Raghav's Quill - Feed of Thoughts

Life wasn’t going well for me. I was unemployed, living in a rented house with my girlfriend, Jahnvi — a girl who loved me more than I loved myself. She paid the bills without complaining, pushed me to apply for jobs, and believed in me when I didn’t.But one night, at a party, everything changed. Her friends were flaunting their watches, bags, and gifts their partners had given them. I didn’t notice it then, but it made her feel small, alone — like she deserved more than a man who couldn’t even pay rent.When we reached home, a small conversation became a big argument. Words slipped out that shouldn’t have been said. She told me to leave, and I, stupidly proud and too emotional, packed my stuff and walked out at midnight.With nowhere to go, I slept on a park bench. The mosquitoes didn’t hurt half as much as the memory of her voice telling me to go.At sunrise, I sat up, confused about where my life was heading. That’s when a crow landed beside me. I ignored it — until it cawed at me, as if calling my attention. I shooed it away, but it hopped toward me, dropped a small piece of rock on my lap, and flew off.The moment it left, my phone buzzed. A mail. A job offer. I had passed the interview.I looked around — stunned. The crow stood a few feet away, staring at me before flying off again. I tried to follow, but a friend saw me with my bags and called out. By the time I turned back, the crow was gone.I stayed with my friend. That night, I kept staring at the rock, thinking about the crow.The next day, I returned to the same bench. And the crow came again.Day after day, it became my… partner. I would talk, it would listen. I would share my fears, it would drop little gifts — a stick, a metal piece, another stone. I collected them all.And strangely… my life got better. Job. Stability. Routine. Direction.Somewhere in all this, I forgot about Jahnvi.Months passed. One morning, while waiting for my crow, a girl sat next to me. I asked her to sit elsewhere — my “friend” was coming. She smiled and said she had seen me talk to “no one” for weeks. We talked, had coffee, and slowly started dating.Her name was Ananya.And without even realizing… I stopped going to the crow.Then, a few days later, everything crashed.Misunderstandings. No promotion. Investments down. Fights. Breakup.It all collapsed on the exact date Jahnvi and I had broken up a year ago.That day, desperate, I went back to the bench. I didn’t expect the crow to come — but it did. This time, with no gift.It cawed once and flew off.I ran after it, chasing it across the park, across the road, through lanes… until it finally stopped on a hospital window.Inside… was Jahnvi.I rushed in. The moment she saw me, tears filled her eyes. She told me she had fainted at work a month after I left her. Tests revealed a stage-two brain tumor.I asked why she never told me.She said she tried to reach out but couldn’t face me. And when she heard I was doing better — and had someone else — she quietly stepped back.I apologized. I promised I wasn’t leaving her again.Gradually, my life began repairing itself. My promotion came through. She recovered enough to be discharged, and I brought her to my home.I showed her the wall where I kept all the little “gifts” from the crow — stones, sticks, bits of metal. She walked to the shelf…And frowned.“There's nothing here.”I laughed, thinking she was joking. But when I walked over… the shelves were empty. Completely.I searched the house. Nothing.Confused and a little shaken, I took her to the park and waited on the bench. Morning turned to night, and the crow never came.She didn’t believe my story, so we checked the park's CCTV footage.There was no crow.Not even once.All the videos showed me sitting alone, talking to myself… and then suddenly getting up and running in random directions.That’s when it hit me.There was never a crow.It was just my mind — building a partner out of loneliness — guiding me, saving me, giving me strength when I had none.My partner was never the crow.My partner was always myself.And maybe, somewhere deep down, my mind knew exactly what I needed to come back to the person who had loved me the most.

An unknown friend