Chapter 9 - The Fairy of Dreams
Krishna feels as though someone is calling him from inside the garden. At this hour, there are very few people in the garden. Krish walks slowly and enters through the garden gate. A little distance ahead, he spots a large water fountain. He senses the voice coming from deeper within the garden. Following the sound, he moves further in, but just then his relative Sumit calls him. Krish stops right there. Sumit is a good friend and his cousin from his maternal aunt's side.
Sumit invites Krish to his house. After that, Krish turns back and leaves the garden. But whose voice was it that had been calling him from inside? He never finds the answer.
Then Krish gets on his bike and heads toward Sumit's house. Yet his mind keeps being drawn back to that garden. A little while later, Krish reaches Sumit's place. Sumit is waiting for him outside.
Sumit:
"Was there any trouble reaching here?"
Krish:
"Nothing special. So, what's going on with you?"
Sumit:
"Everything's fine!"
Krish:
"Yeah, all good here too."
Sumit:
"Come inside, dinner is ready."
Krish:
"Thanks… but I've already had dinner at a restaurant."
Sumit:
"Hey! What's this now?"
Krish:
"Actually, I ran into a friend, and he paid the bill, so…"
Sumit:
"No problem at all. At least come inside."
Krish:
"It's quite late, and I'm really tired. Just show me my room. I have to go to the office tomorrow morning. We'll sit and catch up properly on a free day."
Sumit:
"Alright, that works too. Your new place is just nearby. Come, I'll show you."
Sumit and Krish ride the bike a short distance to an old four-storey building. Krish's room is on the second floor, his new home. The two of them go inside, and Sumit starts explaining every facility one by one.
Sumit:
"My friend Krish… so, how do you like your new home?"
Krish:
"It's nice."
Sumit:
"Don't worry, this is temporary. Once your budget increases, we'll find you something better."
Krish:
"Yeah, sure."
Sumit:
"So tell me, where's that girlfriend of yours? The one you were always talking about?"
Krish:
"What can I say now? She went her way, and I went mine…"
Sumit:
"So I was right after all?"
Krish:
"Yes! You were half right and half wrong."
Sumit:
"No, I was completely right. Seeing your confidence back then, I had already guessed you were going to get badly hurt. Ha ha ha…"
Krish:
"Okay, okay! No more talk about that now."
Sumit:
"Fine. I've kept all the essential things here. If you need anything else, just call me."
Krish:
"Okay, sure. See you sometime then."
After that, Sumit leaves. Krish closes the door and looks carefully around his new home. Suddenly, loneliness and a strange unease surround him. He goes to his small bedroom and sits on the bed. Something feels odd. He puts on his earphones and listens to songs, but the love-filled melodies remind him of his old love. The more he listens to those romantic songs, the more his loneliness deepens. He walks to the window, opens it, but
outside there is only darkness.
Krish opens his phone again and unlocks a hidden photo. It's a picture of his ex-girlfriend, Shruti. He gazes at it intently, and memories of the old days come flooding back. Yet, when it comes to his past love, all Krish has are a few meetings with Shruti and grand talks of true love. Their meetings were nothing special, but those heartfelt conversations about ideal love were unforgettable. Still, just like their relationship, those memories have shattered and scattered forever—something Krish can no longer put back together, no matter how much he wants to.
While looking at the photo, Krish suddenly realizes his mistake: he shouldn't be staring at Shruti's picture anymore; he should forget her forever. But he doesn't have the courage to delete even her last photo from his phone. After that, thoughts of his office work occupy him, and he tries to push all the old memories aside and sleep.
It's the middle of the night. Krish is lying in bed, but his eyes are wide open. Suddenly, strange sounds come from outside the window, the same sounds he had heard earlier in the garden. Krish feels drawn toward them. The window is slightly open, letting in a few rays of moonlight that spread across the room. Krish quietly gets out of bed and walks to the window. It feels as though the voice outside belongs to a girl, such an enchanting voice that it could mesmerize anyone. He opens the window fully.
Outside the window stands a beautiful girl with flowing clothes and golden hair, looking straight at Krish. It feels extremely strange to him. He is filled with astonishment and keeps staring at her in wonder. It seems as though he has seen this girl somewhere before.
Krish asks the girl:
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The girl replies in a sweet voice:
"Krish, you don't know me! I've been waiting for you here… only for you."
Krish:
"But… I don't know you. Still, it feels like I've seen your face somewhere before."
The girl says with a sad expression:
"How long I've been waiting for you. I called out to you in the garden, I invited you, but you didn't come."
Krish:
"First tell me—who are you?"
The girl:
"I called you, but you didn't stop for me. You didn't come to meet me."
Krish:
"Answer my question first."
The girl:
"Krish! I called you, but you didn't come… why?"
Krish:
"What are you saying?"
Krish becomes troubled by the strange words of this unknown girl. He doesn't know what to do. Then his gaze falls downward. He realizes he is on the second floor, and the girl is not standing on the ground, she is floating in the air outside the window. The moment he understands this, Krish's hair stands on end. Sweat breaks out on his forehead, and his heart pounds wildly. In sheer terror, his sleep vanishes. His eyes open wide.
Krish is back on his bed. He looks around in panic, checks the clock—it's five in the morning. It was just a dream! Krish puts his hand on his forehead. A strange dream in which a beautiful fairy-like girl was calling him, complaining that he hadn't come to meet her. But the strangest part was that the girl was standing in mid-air, floating. Krish feels confused and disturbed—was it a frightening dream or a beautiful dream of a lovely girl? Thinking about it, he falls asleep again.
Next Chapter…