Dreamcatcher

3 years ago

milkcakejamun

@milkcakejamun

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11:11AM, December 31, 2019

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A strange occurrence shrouded his world... something so strange he couldn't explain himself even if he tried. He didn't believe in magic... but everything that was happening was no less magical.

It all began after the New Year's party when he took his first accidental sip of some sort of alcoholic beverage. As far as he could remember, the drink was called 'Dream Catcher' or something of the sort... He was regretful the entire night, and was even angry at his friends for dragging him to such a party... but, the morning after, he met someone in his dreams.

A masked girl who appeared as beautiful and alluring as the moon in the nighttime sky. A girl with long, gentle curls who hummed one of his favorite tunes. Perhaps it was the effect of the alcohol he had earlier that evening, but he spent the entire dream just staring at her, wondering how such a girl made it into his dreams.

After waking, he knew he would never see the girl ever again. A boy like him, one who worked day and night, surrounded by dust, masalas, and oils, didn't have the time to see such pretty people. But, a few days later, he saw her again.

"You again?" her voice was as whimsical as a flute.

It took him by surprise. Someone in his dreams was actually speaking to him. He thought it was a fluke, but when he responded, she laughed. That day, they started the conversation that would forever cement their friendship with each other.

She was his Aloo as he liked her as much as he liked his bhabi's aloo gobi curry, and he was her KitKat because she thought he was as sweet as her favorite chocolate.

"You are going to be surprised today!" she whispered as soon as he entered into the dream verse.

It took them a few tries, but, eventually they understood the dreamscape they considered as home.

Firstly, they could only enter the space if both of them were sleeping at 11:11 AM (She simply stayed awake longer during the night and slept during the day, while he excused himself to catch a short nap in the store room to sleep during that time).

Secondly, because it was the dreamscape, they could do whatever it was their imagination desired. The first time they met, they spent the day at an amusement park, the second time, they were a bit creative and dreamed of riding Aladdin's magical carpet while looking down at Somnath. Since then, their imagination was wild, taking them to exotic, foreign destinations.

He thought today would be similar, especially seeing the excitement painted in her hazel eyes. But, to his surprise, the darkness dissipated and revealed a cozy setting. The smell of rich coffee grounds enveloped him as soft music played in the background. 

His heart fluttered as he felt her small hand grab onto his. As she slowly led him to the middle of the coffee shop, the surroundings blurred and all the customers seemed to freeze in action.

Stopping, she turned to him. Her lips curved upwards, slowly with mischief, as she trailed her hand along his bicep. The music changed to have a much more romantic and sensual undertone as her fingers grabbed onto his shirt to pull him close. His hands held her waist as their eyes were locked onto each other.

Her hazel eyes staring at his dark brown eyes.

Without breaking the magic between them, she stood on her toes, lips gently grazing his cheek as she gently pleaded, "Dance with me."

This girl is going to kill me in my dreams. He swallowed as his hands slightly trembled. They started as friends, sharing as much as they could with each other. But somewhere, something changed. He didn't know who fell first. If you asked him, he would certainly said he fell first, but as far as he knew, she always stared up at him lovingly.

If they weren't masked, if they could both utter identifiers, he would've found her in reality and brought her home. But the dream scape prevented them from learning each other's identity.

"I don't know how to dance," he murmured as she played with his hair.

"KitKat," she cooed gently. "This is the dream scape," she snapped her fingers as his sandals changed into black dress shoes. Without thinking about it, his shoes did the trick. They helped him lead the dance. "Anything is possible."

He spun her once and pulled her close, "Maybe, but in reality I don't know how to dance," his hands tightened at her waist as he lifted her. As she spread her arms out and laughed, he couldn't help but feel a little perturbed, "If we were to meet in real life, would you hate me for this?"

When he placed her on the ground, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close so their noses touched, "I would like you even more," his eyes closed as a warm feeling bubbled within him, "because I'll have the excuse to touch you and be as close as I can—,"

"You don't need an excuse," no matter how much time they spent together, he always felt some sort of invisible barrier. A sense of formality that he wish did not exist between them. "You can do whatever you want with me."

"Really?" her breath tickled his chin as she leaned towards him. Those hazel eyes of hers suddenly became inviting, and even her plump lips seemed...

Swallowing, his fingers tightened at her waist as he pulled her close. Closing his eyes, he leaned towards her. It would be their first kiss. After spending nearly a year in each other's dreams, this moment seemed almost like a miracle.

When his lips came into contact with something hard, he opened his eyes and noticed how his Aloo placed her hand in between. Immediately, he was flush with regret and shame. For so long, he wanted to do something special with her, properly define the relationship that was between them. But, he also feared that their friendship would be compromised if he dared to do anything.

"I...I," her hazel eyes flitted nervously. "I won't see you tomorrow."

His shoulders drooped as an uneasy feeling settled within him. All his hopes dashed, and for a second, he wished everything was just a dream. An actual dream that was not true.

"I'll be going to Agra tomorrow to visit family," she mentioned softly. "And I don't know if I could handle 3 days of not seeing you after a kiss." She stared at him, "Would be rather frustrating, don't you say so?"

He blinked.

With a laugh, she ran her fingers through his hair, ruffling it a bit, before leaning close to him and whispering, "But once I come back, why don't we revisit that kiss?" She stepped away from him with a smile, and for the first time, he had the most insane urge of pulling her back into his embrace. For the first time, he wanted to be nothing sort of the gentleman she expected of him.

