Sagittarius A*

I cried in the shower,

I cried in the garden, behind the rose bushes,

When he will hug me, I'll lose all substance and dissolve into him

When he'll call me, I'll hear my name for the first time

Whenever we will look into each other's eyes, we will leave this world behind

When he'll hold my child in his arms, I'll rest knowing my child is safe

Wherever he will kiss me, touch me, or feel me, I'll recognise a part of me

When he'll tell me he loves me, I will believe him

The love I'll have some day, will be the best love I've ever had

Your brain, your stupid little brain, will tell you that maybe you can convince this person who has shown you that they truly do not care - to choose you. You are setting yourself up for failure and whether you are aware of it or not, is absolutely immaterial. What is material is that your heart will be broken, that your heart will be shattered, that you will stay in this cycle, that you will keep running after people who'll make you feel less.

Once the realisation hits that ahh silly you! you've again found yourself in that classic situation! you'll feel a sense of peace. A strange sense of validation will hit you across the face, you'll feel good knowing that you were correct, that woe is you, that you were never good *enough*. You've now been left out on the streets for the monsters to do as they please.

I look at love like I only deserve it if I'm perfect.

I look at love like it's something I have to earn.

I look at love like it's supposed to be my one big redemption arc.

I have always placed this responsibility of validation on someone else - never bothered to find it within.

Did I hide myself because I thought I didn't deserve love the way I was?

I know I'm done with this kind of love and so I have to fall out of love with the idea of a person, who I have to please, who I have to get to sign off on my worth.

You're great, but so am I. You deserve love, and so do I. You didn't break my heart, and neither did I break yours.

In my hierarchy of needs, I place your attention before sleep When I set out to seek validation, its you who I go looking for  My intuition is never wrong and lets be frank, you are no innocent man Do you even know what an ignored email does to a woman? I should have known tv shows are fictional and you’re just an actor Appreciate you increasing the distance between us, helps days go by faster My silence symbolizes an ending; yours symbolizes a tantrum Don’t believe me but blame me instead, ain’t that my perfect man? Its time I escape the corner you have put me in Its time I learn that you’ll always have the upper hand Why did you fight to conquer the east, when all you were going to do was ignore my texts? Mistake’s surely mine, I invested far too much time This partnership was doomed from the very beginning; you’re no Robin Hood and I am no Marian To the one you’ll fool next, hope she never has to wonder what an ignored email does to a woman

Nostalgia is a powerful feeling. From push-pull to inspire-depress, there is almost no force too big for nostalgia.

Nostalgia runs the show in this desert lost in time. Here, time is only a point of reference - you only need it to navigate through memories but truthfully, it doesn't have much use otherwise.

We, the desert people, have a particular disdain towards time. It seems to think it's the boss! It slows down when it pleases, and runs too fast when it senses that you want it to slow down. Look at it's audacity to remind us every now and then about our utter lack of control over it! The real tyranny begins when it starts greying our hair, making our knees make a funny sound when we move them and when it makes it difficult to remember the very memories - it once used to play with us and our feelings.

Many of those who get lost in our desert, come here tired and frustrated by the games played by time. These are the people who told themselves that they won't let life pass them by, but then some time later, end up catching a reflection of themselves in the mirror - noticing something new about them. Maybe it's their first grey hair, maybe it's their first wrinkle; time has done it's deed! Time overheard their resolve to not let life pass them by and took it as a challenge, as a personal insult even, and then showed them exactly how the odds were always stacked against them. Time is cruel.

Perhaps, this is just the dichotomy of growing up. On the one hand growing up gives us so much experience, so much knowledge; so in a sense we're richer than when we came out of the womb. But on the other hand, we're also poorer because time though is infinite - for us mortals, it is limited.

The desert 'lost' in time is intentionally so lost. Here, one can remain absorbed in their memories for as long as they like. Stay and look back on all the things you thought were not important, and slowly come to realise how significant they actually were. Let the realisation dawn on you that the moments you convinced yourself were 'filler episodes' were actually just as important as the series finale.

