“Without me your lives are meaningless.”
I looked up and saw nothing. Where did that voice come from? I must be hallucinating. I went back to scrolling on my mobile.
“Without me your lives are meaningless, and yet you never bother to honor me.”
This time I was sure I heard it. I put the phone down, glancing nervously at the empty walls and old furniture.
“Who’s talking?” I shouted into the silence.
“See? You don’t even recognize me. I am a fool to expect you to honor me when you don’t even recognize me.”
A wave of guilt washed over me. Whoever this was—this mysterious, indispensable presence—I clearly owed it some respect. I resolved to make amends.
“I promise I’m not that insensitive. It’s just… I don’t see anyone around. Is it the plywood in the furniture talking? Ever since interior decoration became mandatory, I agree—without you, if not our lives, then at least our living spaces are meaningless.”
“I am the Day, you heartless person.”
“The Day??” I was baffled. Was one of my Tamizh friends playing a prank?
“Dei… yaar da ni?” I shouted in jest.
“I am the Day, you moron. The very Day that makes up weeks, months, and years.”
A talking Day? Who would have thought.
“Check Google,” the Day thundered. “You humans have a day for almost everything—Father’s Day, Coffee Day, Donut Day, even Emoji Day. But you don’t have a day for the Day itself! Humanity is doomed.”
“A day for the Day? Like… Day day?” I asked, feeling foolish.
“Yes. A Day day. What stops you all from celebrating my identity?”
“Erm… maybe we can. But you’re just a logical entity. We grouped some hours together and called it a day. Without seconds, minutes, and hours, you wouldn’t even exist. We can’t exactly have a ‘Second Day,’ can we?”
“So you can have a Donut Day, Coffee day, and Emoji day—but not a Day day? Does that not strike you as cruel and insensitive?”
I paused, lost in thought. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn’t. The Day clearly thought it did.
“Dei…” the Day said again. I am sure it meant the Tamizh dei this time.
“Yes, yes—I was thinking. We absolutely can have a World Day day. I’ll write to the UN about it.”
“Now you’re talking. What will you call my day?”
“Day day? Or maybe… day Day? Honestly, I’m not sure.”
“Think it through. Decide quickly. And if you don’t, I’ll make you all suffer.”
“How would you make us suffer?” I asked innocently.
“By not giving you a new day every day. By refusing to end at the end of the day. By never progressing when you expect to progress.”
“So instead of new days, we’ll be stuck with old days? That sounds confusing.”
“Yeah… whatever. Old and cold, frozen and stuck. What will you do then?”
“But the sun will rise. The earth will spin. Time will still move. How can you stop that?”
“Dei… I’ll just need to freeze your mind.”
I swallowed hard. Maybe I understood what the Day meant. Or maybe I didn’t.
Either way—Happy Day day to all.
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