Once Upon a Walk - Part 1

I was standing at the very edge of the cliff. I could see an endless span of green and brown caused by the foliage and rocks all around me, and for an unimaginable depth below. I did not know how I got here, or where I was. I had no idea how to get back home or what I was supposed to do. I felt a light breeze on my neck and a shiver ran through my spine.

‘Hi’, said a voice behind me.

If I were someone who got scared easily, I would have jumped at the voice and fallen off the cliff. Taking a second to compose myself, praying it wouldn’t be someone from the forest tribe here to make me their lunch, I turned slowly. It took me a few moments to register the person standing in front of me.

He was wearing white pants and white shirt and had the widest smile I had ever seen on a face. What surprised me most was, he was standing there as is he was standing in the backyard of his house. As if he owned the place and knew its every nook and corner. But this place has no corners, I thought.

‘Who are you?’ I asked all my senses on alert. The man may look pleasant. But who knows, even psychopathic murderers look pleasant.

He smiled. ‘Didn’t anyone ever teach you to greet someone when you first meet them? It’s ok. I am not here to cause you any harm’, he said as if he had read my mind.

‘Whatever, you haven’t told me who you are’, I said, my alert senses refusing to back down despite his assurance.

‘I’m God’, he said as if he introduced himself this way everyday.

‘Is that your name?’ I asked.

‘No. It’s who I am’, he said.

I couldn’t help laughing. He even found that amusing. He was still smiling when I stopped. He looked as if he was waiting for me talk. Is this all he can react, I thought.

‘You’re joking right’, I said, a scene from Bruce Almighty popping up in my head.

‘I know I may look like Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty. But I really am God. And this is not our uniform. We just like wearing white and whites ‘cause one, we like the serene look it gives us and two, we don’t have to struggle with keeping them bright and clean like you do to keep your whites clean’, he said, the smile still intact.

I blinked a few times. ‘Ok you’re freaking me out. You’re putting in words whatever I think and it’s freaking me out.’

‘Is this proof enough or would you like me to perform some miracle, Janani’, he said, throwing in my name for good measure. Still smiling, of course.

‘Oh please stop smiling as if we are sitting in Pizza Hut. I am standing here at the edge of a cliff God knows where and someone comes and tells me he is God’, I said. ‘God what am I going to do now. How am I going to get out of here’, I muttered to myself.

‘I do know where we are. You use my name in every sentence and still don’t believe it’s me standing in front of you’, he said with mock disappointment.

‘Ok ok, so you’re God. Tell me. Where am I and how do I get home’, I challenged.

He threw his head back and laughed. ‘This is just so you. When people start thinking what wishes to get fulfilled as long as I am in front of them, all you want to do is get out of here’, he said as if he knew me from the time I was born.

Well, if he really is God, he probably does know me from the time I was born, a voice inside me said.

‘Fine, just please tell me what I am supposed to do’, I said, resignation in my voice.

‘I have a while before I have to go back. Why don’t you and I have a small talk until then? We can talk about anything you want’, he said.

I just stared him. Is he for real, I thought. I am here in the middle of nowhere and he wants to have a chat? Oh wait a minute, he somehow knows what I think. Too late.

He just looked at me expectantly, waiting for a reply. Oh well, I thought. Might as well have a few minutes of talk and find out how to get out of here than antagonize the only living soul for miles around.

‘Ok’, I said. ‘But you help me get home afterward.’

He laughed. ‘I do not leave those who need my help stranded. Come, let’s go for a small walk.’

I looked around trying to figure what ‘path’ we could possibly walk along and found none.

‘Let’s walk that way’, he said, pointing to a narrow path leading into the bushes and trees. I was almost getting used to his answering my unspoken thoughts.

‘So tell me’, he said. ‘How’s everything in life? How’s everyone at home?’ he said a few moments later.

‘You’re God. You should be having a fair idea’, I replied.

‘I do. I’d rather hear it from you.’

And so it began. My journey of… I really don’t know what…