As she exited the café, he knew that 3 days was too long. He rushed out afterwards, and when he noticed her trying to get into a cab, he shouted, "I am in love with you." 

She turned around in confusion as he took a deep breath, collecting every morsel of courage he had. Slowly, walking towards her, he continued, "I apologize for the blunt delivery," when she blinked at him, "but as problematic as this fact may be, I am in love. With you."

He was in love with this silly girl. He was truly, irrevocably in love.

"And I'm not feeling this because you're leaving, and not because it feels good to feel this way--," his fingers slowly reached forward, grazing the curvature of her mask and cheek. "which by the way, it does. I can't figure out the mathematics of this," he leaned closer and with a gentle whisper, "I just know I love you."

His lips curved upwards, and when her did as well, his heart did a small pitter-patter in his chest.

"Can't believe how many times I'm saying it," and he knew that it was still far too few. The love he had for her was limitless, and now that he's realized it, he knows he can't go back. She was the only one who made him feel as though he was important.

"I finally know what I want," his breath caught in his throat as his thumb gently caressed her cheek, "and that in itself is a miracle," he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. His family would be so surprised. He who couldn't give a damn for his outfit, knew with 10000% absolute certainty. "And what I want is you," he whispered as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

As he leaned back, he waited for her response. 

With a small snort, she shook her head, "I wasn't expecting 'I love you.'" Her hazel eyes glanced up at him, and for the first time, he wasn't able to read them at all. 

Biting down his nervousness, he waited for her.

"Can you not look at me like that?" He raised a brow, about to speak, but she simply placed a finger on his lips, silencing him. "I'm trying to find the right thing to say," she glared at him.

He glared back at her as he swept her finger off, "How about an 'I love you' back," he responded with a cheeky smile. When she tried to hide her smile, he kissed her forehead again.

"KitKat," she whined softly. Her hands grabbed onto his, fingers gently interlocking as she glanced up at him, "I wasn't expecting those words in our dreams. I... I was hoping you would say them to me in real life."

He had no issues of saying those words to her in reality, either. However, there was no such girl like her in his reality. All the girls in his town were rather... unappealing. If she didn't live so far from him, he would've introduced her to his family, and they would've been married long back.

"But it's fine," her lips curved upward as she brought his hand to her lips. Gently kissing his thumb, she promised, "I'll say those words to you... this time in our reality." Kissing his index finger, "And then," his middle finger, "you can," ring finger, "kiss me," and lastly his pinky finger, "all you want."

Holding her in real life seemed too beautiful to be true. Perhaps he would have to convince his brothers that going to Agra would be a good idea.

"You don't need to come to Agra," he glanced down at her, not noticing he voiced out his plans. She smiled up at him secretively, "You can meet me in Somnath itself, Shiva Pandya."

His eyes widened as his mouth dropped open in surprise. She knew? She knew who he was this entire time?!?! He watched as she walked away from him. She knew who I was and still loved me the same? 

A warm feeling fluttered across his chest. As far as he knew, no one cared for him. He was the resident smelly store worker. Good for nothing except for lifting boris.

Before sliding into her cab, she called out to him, "Well, if we're meant to meet again, then we'll meet again." He nodded, and with a sly grin, she added, "And if you can find me, I definitely will hold you up for that kiss!"

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12:34PM, December 31, 2019

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Shiva stared at the small piece of paper. After waking up, he immediately scribbled down all the names of the single girls of Somnath that he could remember. But none of the girls--

"Bhootnath."

His eyes shut in frustration as he glanced up from his list. 

The bane of his life.

The chipkali's eyes dropped to the list. With a grin, she leaned forward, "What's that?"

He pulled the list away, "None of your business." She seemed strangely disappointed. The sooner she is out, the faster I will find my Aloo. "What do you want?"

She nodded her head as she pushed a list of her own towards him. He picked up the list, somewhat surprised that everything was a snack item. He glanced up at her, wondering how her aunt would allow her to buy this much junk, but seeing the money in her hands, he knew it was none of his business.

As he went to collect everything, his heart almost stopped when he saw the chocolate listed. KitKat... there's no way... He turned to her, slightly dreading the question. However, considering she was a resident of Somnath, he had to rule her out too.

"A-are you heading out?" Please say no.

She nodded her head, her curls bobbing along.

His eyes widened as the packet of Little Hearts dropped to onto the counter, "W-where to?"

When she smiled, he noticed the mole right next to her lips... as well as the fact that her eyes were hazel. He didn't need to her official confirmation... his Aloo was Raavi. His childhood rival.

After confirming there was no one on the street that was paying attention to them, Shiva quickly pulled Raavi towards the storage room in the back, ignoring her protests. Pinning her to the wall, he stared at her face, noticing how she shared every single feature of Aloo's.

He cupped her cheek, enjoying the familiarity of it all. Glancing at her, he noticed how calm she was. Even though she was a rival, he strangely had no regrets. The shared memories they had in the dream verse somehow trumped all their childhood fights.

He leaned forward, kissing her just as he dreamed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed...

Raavi, the girl he hated most in this world also was the girl he loved most. And I would want it no other way... With a smile, he deepened their kiss.

As they broke apart, Raavi stared him with a hooded gaze. He pulled her closer and raised a brow. With a shy smile, "Do I still need to spell it out?" He kissed her ear as she giggled. "Fine, fine."

She cupped his face and pressed her forehead against him, the tips of their noses touching, "I love you, Shiva Pandya. And I wouldn't have it any other way," she whispered as she kissed him.