Sentry Tower

It is night. J walks the intermittently lit streets of the city. He is not thinking anything in particular. Thoughts flit randomly across the landscape of his weary mind. It has been a tough day. Not so much tiring as wearying. He is searching for the answer to a very important question. It is a logic-altering question. One that has plagued perhaps every mind since the dawn of time: identity. What is it? Does something like a true identity exist? However, he is not really thinking. The thought is running in a constant rhythm through his mind, much as the drone of a machine. A few steps ahead. A streetlight is flickering on and off. Each state endures for a few seconds and is accompanied by an unusual rustling noise. J is intrigued. He walks until he is directly beneath the light. There is an alleyway leading off to the right. By the light of the flickering lamp he is able to discern a human shape seated on a pile of nondescript boxes. He stands still and waits for the next flash of i

She is sitting for her usual cup of coffee in the evening, at the usual place; B____'s; and at the usual time 6pm sharp. However there is something different about her usual place: the desolate corner she is used to occupying is filled with a strangers presence on the adjacent booth. He is a an...unusual man. She watches his face hungrily, surreptitiously, furtively, but she struggles to remember details of what he LOOKS like. She sees the sharply angular, high cheek-boned face and the angular jaw. She thinks he is all angles and edges. Then she sees his eyes. She remembered very little about them afterwards. Almost nothing except that they hold her gaze for an infinitesimal shard of eternity. It is an instant that spells oblivion. He gets up, wipes his mouth with his napkin and walks off. He is unaware of what he has caused. She finishes her coffee and for the first time, in the strict routine she has followed for the past 5 years, she sits idly in the coffee booth with her empty

Friendship is hard to come by in the real world. Yes. I've said it. Before you wonder whether I'm making epigrammatic statements just for sheer impact, let us concur upon an agreeable definition for friendship. What is friendship? 'A friend in need is a friend indeed' is one of those irritating sayings that everyone parrots without understanding or even trying to understand the theme or connotation behind it. Adding that fact to the already limited scope of the aforementioned homily and one has a very big misconception about the entire concept of 'friendship' in general and 'friends' in particular. Let my essay now take the form of a dialogue for the sake of ease of comprehension and brevity: WHO IS A FRIEND? Q: Someone whom I meet everyday and work/study with? A: No, that is a colleague. Q: Someone whose number I possess and contact for information. I may chit-chat with and greet them when I come across them, depending upon the time and circums