TERRIFIC DREAM

NOTE: This story is based on Author's fiction. It does not apply to any historical references or real-life incidents.

2018

GADWAL, ANDHRA PRADESH

A 22-year old girl Priyanka, was grown in a chocolate preparing village named Gadwal. The village is a three-hour drive south from Hyderabad, through barren scrubland dotted with knolls bearing smooth chocolate boulders in gravity-defying formations. The Jurala reservoir sucks all the blue out of the mighty Krishna here, leaving behind a scabrous ochre gash.

Not only that, each houses there was of different Indian styles. In total, the village was like a eye candy feast and Priyanka was very happy in that village. That village was a favorite place to her. In that time, to go to the next stage of her life, she decided to go to Hyderabad city from her village. But before going to Hyderabad, she decided to spend her summer in that village.

Though Priyanka was excited to go to a new place, at the same time, she felt sad about leaving her friends and her village. A girl who was grown in a small village, doesn't know anything about the outside world and she doesn't know how to mingle with others other than her friends. Being like this, Priyanka feared that how is she going to survive in Hyderabad.

But she made up her heart, and decided not to fear and be strong. Since there is only few days to leave to Hyderabad, she decided not to waste time. She thought of saying goodbye to every place she went and played and she thought of spending that summer only for that.

But that summer where Priyanka wished to be happy, she might not have thought that it would turn into a unforgettable day in her life. With the time she got, decides to spend time in those places, where she went in her childhood and the place which gave her happiness, that is summer camp.

The summer camp is near Priyanka's village. And usually in summer days, in the month of July, not only the children of that village. But also many children from neighboring villages used to come there. More than 200 children from all the villages will come to the summer camp and will stay there for two weeks.

They enjoy a lot of games like Stage play, hunting games in the summer camp. But since Priyanka has passed the playing age, though she couldn't participate at that summer camp for the last two years, as a camp counselor, she will look after the kids who come there and will spend her time happily.

Likewise, in this summer camp also, she packed all the necessary things and left to the forest, so that she could enjoy her last camp happily. What will they do in that camp is, more than 200 children are sent by their parents to that summer camp in the morning.

There the children will play a lot of games from the morning, and when the time is up, they pack everything and go back to their parents. So after those children left that place, all the 30 volunteers will clean the camp in the forest, and will stay in the tent itself. Because then only the camp will be ready when the children come again the next morning.

This is one reason means, the other reason is, since all the volunteers there are teenagers, after the children left, they divide the workers equally and finish all their work very quickly. After this, they go inside that forest, and set up a camp fire and all thirty of them will sit around. They drink, laugh, tease, tell stories and will enjoy there.

By doing like this, they can look after the children in the camp and at the same time, the volunteers also can enjoy. When it was like this, that day came.

In the month of July 2018, Priyanka went to the summer camp as she planned. As always, children came, and after playing their parents picked them up. After all the kids left, all the 30 volunteers there cleaned the camp ground quickly, and set the tent for their night stay and in a excitement that after a year, all friends were staying together, they ran into the forest very happily and excitedly.

Their first day night at the summer camp, was very happy as always, set up a camp fire, made drinks, danced, they were very happy, singing songs, laughing, joking and telling stories. Since everyone is together after many days, no one couldn't sleep and their happiness was limitless. Even though they decided to spend the time happily, the time is too late.

Since they have to wake up very early in the morning, some people went to the tent to sleep. After a few hours, the number of people there started to decrease. Finally Priyanka and some volunteer there also felt sleepy. Everyone there including Priyanka went to the tent to sleep. When they went to the tent, everyone there was already slept.   

Without disturbing anyone, they slowly crawled into their tent and slept in the bed which they prepared early. But Priyanka couldn't sleep like before. Although the outside climate was very good, she started to have sweat. Since there is no air circulation inside the tent. So when she immediately thought of what to do next, she peeked out of her tent. There few people who couldn't sleep in the tent like her, came out and was lying down outside the tent.

And everyone who was lying there was sleeping well. So Priyanka took her bed outside, and put that near her friend's bed and started sleeping. Time is running out, but she couldn't sleep. She was rolling here and there. But, still Priya couldn't sleep.

Priyanka is the only one who is awake, and everyone else is sleeping well. Now many things are running in her mind.

"I should get up early in the morning tomorrow. I had some kind of pressure, since there is lot of work." Priyanka thought. At the time, when she was thinking about what to do, she started sleeping without realizing it. After falling asleep, she started going into a deep sleep and now she is going into a very strange and terrifying dream.

At that time, she felt that something different was happening in her dream. When she opened her eyes in the dream to see what it is, she was in some desert city. There are hundreds of people around her. All those people were standing and staring at Priyanka.

Then she felt that someone big is standing on either side of her. Two men who looked very scary and big. Not only that, she felt that they were doing something behind her head. To see what they are doing, she turned towards her right. In that man's hand, there was a garland in circle shape. Like a garland crown which is used to wear in heads. After that, she was looking at the people who were standing around her.

