Building 7

He got off the bus and proceeded toward his building. It was one of the two towers in the suburb. They were the 47 storey buildings: old and decrepit. Everything else was dwarfed by their presence. They were grey with rectangular blocks with architecture designed for function more than for aesthetics. There was nothing about them that would please his eyes. However walking on the ground, in between buildings looking upwards would truly make anyone filled with the wonder of their sheer size. They were nicknamed "The Twin Towers", but he disliked the label. He didn't want to be the resident of a building nick-named after the unfortunate buildings that fell in New York. Ironically his building was actually named Building-7. The name itself was legendary in conspiratorial circles. The other one was named building six. There were seven such buildings in the area. His building lay on the outer stretches of the compound.

He entered the compound, gave a nod to the guard and got inside the lift. There was no one inside. He lazily pushed the number 5 and waited for the doors to close. As it was about to do so, a delicate slender hand blocked the door. It belonged to a young girl, his neighbour; the 22 year old Samantha. Though she couldn't be considered tall, she was definitely taller than him. She was a brunette with a slender face and a toned physique, and she loved to smile. She had the type of smile that would make snow melt even during winters and made you feel warm inside. He had a crush on her, but he was not the type to express feelings. Plus she was taller than him, which was a major thing for him.. "Hey,Dr. Wang, how are you?" she asked with the same smile. "I am fine" he said, "trying to force a smile." "Huh?" She didn't understand what the last line meant. Wang was taken aback. Almost as if the author of his life had inadvertently put double quotes where there were not supposed to, and somehow a bit of narration had turned into dialogue. He said nothing, though an awkward smile did appear on his face. Both of them remained quiet. The lift opened on their floor. He swiftly got out and waved at her. She gave him the usual smile but her eyes displayed elements of confusion as well as fascination. He walked towards his door thinking, "What's wrong with me today?" He got to the door and put the keys into the keyhole. He tried to turn the knob around, but it wouldn't budge. He stood for a while inspecting his keys. They were the right one. Then why isn't the door opening? He thought. There was only one explanation: he was on the wrong floor.

After getting back to the lift, he got to his real floor and rushed into his room. The day had been too bizarre for his liking. He undressed and took a quick shower. Then he made himself some food and sat on the sofa watching the tv. The tv ran news about the accident that he had witnessed that day. Even then, it felt unreal to him. He closed the tv and slid into his bed and turned off the light.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Samantha asked him. "Well", he said as he maintained his gaze and moved closer to her, "Because every time I see you, it feels like the first time. As if the world is created just before you open your eyes, and destroyed right after you close them. As if time exists just to document your beauty and space exists just to manifest your light. Without you, the universe would have no meaning and the planets would be revolving around an empty centre" Her eyes welled up. She ripped apart her clothes, and then he opened his eyes, "Wow that was so cringey!", he thought to himself as if he rose his head from the pillow, "I would have thought something better."

It was a bright cool morning. Birds chirping normally. Dogs barking at a distance. Some crickets still made their unique sound. The only thing seemingly ruined was his pajamas. He took a shower and prepared himself a meal. He checked the phone and there were messages from his mother. He ignored them. After having two slices of brown bread with butter, he put on his new pair of shirt and coat. He pulled the watch from his bedside table and put it on his left wrist. He happened to look at its face. It was ten minutes forward. He was mildly startled. He checked the clock on his wall, It was 10 minutes behind, and so was the time on his computer. Somehow his wrist watch had moved forward in time. Is something wrong with the battery? He thought, But if the battery was waning, the hands should be slowing down, not running forward. Apart from mild confusion, he thought nothing of it. He pulled the gear of the watch and adjusted the time to 10 minutes forward. He then realised he was almost late to his work. He rushed out of his apartment towards the elevator. As he waited at the elevator door, his eyes fell on the round white clock on top. It was ticking away one second at a time. Something about the ticking hypnotised him into staring at the clock, almost as if time was fluid and the clock of the hand could run in the opposite direction at any moment. At a point, he was sure that he was seeing the second hand stuck at one position, ticking but not moving forward. He couldn't believe his eyes as he moved closer to the clock and as he raised his legs to feel the clock, the lift opened. Samantha was inside. "Hello again" she said. He jerked back as he flashed her a random smile. He looked back at the clock once more. It was running normally. He got into the lift. "Beautiful day isn't it?" Samantha said, "Beautiful day!", he vaguely concurred.