The Wall

Author: Adit Vishnu

The woman sat pensively on the steps. She ran her fingers along the border of her saree repeatedly, her eyes firmly fixed on the neighbour’s wall that stood a few feet from where she sat. It was a rather unremarkable brick wall but it evoked strong emotions. She clenched her jaws and rose to her feet, her skinny figure trembling with rage. The wall disgusted her. She did not know why, but it disgusted and enraged her nevertheless. With brisk steps, she walked hurriedly in the direction of the courtyard. Though she was a diminutive and elderly with failing senses, her gait was purposeful. Her brother lived across the street. She only had the faintest memories of his house and the precise location escaped her memory, but it was across the street, of that she was certain. Would he be at work at this hour? It didn’t matter. She would wait for him there. Something had to be done about the wall; something definitive and drastic, the details of which didn’t concern her. Her brother would help her in that, as he always did. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the sight of a little boy. Draped in only a loin dhoti, he was collecting in a steel bowl the pristine white jasmine flowers that littered the otherwise barren courtyard. His arms were slender and he was scrawny, not unlike her. She was confident she knew of no little boy but he looked familiar and his presence there, though puzzling, felt perfectly natural to her.

The little boy shot a cursory smile towards his grandmother and continued scanning the yard for jasmine that had not been tread upon. From the corner of his eye, he could see his grandmother staring at him. The little boy had distracted her. The air of urgency lingered on but its purpose had now completely escaped her. Mumbling, she paced around frantically. It was not just her memory which was failing her but her perception of the world around was gradually reducing to naught with every passing day. The past and the present knew no distinction in her confused reality shrouded in delirium. She floundered towards the stairs and sat there abruptly. The wall caught her attention and she resumed staring at it.