It was one of the heart sinking moments watching everyone enjoying the party of the success which Roy achieved. I looked around and everything I saw was what I wanted in life. My jealousy had grown over the years since I was a kid as I was always compared ; moreover, I was expected to be like her. Every family has a black sheep and by the time I graduated it was more like a pressure on me to prove everyone wrong. Every cloud has a silver lining, so I met my guardian angel who pulled me out of pessimism right when I had been into depression and had been under medication since a month. I had hidden about depression because it could have given one more chance to my kith and kin to nag me down. It had started to take toll over me and I had lost the ability to differentiate between right and wrong .When one day I bumped into this skinny and atrocious man running hastily and he dropped his wallet which at first I thought I should overlook but then I realized he rushed into the hospital so I followed him and starting enquiring for his details at the reception. I entered the room number allocated to the patient that man came to see. As soon as I entered the room I saw a beatific expression on the face of a lady sitting on a wheelchair.
She was astonished to see me. She was getting discharged and through her nose rubber tubes were passing and she asked me if I entered the room by mistake. Out of the blue that man came into the room and called out the name Erica. He looked at me and I handed him over the wallet. He felt grateful and summoned me to dine with them. That afternoon I had an appointment with the psychiatrist, Grace. She was a blonde lady with solace all over in her aura. But I was tired to answer the same questions, so I decided to ditch the appointment as I had been doing since a month as it was not helping me. I went home and a small reunion was one big reason to not go home too. I found myself at a small place which was lively and candles all over the place. I was taken aback when Erica entered the room in that frock complimenting her physique and she carried her oxygen cylinder with her. We sat down at the dining table and chanted our prayers before the dinner. Conversation was light hearted and when I twisted tables by asking about the oxygen cylinder. Erica was suffering with terminal cancer, and she wears cannulas in her nose and carries her oxygen cylinder to aid breathing. She was just fifteen and a grig (lively person).We shared a good connection over one meeting as well as the choices in books also. Meetings became frequent and she told me about her bucket list and what all she yearns for. She wanted to travel the world once without the fear that she will be out of breathe.
It made me realize how ungrateful I am to my blessings. I went to my psychiatrist and was regular after that and made a trip with Erica with doctor’s permission to the place which was feasible. It felt all this was above the jealousy I felt for joy, I had learnt what compassion was and I was hiding my incapability to outshine behind the veil of envy. I started going to the nearby health centers and tried fulfilling what I could and for that I joined a part time job after my college hours .Awestruck with my humanity services I was given a scholarship and went further for my career establishments. Sometimes we tend to forget the blessings showered upon us and how Erica came into my life and made me feel whole. I took her with me for the best treatment but unfortunately I was left with just her lingering sonorous laugh in my head. How beautifully she showed me the other side of my perspective. Roy is now married and blessed with a daughter after she endured a heavy loss in her business last year and I asked her to move in with me. I guess people come into our lives to play their part and we are left with just the reminiscence.