The end of the world where my dreams begin.....

"Whenever I stare at that white blank wall, I see shadows. I think someone is hiding behind me. Because there must be someone. No, it is not possible. I can't be alone. All of them left and". A loud beep made Liya silent. She cannot talk more. Liya wished she said more. She wants to talk more about the shadows. They were not haunting her. But Tina must have believed so. She will make a fuss about it. Her doctor will have a new topic for advice.

"No, it is not possible. Liya, you will pass this stage. The doctor said you would leave the bed within a few days. You will no longer be alone. Grandma is there for you. You remember our home in the village".

"Time is up. You can wait outside now". The curly-haired nurse said, and Tina went out. Liya could see her wiping her eyes. Still, she didn't invite her to their house. She is stuck with grandma for the rest of her life. At least ten years from now. Tina's home was so much better than her grandma's boring village. But Liya prefers her home. Her large room with posters everywhere and Jenny on the bed near the windows complaining every time about the wind damaging her hair and she got the worst place in the room. But Jenny is no more and the entire room and its depressing loneliness are Liya's now.

Liya felt a lump in her throat. Even though she struggled hard, the tear made its way down her cheeks. The nurse noticed it. She said nothing. The curly-haired one is silent. She gives no consolations or advice. She recites everything to a doctor or a talking nurse. She is the type of nurse who remains silent on occasions and later tells it to her neighbors or family in a very emotional tone. Liya stared at the walls again. The shadows were in the same position. They were not moving at all. She wished the shadows could talk. She is no more lonely if they talked.

After tons of advice and a lot of counseling, Liya's brain worked differently. Life must go on. The sentence she heard most during the day. But it all went into another part of her brain, which has no link with the depressing part. They all stagnated in one corner and all the advice stagnated in another. Liya's brain was heavy. She desperately wished to return to normal. Is it possible? Is there a possibility of normalcy in her life anymore?

Her last day in the hospital was terrible. The doctors, nurses, including the curly-haired one said goodbye to her. The curly-haired one explained her story to a lot of patients and bystanders, and even total strangers took their turn to console and advise Liya.

"Your parents and sister are always with you, dear. I lost my two kids ten years ago. I thought I would die of grief, but look at me, I am still living". A lady looking after her alcoholic husband with severe liver problems advised her. Liya could understand only half of it. The other half only the lady heard. It dissolved in her tears.

"What is the point of living like this? She should've died". Liya said to herself. Her depression part of the brain was very active then. Liya left the hospital. The shadows stayed on the walls.

Her grandma, uncle, aunt, Tina, and her little brother Ben were all there. Uncle Jon always had a serious expression. Now it has grown to hate. Liya smiled at everyone to convey that she is okay. No advice is needed. The uncle was the only one to ignore her smile.

Liya slept on the shoulders of her grandma till they reached the home in the village. When she reached the room, everything was new. Her dresses, shoes, diaries. They left her old belongings in her home. The articles themselves carried memories, and Liya missed them. Some pretty dresses of hers, mostly. Aunt visited her in the night. Liya faked sleep. She couldn't sleep for days without the sedatives, and they stopped them a few days before.

She listened to the voice in the corridor.

"Liya is afraid, you remember what Tina said. She sees their ghosts. We must stay here for some more time". Her aunt was weeping when she said that.