It seemed that the Pandora’s Box had opened. She couldn't sleep even when she had turned over the last page. The kaleidoscope of memories beckoned her. She searched for another diary, lying in its neglected derelict condition for nearly a decade now. As she dusted the pages, she again trespassed on long forgotten territory. A wave of teen troubles washed over her like a wave, and the older her silently played the Agony Aunt with her unsolicitous and silent advice.

‘First crush’ she fondly mused as she read the cheesy descriptions filling the yellowed pages. The mustiness welcomed her now, the familiarity discerned her. As the hours ticked on, she fell in love, got heartbroken, lost a close relative and made new friends. As her fingers flipped over the last few pages, she was tempted to look for its other siblings, lurking in the shadows of her shelves.
‘Enough for today’ she chided herself ‘Maybe another tomorrow’. A daily dose might satiate her appetite to explore her choices and mistakes, she thought. After all, what better fiction can you find, other than your own life?

She turned off the lights, curled in her bed and slept with a smile. The most peaceful sleep in a very, very long time…..