The Life-Changing Dream

Bella picked up her book from the desk. It was a crime thriller novel, her favorite. She always read them before going to sleep. Tomorrow was a very special day for her, a day she has waited on for so long. It was her dance performance day. She had been practicing for it from a very long time.

Bella was a bit taller for her age, very slender, had blended caramel-colored hair which were wavy in texture. The color of her eyes was blue, to be specific Atlantic Ocean blue. Her glittering eyes, delicate and swift movements made her even more pretty.

She opened the book and got absorbed in it. She always read it till late in the night. Today it was till 2:00 a.m. She knew that tomorrow was a great day for her, that she had to wake up early in the morning. But she wasn't bothered at all. Actually, she was overconfident about everything. She was sure that she will win. She took it for granted.

Being into the story, she was already with the characters in it. This time it was the murderer who was quietly passing through the corridor towards the little girl. Slowly, slowly, coming closer ... Suddenly the door opened.

“It's time for you to go to sleep, Princess,” said her mother. 

“Not yet mom,” she cried.

“Now only. Good night and have sweet dreams,” said her mom sweetly. She then kissed her forehead and left the room.

 Bella woke up with the sweet chattering of birds. It was a fine day. But she wasn't fresh because of the lack of sleep during the previous night.

“Oh! How much I loved that story of the murderer and the little girl. My favorite character is the murderer. They are always so brave, confident, and daring. I wish to go to secret places and meet the amazing characters that the books contain. Never had I ever loved more than a dozen real-life people but I am in love with hundreds of fictional characters,” she said to herself and then smiled. 

She dressed into a majestic dark pink colored frock that had frills all around it. Her hairs were pulled back into a stylish bun. A light makeup, small earrings, and her favorite red shoes added to her already so beautiful looks.

As her Ferrari F6 America was being bought from the garage for her, in the meantime, she stood in front of the mirror proudly admiring herself. Then her gaze shifted to her bookshelf. As she was the only child to her rich parents and she had a passion for reading, so she was bought every book she laid hand upon.

Bella looked across her room. Her big galaxy- themed room in her big mansion didn't seem to satisfy her. She had a huge wardrobe full of the most glamorous outfits that anyone can imagine. Her cupboards were full of accessories, footwear, purses, and cosmetics.

For her, she was the luckiest and most perfect girl in the world. She wasn't at all nervous or worried about her dance performance as she was sure that she will only win.

“No one is as talented as me. My opponents in that competition are just some petty girls who are thinking of themselves very highly just because they are selected for the finale. But no one can win because the Queen of Dancing is coming to beat them,” said Bella.

After reaching the main road, she had to walk a small distance to reach her school as cars were forbidden on that road. Her friends also joined her there.

On the way to their school, there was a beggar sitting on the pavement. He was gaunt and medium in height. He had a square-shaped face with small, narrow eyes. He had rough hairs and his clothes were always untidy. Due to poverty and malnutrition, he was growing weaker day by day. He wasn't able to walk properly and had to take support in order to walk as his legs were deeply injured.

But Bella didn't care about any of this. She always teased him. She made silly jokes about him, made fun of his clothes, his condition, his legs. Her silly friends were foolish, readily agreed to all that she said and had no opinion of their own. The truth was that no one liked to stay with her because of her attitude. Her friends remained her friends because of greed as she regularly held grand parties and frequently gave them huge treats. They just sheepishly laughed after she said her meaningless jokes.

She thought herself as a perfect girl and everyone else in the world besides her parents were all a fool. The beggar just tolerated everything very patiently. He never said a word but kept his head downwards.

On reaching the school, the participants were all assembled in a line. Slowly they began performing. When others were practicing for their turns, she was just sitting and chatting with her friends.

Then her chance came near. Bella was waiting near the stage entrance. Her dreams were going to be true. If she wins this competition, she will be bestowed with interviews and offers and promotions. And then when she will become famous, she will start writing crime novels. Whether they are good or not, everyone will read them because they are written by the famous dancer.

The performance of that girl concluded. Bella was gathering her breath. It was time. She was over-excited. Her name was about to be called when something fell in her eyes.

“Oh!,” she exclaimed. She started rubbing her eyes. It was hurting. She wasn't able to open her eyes.

 When with great difficulty, she opened her eyes, the entrance of the stage had disappeared. Instead of it, there was a small door that opened to the most magnificent garden she had ever seen in her entire life. It was alluring. She was attracted to its splendor. Without thinking anything, she went inside.

The sweet smell of the flowers, the gentle breeze, the sight of such pretty flowers just enthralled her. She wanted to stay there forever. She felt so fresh and energetic.

Her sense was awakened by a sudden movement behind the trees. She turned behind. The small door had disappeared. She was trapped here.

