Hold My Hand...

The sound of the heels of my new sandals was accompanying me on the dark, lonely road. I could see nothing  but two strong trees, at the end of the road, standing tall and facing each other. The wind was mild. The moon was partially hidden behind one of the trees. I was walking for a long time and still, I could see those trees, which I assumed as my finishing line, at the same distance as before. I was afraid and was praying to god that he should not make me meet any wild animal or even a wild human for that matter.

I tried to put my hand in my jeans pocket,  I realized that I was carrying no cellphone; not just that – I was in a gown and not in jeans as I was assuming. As I surprisingly looked towards the ground, I could understand that the gown I was wearing had frills which were distributed in a perimeter of almost a meter. The color of my dress was matching to that of the moon, making me suppose that I had one more companion along with the sound of my walking heals. The sleeves of the gown were reaching my palm and were transparent.

Maybe I was coming from some ceremony, or maybe I was going to attend one, I was not sure. I kept walking. I could realize that I had one more partner who had just started howling. I was stunned to realize that my fear of meeting those wild animals was about to take me to the ride of a deadly adventure. I started sprinting. There was no other way, for a moment I stopped and looked back. The view took my breath away and my heart beat a second later out of fear. There was a huge black wall behind me, touching the outer frill of my gown.

I looked towards the road; the two trees were still standing there, inviting me. I felt trapped. I was walking on nature’s treadmill; I was walking, running and still reaching nowhere. I cried out loud and started running with whatever energy I had. The two long earrings, which I generally avoid wearing, were hanging on my ear lobes and were touching my cheeks as I ran holding my gown.

As I had the illusion of having the trees and moon nearer than they were earlier, I took a long breath and halted for a while. They took their original position within a fraction of a second and as tears dropped from my eyes. I was trapped in the worst situation ever. For a moment, my brain asked me to check whether it was a dream and I asked two of my fingers to pinch myself on my arm. It was no dream.The last hope, I had, was scrapped.  I was sweating out of fear. The sound of the  howling was getting louder by the minute , it felt as if the wolves were approaching me. Though I was not reaching anywhere, I had to run to save myself. I started running.

In next few moments, I could see a white figure flying in the air. Her hair was long and her flowing gown was frill-less. The howling had stopped and that sound was replaced with the sound of her witchy laugh. Is it a spirit? I asked myself. Indeed, it was. It was approaching me.My hands were shivering and I was staring at her as she was moving towards me.  She laughed again. I was not sure what she was going to do with me, I tightly closed my eyes. In next few moments, I felt the strong wind on my face – had she entered inside me? I was not sure. I opened my eyes, she was still there standing and laughing. Wiping my tears, I thought of running.

As I held my gown, my hands touched by my hair. My hair ,which was always shoulder length, had grown extensively and had reached my thighs.  Overall, it was possibly my best look ever and I was trapped in the worst nightmare. I ran, I ran thinking about to reach to the trees. It was a useless effort, but I was left with no option. In next few moments, to my surprise, I heard her laugh no more. As I slowed down, I started hearing her voice once again.  Hoping that she would disappear, I pushed myself to run.The moon and the trees were still there in their positions, happily witnessing my struggle. In some time, she was not around and the sound of howling had stopped too. I halted and looked back, the black wall standing tall. Was there any door in the wall?

I looked around and could see nothing. I touched the wall as if I was asking it to understand my pain. As soon as I touched it, some strange thing happened. The wall parted itself in two halves. From the portion, created between the two halves, I could see some movement. It was something shiny and black. The walls distanced each other a wee bit and I lost all the energy I had in my shoulder, legs and back and neck. My eyeballs pushed the boundaries of my eyes to the maximum extent.

The snake bigger than I had ever seen in any movie was approaching me. The size of his face was bigger than that of whole wall. As he pushed his head in upper direction, I could see that his tail was unwinding itself from a huge spiral formation of its own body. I knew it was my end and hence, I could think of no one but my mother.The blood in my body reminded me that my father had taught me to fight till the very  end.Though I knew that His Excellency, His Majesty, the Emperor of the world I was trapped into would gulp me like he would gulp a fly – I had to run on the order of my blood.

I looked towards the trees and the moon, who were very well aware of my situation and were still doing nothing to save me, and started running with whatever energy I was left with. My eyes were tired to see the road and my body had already given up. My soul, out of my father’s teachings, was pushing all my body parts to their limits and making them move.

In next few moments, I felt something on my left shoulder, it was moving. I had no courage to see what it was. I kept running.  In next few moments, it moved forward through my shoulder, it was red in color, with splits at the tip.  His Excellency had reached me and was asking me to stop taking efforts to run away from him. As I felt his presence an inch behind my back, I eventually stopped running and closed my eyes. In next moment, I was lifted and then I remember nothing of what happened next while I closed my eyes.

As I opened my eyes, I could see that he had lifted me. He had two legs, two hands, and a head. Finally, I had seen a human. I could not see his face due to the lights around but I could notice a slight dimple on his cheek and the dusky complexion his hands were wearing. I looked around; he was in the air and was carrying me with all his strength. I looked down; I could see nothing but the black shiny land.

The trees had disappeared but the moon was there, hiding behind his head, partially. I was upset with the moon, it didn’t help me, but out of generosity I still waved at it. My gown and hair were flowing in the air; the air was strong. After looking for all those who had beheld my struggle on the land, I looked at the one who had saved me and had taken me in the air. I kept my hand on his chest, I was not sure about his name but he was my savior, my hero.

‘Your name?’, – I asked him while we both were floating high in the air.

He smiled, making his dimple more visible.

‘How did you save me from all those strange things on the land?’ – I asked him. He smiled again.

‘Answer me. Who are you and how do you relate to me? ‘ – I asked. He laughed. His voice was familiar. I knew him. I knew him very well.

‘Hold my hand’, he said.

‘No, you first answer my – ‘.

My statement was cut mid-way by a sudden explosion of the light in the background. Next moment, I was thrown away from his hands and I landed in a spiral – multi color tube. I was floating through it and moving ahead with the high speed. Speed – something I hate. I closed my eyes tight and felt the wind touching me as I move forward.  As I stopped feeling the speed in few moments, I opened my eyes to find myself sitting in a cab.

As the cab came to a halt, I got down. He was standing in front of me, keeping both his hands on his waist. He was waiting for me for long. He looked at his watch once. Looking at me, he winked and smiled.

‘Where you have been?’ ,– he asked in his usual style.

The same dusky complexion, the same dimple in the cheek and the same voice – I had seen him in my world of imagination. The man in the story didn’t come when I was stuck with the spirit and the unseen wild animals, even ‘he’ did not interfere when he knew that I could take care of the situation. The hero in the story had saved me from a huge snake, same as the way ‘he’ protects me from many life problems – only after I fought with my full potential. The man in the story was holding me close to him, the way ‘he’ always needs me closer to himself. I had seen no one but my man in my world. He is the only one in the universe who is allowed to enter into my world of imagination.  I smiled showing my teeth. He smiled showing off his dimple. I went close to him , put my hand on his chest and then rested my head on it. I convinced myself that I needed nothing but his presence to win the world. I was calm.

‘We are already late, let’s move’ – he said, holding the keys to his car in one hand.

I moved away a little bit.

He took a moment and said – ‘Hold my hand!’ – holding my hand tightly in his, he started walking along with me towards his car.