If you're planning to visit us, please note our peak tourist season is during the 'mid life' and 'quarter life' crises of the proletariat. Also, remember, though time doesn't matter much on our little plot of land, it is afterall, omnipresent. The longer you stay lost in our desert - the lesser time you'll find yourself with on the outside. As a responsible establishment, we welcome your business and encourage tourism, but we also advise strongly against migration.

Welcome to the train station, please take a seat and beware of the time.

You know, you're one of the many passengers we see each night. Sometimes, the staff here likes to comes up with games to pass the time and one game we all play is to place bets on what kind of a passenger, a passenger is.

Some passengers who visit us, only stay for a little while and arrive just in time for their train's arrival. The staff here calls them the 'luckies'. Luckies always come fully prepared and have all their paperwork on hand. They're always dressed in their finest suits and most beautiful of dresses and are always well packed for the journey they're about to take.

Some passengers though, are not so lucky. The staff here calls them the 'losties'. Compared to the luckies, the losties have no idea where they're headed. Some have actually been waiting at the station since we started running our first train! Losties are lost in every sense of the word and the staff actually thinks that the losties are only taking refuge on our platforms, probably using the platform as a means of escape. What are they running from? Well that's a whole other betting game altogether!

Losties (usually) never have a train to catch and never have anywhere to go, but they get a kick out of making plans for the trips they'll never take. They like to tell themselves, "tomorrow I'll catch the first train out of this godforsaken town!", but when it's time to buy the ticket - they usually have no money in their pockets. They are waiting for a train that will lead them to happiness but every time a train arrives, so does the losties' apprehension.

We pride ourselves on our patience with our patrons. Whether you feel like life is passing you by or just feel like you're not where you're supposed to be, don't worry, come to the station; take a seat; check our schedule and see which train you'd like to take. Some passengers look at our station as a filler - like an open air waiting room but we don't mind at all. After all - either half of our passengers will catch the train they came to catch and or end up giving up hope and head home, or find a quite corner and stay back till their last breath.

While you wait, let us know what you think about the motto we are workshopping- "Towards Your Destiny: Our station is always busy but our trains are not always full!"

All of us who are awake at this time, why are you awake? Did you see a bad dream and woke up because of it? Was something bothering you the whole day, and now that it's night and you're alone, you've to confront it?

Whatever be the reason for which you're awake, I welcome you to the café.

This establishment is exclusive and the only prerequisite is to have constant chaos going on in your head. We don't do much in this place except keep our eyes open and overthink about life, time, the world and everything in between. If you wish to sleep now, you're most welcome to do so but if sleep tells you 'not today lad', you're more than welcome to stay.

The sad truth about this café is, with each passing minute it's inhabitants keep falling. But if you're one of those brave warriors who fight sleep at every turn- please guard our safe (we don't make much but hey, it's an honest living).

We open only at night. Just like clockwork, when it's 1 AM - we open our doors.

So, come on down and stay for a little while, we'll make you some hot chocolate and send you on your way. If you'd like to stay, there's the cinema - go on inside, and it'll play all your memories to you again.

You're your own boss; nobody bosses you around. You wake up earlier than the giant star and the first thing you do is drink a few sips of water, to let your body know it's time for work.

You don't flinch when they throw stones on your name and you don't hide when they hurl accusations in your face; you dust the dirt off your shoulders and you survive.

You work from 9 to 5 and then you make some spreadsheets and catch up on your homework, as they sit by the fire and listen to rhythms all night. They think you don't know how to have fun because you don't party like they do. But then, they don't even know the real you.

On the weekend you take off your cape and wear that shimmery gown you bought for yourself the other day. You draw your eyes in such a way that the daggers point outwards, always in defense, and you line your lips a little over the boundary because you were never meant to color between the lines. You highlight your cheeks and you wear that gloss on your pout as they gape; they didn't know you could so well slay. They see you walk down the hallway and they see you kill apprehensions, bigotry, doubts - one by one.