What place is this? Where are my parents? Where is the stage? What happened to my dance performance? How will I go back? Who was that person behind the trees? Her mind began flooding with questions. She had to do something, but what she didn't know.

She became impotent. She tried to look beyond but there were only the flowers and trees all around. The ravishing flowers doesn't seem to help her. Never in her entire life had she felt so bad. She sat down and started crying. Her eyes were closed. She cried and cried for a very long time.

 While Bella was sitting there and crying, she smelled something very foul. As her head was between her knees and her eyes were closed, she hadn't noticed that she was somewhere else now. She was startled. Had she been shifted? Her eyes were blurry with crying, so she wiped them hastily and looked around.

It was a very small room with no carpet, paint and not even a single piece of furniture. She was petrified. Where is she now? The room had a very foul smell. Everything there seemed disgusting.

What place is this now? Where is that garden? She saw the door. This time she knew what she had to do. She stood up, walked towards the door and pushed it. 

But... the door was locked. Was she trapped inside? Who trapped her? She started banging the door loudly in the hope that it will open.

But as she was doing so, she heard something. She placed her ears on the door to hear it more accurately. They were ... footsteps. Someone was there. Maybe that someone was the person who has locked her and the same person whom she saw in the garden.

She was horrified. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't shout also. She fell back and slowly crawled towards the corner of the room covering her mouth with both her hands suppressing a loud shout.

The footsteps became louder. What could be the aim of that person in locking her in this dirty room?

The sound of the key inserting inside the lock came. The lock opened. The door began to open gradually. She wasn't able to breathe. Her heartbeat became faster and faster. The room was still except the creaking of the door and the thumping of her heart.

Finally, the door opened. It seemed like everything was in slow motion. Then that someone started appearing. The first foot, then the other, followed by the hands, the upper body and then the face.

Bella was dumbfounded. No, it can't be... Is it real? He is ... the beggar. She understood everything in a flash. He was there for revenge. He had finally came to take revenge for all the insults that she had done before. 

She can't believe it. He looked younger, neat and clean and he was walking properly without any support. How can it be? While she was looking at this change in him, he was staring at her.

She looked up and angrily said, “What do you want?” He smiled and replied, “The attitude hasn't went yet. I think I have to try some other ways.” Saying this he took out a silver, shining dagger. Was he there to kill her? No, no, no, it can't be like this. She can't die like this.

“Please, leave me. I am really very sorry. I will give you whatever you wish to take. I will give you money, food, a house, and everything. Just leave me. Please, I beg your pardon,” she cried.

“Oh, I don't want anything from you. I am just here for revenge,” he started laughing loudly and added, “see everyone, the most perfect girl in the world is crying and begging for my help, from me, from a beggar. Does it look good that such a rich girl will take help from a beggar? Pity on you!!”

“Don't kill me. I don't want to die. Please,” she said.

“Why worry about your life when you know that you are just a traveler on earth. We all will, one day return to the same place from which we came. It's just that your time is a bit earlier than many of us. Let me get my things ready. It will just take a few moments, ” he said calmly.

“How does it feel to know that only a few moments are left of your life,” she thought, “Will my parents ever come to know that I had died here? How sad they will be? What will happen to my dreams? I will never be able to become a famous dancer and have writing as my side profession. All my dreams are just shattered. I am shattered.”

While she was crying with her face cupped in her hands and thinking about her future, a sudden noise startled her. The beggar was very near her. He was smiling a very murderous smile. 

He shouted, “Stand up”. Bella obeyed.

Instantly, without warning, he thrust the dagger straight into her stomach and then with the same force took it out. The great spasm of pain rushed into her stomach. She tightly pressed her stomach to avoid much bleeding, but already, she was falling down.

It seemed to her that she was falling in slow motion. The beggar was standing there, smiling. He took his revenge... She fell down and slowly everything around her turned black as she was becoming unconscious. It was over...

Her eyes opened. Was it heaven? As Bella's vision cleared, she noticed that she was in her own room. She sat up quickly. She noticed the date and time. It was the day of her dance competition and the exact time at which she had to wake up.

Then hadn't she died? Was she dreaming? She was all right. She was sweating, but nothing had happened to her. So, it must have been a dream.

“A dream,” she cried out loud, “it can't be a dream. It was such an ordeal experience. It must have been that I was reading the book before going to bed. The whole story of criminals and murderers were going on in my mind. Maybe that's why I got such a dream myself. But what should I do now?”

She started recounting everything. She recounted every time she insulted that beggar, of how wrong she used to think of herself. She made some resolutions that day.

Bella didn't go to the dance competition that day. She explained to her mother that she wasn't well and couldn't attend it. She stayed the whole day in her room, thinking about her past mistakes and thinking of how to correct them in the future.

