Imagture

Imagture
-Amogh Borkar.

Sid was walking about in a very pleasant place with the lush green
grass bushing against his knees. This place was totally 'Out of the
world', as he called it. So he began singing, "This could be heaven for
everyone!" As if in reply, from this heaven came a wild roar! It
somehow knocked him off balance. As he lay on the ground, his view of
the deep blue sky was interfered by a huge tiger that passed above him.
Something went 'click' in his head and the next moment, everything was
gone!
Sid sat up on his bed almost out of breath and gazed at the canvas in
front. To his surprise, it looked like the photograph of the dream he
had seen. Being an 'abstract' artist, Sid had never painted such
realistic works of art. He took it downstairs. Raj, his year old son
managed to say, "Daddy, tiger!." His wife Seema was filled with wonder
on seeing the painting and said," I didn't know you painted so well and
so fast! How are you up so early today? Don't you remember it's a
Sunday? Doesn't your software company allow you to rest even on
Sundays?"
I am totally confused about this. I sort of imagined it rather than
painting it ". And he related his dream to her. She suggested that he
should try visualising again. So, he got a piece of paper, gazed at it
for some time, closed his eyes, and tried to visualise the 'Taj Mahal'.
When he opened his eyes, a rough sketch of the Taj was painted onto the
paper. Then he visualised and 'mentally' sketched a B.M.W., a steam
train, a young wizard and a magician on Raj's and Seema's insistence.
He felt bored and decided to go for a walk. Sid's favourite place to
spend time was on the top of a nearby hillock. At the top, he sat on a
particular rock and generally gazed down at the miniature city below.
There was a mild drizzle as he climbed, but now it had almost
stopped.
Now, his gaze moved about aimlessly until it was fixed on a nearby
rock. A cool breeze had started and he closed his eyes to feel it
against his face. This slowly absorbed his boredom and then, suddenly
like a giant wave in a calm sea, a familiar face then appeared in his
mind's eye. He also realised that he was about half-asleep and woke up
with a start. The face he could see was now sculptured onto the rock at
which he had been gazing. Sid knew this face very well. It was Abraham
Lincoln!
This revealed that not only could he sketch but also could carve
anything 'mentally'. To explain his ability, Sid called it 'imagture'.
He was in deep thought as he was descending. By the time he reached the
bottom, he was feeling 'on top of the world'. Then, he took out 1 cent
that he kept in his pocket and looked at the face of 'Lincoln' on it.
Then he looked at a wall and practiced imagturing it. It was a bit
difficult in the beginning but when he practiced for the 21st time it
was 'a piece of cake'! Now, he could look at anything and imagture it
in a few seconds. As he was going home he realised that he had
forgotten his watch. So he asked a pedestrian for the time. It was
12:30pm! As if to repay, Sid imagtured a diamond studded watch for him.
He reluctantly accepted it.
When he was standing in front of his bungalow, he imagtured it with
everything he wanted. On opening his eyes he saw a 'palace of dreams'
before him. But before entering it, he thought that he should have a
'city of dreams' too. So, he went running to the hillock where he had
gone before, sat on his favourite rock and modified the miniature city
below. In about half an hour he had rebuilt a city with great roads,
trains, huge skyscrapers, many gardens, airports etc. This city, he
named 'Sid' for people to remember it's creator. Rome was not built in
a day, but Sid could build a new Rome in half an hour! Yet, this did
not satisfy him. Now, he wanted a custom built world that he would
rule! Somehow he felt exhausted and decided to rest before proceeding.
It would be about 4:00pm by now, he thought and closed his eyes to
rest.
Now, he remembered 'Lincoln' and thought about the civilisation in
which he lived. He remembered scenes from a movie he had seen on
'Lincoln'. The houses, people, attire and etiquettes of that time were
so different and pleasant to view. While he was wandering in this
imaginary place, something went 'click' in his mind again and he woke
up with a start.
The man with the beard was staring at him. He said, "What had you been
dreaming of, young man? I am Mr. Abraham Lincoln. That is L-I-N-C-O-L-N
with the second L silent." Sid was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
So he took out the Lincoln from his pocket and handed it over to
Lincoln! "Ah! You must be joking young man. Did you make this? Where
did you learn this art? I would be highly interested to learn this art
from a great artist like you. The date on this coin is 1990 while now
it's 1845. I hope that I am not disturbing you. Kindly excuse me."
Saying this he went away.
When Sid had digested the surprise, he could see smoke coming from the
chimney of a house in front. He tried imagturing the 'Lincoln' on the
ground but realised that the 'click' had taken away his gift with it.
This meant that he was trapped in 1845 with his imagturing powers gone!
Sid could hear distant noises of people and horses. On going closer, he
saw two people engaged in a duel!