Late one night, I was walking under the beautiful moonlight. The city was quiet; everyone seemed to be fast asleep. Only the dogs could be heard barking in the distance. It was strange, I could not figure out how I came here. The only thing comprehensible to me was that I was with a girl whom I believed to be an angel. She was guiding me and I kept walking behind her but we never talked. All of a sudden, a strong wind blew, the clouds rolled in the sky and it started to rain heavily, but we kept walking.
I couldn’t see her clearly but could sense the love and care she had for me. She wore a white gown and had long hair which was kept freely down her shoulders. She looked like she was in her teens. We kept walking and after a while we reached near a garage. “Let us wait here until the rain stops.” With these words she spoke for the first time. We went inside the garage and as soon as we entered, she disappeared.
It was a small garage. The roof was made of thin tin sheets. The room didn’t have windows, the walls on either side were cemented. It was dark and suffocating inside. I felt lost in this vacant room. I kept on thinking about the mysterious situation I had landed in. Suddenly, a sharp voice from behind spoke to me, “Hurry up, the rain has just stopped. Let us run now.” Her voice was instantly recognizable, so I looked back and saw the same girl who disappeared a moment ago. She ran and entered inside a huge building. I followed her inside.
There were many people inside the building and it looked like a hospital to me. I searched for the girl in the crowds but couldn’t find her. I went checking all the rooms and at last I saw her talking to a nurse. To confirm what they were discussing, I moved closer towards them. When she saw me coming, she hesitated but ended up crying on my shoulder. She looked straight into my eyes and said, “Your mother has just passed away,” and she cried again. When I heard this, I felt cold inside; the sounds were slowly fading away, and I was losing my grip. The very next moment I fell down unconscious.
After some time, I found myself lying on a bed and there was nobody around me. I tried to figure out where I was, and gradually the dreadful thought of losing my mother came to mind like a fluttering scene from a movie. I had a feeling that she was taken to the crematorium. So, I got up and rushed to the cremation ground. As I ran towards the cremation ground, I could feel my heart beating very fast. From a distance, I could see a few people gathered there and also smoke swirling. To me it felt like the last rites were going on for my deceased mother. I tried shouting aloud from the distance but it was all in vain. I tried running faster but it seemed that my legs weren’t moving at all. I couldn’t feel any strength in me; I was completely exhausted. I cried like I have never cried before. Soon, it began to rain and there I was, lying all wet. I closed my eyes and stayed there for awhile. The rain stopped pouring down and I slowly opened my eyes. To my astonishment, I saw a wide ceiling with a hovering fan just above me. I heard someone reciting the Twenty-one Verses of Tara. I looked back and saw my roommate doing his morning prayers. I didn’t utter a word but instead lay there on that old bed.
It was nothing but a dream that made me experience my entire life in one single night.
Tshering Samdrup
6th Year, NNI