The next day, when she stepped out of the room, she was a new person. She changed herself completely. She went to the place where the beggar used to sit, with some clothes and food, hoping to apologize. But he wasn't there.

“Where can he be? He's always on the same spot. I must ask someone,” she thought. 

She asked some people nearby as to the whereabouts of the beggars and came to know that he suddenly suffered from acute pain in the chest and was taken to the nearest hospital for treatment.

Bella couldn't stay. She rushed to the nearest hospital, found his room, and went inside to meet him. He was laying there quietly, his eyes closed. When he sensed footsteps, he coolly said, “Nurse, I have taken pills for the morning.”

“I am not the nurse,” she said.

He opened his eyes and angrily said, “You made a new joke on me, have you. Came here to insult me, I think.”

“No, this time I am here to apologize. Please, I need to talk,” she said patiently.

He was somewhat taken aback by this statement, so the next time he softened his tone when he said, “You may talk if you please as I don't have much company in here, do I.”

“I am really, very, very sorry for everything I have ever done to you. I was such a bad girl then. But believe me, I have realized everything now. I shouldn't have done it. Now I have changed myself. I am not like my old self,” she said as she recited the whole dream to him. He listened very attentively but didn't replied anything.

“I am here to help, ” she said to brighten him, “see, I have paid your hospital bill. I am here with new clothes and food for you. Don't worry about your future. I have talked to my father that I wanted to help a beggar. He agreed to help you. You just have to go and talk to him.”

“It's really very good of you,” he said smiling.

“But I still have a doubt about one thing, ” she said.

“What is it?”

“When I saw you in my dream, you were walking properly. But how can it be? So, what exactly happened to you?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Um... I am just curious.”

“Ok, I need to recollect some past events. Are you having a lot of time because my story is going to be very long?”

“I am free for the whole day. You may proceed.”

 “You are the first and the only one who had ever asked me about my past. Actually, I wasn't poor from the very beginning. Instead, I was an only child to my very rich father. My mother died at the time when I was born. My father didn't use to spend much time with me, so, I was mostly left all alone. The first 10 years of my life were spent very leisurely. Then my father's business started degrading. Our money started vanishing. I remember the time when we were just moving to smaller and smaller houses. My education was greatly affected by it. Then my father also died. I was left all alone in the world with no relatives and a small amount of money. With a great heart, I came to this city in order to find some job. I did find one and it was a good one too. I rented a small room and was happy and satisfied. But it didn't last long.”

“One fine day, when I returned from work, I found out that all my furniture had been removed. There was not even a single thing in my whole room. I was petrified. Then I heard some voices. I ran to the next room to see. And there they were... Not a single thief, but there were 5 of them. They were hugely built, tall, giants, with faces like monsters. They stared at me. I stared back. For a moment, we all didn't move. Then they pounced on me. It was a very painful experience. They left me in half dead . They thought that I was dead, but I wasn't. Let me spare you the further details, my child. There was no option for me other than begging. Now, I think it had been... 2 to 3 years since I am begging. I see tears in your eyes child, what happened?”

“I never knew you had endured so much pain. My point of view about you had now changed entirely. I am so sorry. I beg your pardon,” she said, her eyes filled with tear. 

“I had forgiven you long before, my child. Don't be sorry now. You could but do just one thing. Promise me, from now on, you will be a good girl, ” he said boldly.

“I will. I give my promise to you. I will never betray it,” she said, this time her tears were because of happiness, “You don't have to suffer from now on. I have great hopes that my father will give you a great job.”

“Thank you very much, my child. I am grateful to you. I will be obliged to you throughout my life for your kind help,” he said in a happy tone that she started laughing.

Afterwards, when he recovered, he went for an interview with Bella's father. And fortunately, as he was very good in accountancy, he was offered the job of an accountant in her father's office.

As for Bella, she practiced very hard. She changed her behavior and personality completely. Her attitude towards others also changed. Now, everyone at school wanted to be her friend. Bella and the beggar both met often. He taught her to be more patient, to be good and kind to everyone.

                                     Prologue

After 10 years, both of their lives changed very much. The small incident or rather the dream she saw, changed both of their lives quite magically.

Bella became a dancer, actually a very famous dancer. Her elegant steps, tireless practice and kindness for others made her place in the topmost dancers of the world. She now read novels in every genre (not only crime thrillers). She wrote novels too. Their plot mainly comprised of values such as kindness, patience, obedience, etc. She always kept the incident of that dream in her mind to cheer her up when she worked for hours together.

As for the beggar, he acquired a very good position and salary in her fathers' office. With regular treatment and intake of nutritious food, his legs started healing and he became stronger. He was now able to walk without any support. The beggar was now a rich man with a big house of his own. He was famous in the office for his compassion for others.

They both became prosperous in their respective fields and lived happily ever after.

                                -------------THE END--------------