It is a harsh town, much like its weather: winds playing with roofs, water jumping over swings in the park during the most extreme of days. Edith has become quite acclimatised to the nuances of living in this ‘town without doors.’ People here believe in letting in neither the unfair weather’s gifts nor the ungrateful people, who owe their behaviour to the weather. There is a conception of utopia attached to this, sure. No one wants to let in anything foreign that might meddle with their monotonous life. You see, nine to five isn’t just a type of work environment, it is the definition of a job here. Autumn isn’t a season, it is the climate. And the list goes on and on but you can always look for it in the St. George Library right across the only coffee shop that the town boasts.
The town is a small one, indeed, but it just never ends, unbound by time and space. It has a time-frame of its own; a time-frame where a day in the actual sense might amount to a month here, at least. Nature, as brutal as it might be, seems to comply with these different time standards.
Edith is not much of a talker, a perfect attribute of someone living here. Actually, come to think of it, she is the most appropriate resident here. Exceptions are in abundance everywhere and this town has its own small share, a share of one. The sun here is seldom vexed. Edith, having come to this town recently, was smart enough to only adopt the best of this world: the sun’s generosity, the unavailability of doors, and the absence of bustle.
Well, where did she come from? That nobody is sure of. Her neighbors have theories but best not delve in presumptions. Her background holds as much significance as does an ant to an elephant. She likes to drink coffee though; so much so that any amount of extrapolation towards an infinite amount would just be an underestimation. The only winner in this equation is that coffee shop, facing the library.
Edith and many others lay trapped in this town, but more importantly, in their heads. No matter how quiet they seem, a war has been waged in their minds and they are continuously battling. They’ve fallen prey to their own heads, own conscience. Their library is where they store their knowledge and their coffee shops are where they find themselves everyday. But this town, this town is where they started and this is where it will all end.
-By Tanishq Khurana, DPS RK Puram
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