But all those who were standing there did not make a single sound, without turning to any side, they kept on staring at Priyanka. At that moment when she was confused, what was happening to her, suddenly she got a terrible headache.

It was not normal and it felt like pain created by stabbing. Only then she came to know that the person on her right, was having a thorn crown in his hand and not a flower crown. The person standing on the right, kept that thorn crown on Priyanka's head and put as much pressure as he can. Then all the pins in the crown tore the scalp and went inside were very deep.

Now Priyanka started to throb with pain. She struggled to come out of it. But she couldn't even move an inch. Even if she thought of looking around she can't even more her head and now all she could do is to move her eyes left and right. She thought of getting help from the people standing in front of her and tried to scream.

But Priyanka couldn't open or move her mouth. She was not even having time to think what to do. Because that thorn crown started to get inside her head very deeply. It made a lot of pain, and that pain is too much to express in words. In a few minutes, her blood started to flow from her head. That blood started flowing through the eyes and spreads all over her face and Priyanka couldn't stand it. It felt like a very horrible feeling.

In that second, she suddenly woke up from the sleep. After she woke up, she immediately touched her head. She checked whether there is a crown of thorns, but there was nothing like that. That's when Priyanka came to know that it was a dream.

Priyanka, who was very scared, reassured herself, that she was in the camp and thought about what happened in the camp. At that second, she came out of that heavy memory little by little, and started to realize that she was in camp and she was safe. Now again she touched her head. She can't even think that her head is wet now. In the next few seconds, after she felt that it was wet. Now again, her head started to hurt.

Now the pain is much more unbearable than it was in the dream. Now the pain doesn't feel like it was pricked. But, it started to hurt the entire head. Then only Priyanka started to realize another thing. What she saw in her dream was not just a dream and the dream is true.

Priyanka who was in pain and fear, started to look around the forest whether there is someone around her. In just a short distance from where she was lying, she saw a figure among the trees and she also saw that the figure is running into the forest. At that time, since she was in an unbearable headache, she couldn't focus and see what is that figure. At that moment, without knowing what is going on there, she started to scream in confusion.

Because of that sound, Priyanka's friends who were lying next to her jumped out of sleep very quickly. The friends, who woke from the sleep doesn't know what was happening.

She asked Priyanka: "What had happened, Priya?"

Now she tried to say something to her friend. But because of pain and fear, she couldn't convey what had happened. Since it was very dark, she couldn't see what Priya was trying to say. Immediately that friend took out her torch, and turned it on, facing towards Priyanka.

As soon as her friend saw her head in the light, she started to scream very terribly. Hearing the sound of her friend's scream, at the camp counselors who were sleeping there woke up. Now Priyanka's condition started to become worse. Her whole body started shivering in fear and she also started to vomit.

Everyone who was very nervous, took Priyanka in a staff van and admitted her in the hospital emergency ward in the next fifteen minutes. Now the doctors told a very shocking news.

"The pain and struggle that Priyanka felt in her dream was all real. If the crown of thorns that pierced her head in the dream, then in the reality, it was the tooth of a fox. Priyanka who was confused, began to understand everything. A fox from the forest entered into the camp, and bit her head slowly who was sleeping outside. But since she was in a deep sleep, she didn't open her eyes and it became favorable to that fox. So the fox has bitten her head 20 times. That is the pain she felt in her dream. After that when she woke up because of the unbearable pain, that fox got scared and ran away into the forest. When Priyanka saw that figure she feared that someone was going." The doctors explained everything clearly.

They cured the deep wounds through surgery. Over the time, the wounds began to heal and the scars started to fade away. But the fear in Priyanka's mind was never cured. Since that terrible incident, she had never went near the forest. Although the wounds and scars faded away, she says: "The pain alone is still there."

When the pain comes, she feels like the fox is biting her. Although Priyanka is cured physically, she was not cured psychologically.

EPILOGUE

I think we can connect this incident very well. Imagine if what I am saying has happened to you. Why because it has happened to me. So we will see whether it has happened to you. Before our night sleep, if we slept a little thirsty without drinking water, in our night dream, at a place we know or at home or at some unknown place, the dream will come like, we drink a lot of water or juice or drinks. No matter how much water we drink our thirst will not be quenched. At some point, you will be awake and you'll be thirsty at the time. So we will drink water. So comment that have you experienced like this. It happened to me.

And in another version, suppose if there is a highway near our sleeping area, and you hear a lot of vehicle noise, or they are doing some other works, and if you are sleeping by hearing that sound, when you are sleeping, you will be awake in the middle. You will not be exactly awaken, and neither sleeping deeply. You will feel like a half sleep. When it's like that, all the things that happen outside will enter into the dreams. Things that are going on outside come through our ears and will enter into the dreams. Has this happened to you? Or else, whether the same thing happened differently both inside and outside. If you had, then comment it without forgetting.