Picture Courtesy: Nikita Gautam 

“It was a long hectic day. I should take a nap”, Tracy said to herself. Just as she went to her bed, she heard a bang that made her shudder. She assumed that it was a thief and slowly got up from her bed and came to her window. She saw her gate being yanked open and a man walking out, trying to be as quiet as possible, carrying two bags, one small and one large. She thought that the man must be a thief and tried to call the police, but the phone was dead.

By this time, her tiredness had turned into utter shock. She went downstairs and she stuffed a knife into her pocket just in case. She didn’t think he looked dangerous, so she decided to follow him. The man hadn’t walked too far due to the heavy load he was carrying. Tracy put her boots on as fast as she could and started to follow the man. Accidentally, she tripped over a stone, but to her surprise, the man didn’t even look back. She assumed that the thief didn’t hear her fall.

She thought of returning back home, as the man, in fact, hadn’t caused her any harm and was obviously, far from a thief. But, her curiosity to know what was inside the bag was so strong that she continued to follow him. The man kept on walking and walking without a single pause. He had difficulty while pulling the larger bag while bracing the smaller one on his shoulder. It seemed like he cared a lot for the small bag. She was a little surprised when she saw the man halt for a long time in front of two-ways: the way to the forest and the way to the city.

She supposed the man would go towards the city to sell whatever he had inside the bags, but then she saw the man moving his feet towards the forest. She was still following the man questioning his motives and wondering if she should just go home. It seemed as though he was on a chase for something really big. She supposed it could be jewels or money.

The night was dawning upon them and she was feeling very sleepy but she kept herself awake, as she wanted to keep an eye on the man and his bags. After a lengthy walk, the forest diminished to another long road. Tracy was very tired but she continued walking as fast as she could. She wondered what could be so precious in those bags that needed to be carried on such a long journey. Then, she noticed something that left her feeling awestruck; the bags were getting bigger and bigger. The big bag was growing huge and the smaller one too was getting slightly bigger. Now, she was even more interested.

Tracy glanced at her watch. It was 2:00 a.m., and that stunned her. She didn’t think it would be so late. The journey was exhausting but she wanted to accomplish her mission of knowing what was actually inside those mysterious bags. They set ahead further and came to a beach. The sea was cold and dark. A cool wind was blowing and it made her shiver. She glanced at the man and saw that he was wearing only a mere shirt and lose trousers on such a cold winter night. She went up to the man and confronted him. To her bewilderness, the man had a weird appearance that scared her. He was as white as snow and a little pale. His eyes were as green as grass and his lips were as red as blood. This made her feel insecure and she wanted to return home. But her inner voice told her to face him, so she stood there quivering with fear. The man smiled and said, “My child, don’t be afraid. I am an angel. I am here for a noble purpose.  I have collected all the hatred and love from this planet, and kept them in these bags separately. I want to eradicate hatred and spread love.” Tracy couldn’t believe her eyes and ears.

The man further added, “I want you to hide the big bag somewhere safe, and open only the small bag. All of you will get to live with love and harmony “. Tracy stammered,” Wha...Wha...Why me?” The man smiled and said, “My child, you are perfect for this task as I have seen u doing small things with great love. I have seen you bring smile and happiness to the people around you. Won’t you do this task for your planet’s betterment?” She slowly nodded yes. The angel smiled and slowly disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving the bags. Tracy stood there silently for a while gazing at the bags. She slowly picked up the bags. Suddenly, a strong wind blew and Tracy became unstable and couldn’t handle the bags. The wind blew the bags away, opening them. Tracy got a sunken feeling as she couldn’t do anything now and blamed the wind for opening the bag. She walked a long way home, with a heavy heart. At home, she opened her laptop and started typing “A bang…she followed the man…it blew away with the wind... That is why there is so much hatred in this world, but somewhere in a small quantity there is love hidden in it too.”