THE STRANGE DREAM

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 It does not apply to any historical references and real-life incidents.

NOVEMBER 2015

PSG COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

COIMBATORE

Shiva Ganesh was studying his final semester. That's when he met a girl named Darshini for the first time when he went for Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, located near Madukkarai-Vadavalli roads to organize "Basic Life support" event. When he saw Darshini for the first time he fell in love with her.

Looking at his senior Adhithya and his classmate Subash, he said: "Hey senior, Subash. I wish I should never miss this girl Darshini in my life." While guarding other college students, he introduced himself to Darshini. He comes to know that, "She is a 2nd year psychology student" and fails in his mission to get her phone number. However, he managed to become friend with her.

ONE YEAR LATER

14 FEBRUARY 2016

One year later on 14th February 2016, Shiva Ganesh takes a decision to propose his love to Darshini. Since, it's the Valentine's day. However, he gets a shocking news from TV that, "Terrorists attacked CRPF forces and Indian Army people in Pulavama around midnight 3:15 AM."

He mourned the death of CRPF forces, instead of meeting Darshini. She tries to contact him but, he hanged her call. Later on, Shiva meets Darshini and proposed his love to her, which shocked the girl. Though she was not interested in love at beginning, in a few months, Darshini also started to fall in love with Shiva after seeing his dedication towards social activities and academics.

TWO YEARS LATER

MARCH 2018

Two years later after the graduation, Shiva Ganesh and Darshini got married on March 2018. In a few months, Darshini got pregnant. And Adhithya started to go for a job. Since Darshini is pregnant, she decided to stay at home until the baby is born. When Darshini was in a due for labor, Shiva was in a good position at his job.

And also he earned a high salary. A girl child was born to them. So what Darshini decided is, to stay at home and look after the baby. Few years passed, and Darshini got pregnant again. This time, it was a boy child. So a daughter, a son, Shiva and Darshini they was such a cute family and lead a happy life.

Shiva loved his family more than anything in this world. He was so affectionate. Shiva was very happy. He was very fond of his family. He had too much love for them. Every day before Shiva goes to work, he goes to his daughter and son's bedroom without making a sound, and enjoyed watching them sleep.

He give them a kiss and then leave for work. Immediately after coming from the office in the evening, will sit in a backyard at home and eat snacks, food and played some games until going to sleep. He spent all the time with the family and go to sleep only after that. A perfect family and a perfect life. Shiva's life was like that. But then this strange and different thing begin to happen.

23 NOVEMBER 2020

One day, Shiva was sitting on the couch in the hall and watching TV. His wife and children went out. In the room where he was watching TV, there was a bed lamp on the side and when he was watching TV, that bed lamp by the side has come to his vision. But there is something different on the bed lamp so looked back.

When he started looking at it, the light of the bed lamp looked blur. Since it looked blur, he rubbed his eyes and looked again. Now not only the light, but the whole lamp looked blur. Now Shiva is looking everywhere in his room, but it all looked very clear. Now he looked at the lamp again. But the lamp still looked blur.

Now Shiva turned off the TV which he was watching and went near the lamp to see it. But even being next to that lamp, the lamp looked blur. Shiva has no problem in his eyes. So, what he thought is…

"What happened to me, did I get a stroke?" Looking around, he asked himself, "Or did I got any disease?" He started to think like that, but what Shiva thought again is…

"It's nothing. I am fine. I should not worry about this." He thought like that, and went to sofa and started watching TV again. He started to ignore that lamp. But if we are seeing a place, we know everything which was on it's side and moves on the sides. Everyone knows this well. Like that, while he was watching TV, that lamp was also visible to him. And he couldn't ignore that.

Now Shiva turns off the TV again and looked at the lamp. But this time the lamp is not blur. Instead, the lamp looked upside down. Now Shiva confirms that there is definitely something wrong. Why means, nothing in the room looked blur. And nothing looked upside down. Only that lamp looked like that. When he was looking at that, a few minutes later his wife and children, who went out arrived.

But Shiva, didn't say about the strange incident happened to him or the lamp to his wife. First he thought of finding it, and then tell about this to Darshini. Then, like always, he went to the backyard and started playing with his family. And everyone sat together and started eating their dinner. After sometime, everyone went to the first floor bedroom to sleep.

Soon everyone is asleep. But Shiva alone was thinking about that lamp while lying on the bed and looking up. Suddenly, he came out of the bedroom without his wife and children's knowledge and sat on the sofa in the hall, and started staring at the lamp. Now that lamp started changing every second like melting, upside down, blur. It changed every second. Shiva was also watching it. On the next morning, Darshini comes down from the bedroom and saw, Shiva is sleeping on the sofa and goes near him.

She woke up Shiva who was sleeping. Shiva also woke up.

"What happened Shiva? Why you slept here?" asked Darshini. But Shiva first saw the lamp after waking up. But even after then, the lamp looked blur. Even now he didn't tell Darshini about the lamp.

"Nothing Darshu baby, I'm not feeling well." Holding her hands, he said: "I am not going to the office today." He kissed her cheeks. But, Shiva didn't go to office for the next three days. Instead, he sat on the sofa and looked at the lamp for the whole time. Darshini started to notice it.

Looking at the strange behavior of Shiva, she went near to him and hugged him. She asked: "Baby. What happened to you? Why you're doing like this?"

But even now Shiva didn't say about the lamp. He said: "Nothing baby. I told you earlier right. I am sick. Hence, I am like that." For that, Darshini asked him to go to the doctor immediately. But Shiva started to say that he will get well soon.

Like this, the time passed. Shiva, who was looking at the lamp, felt like the lamp was upside down, like blurry, like melting. Since he continuously looked it. At one stage, he stopped answering Darshini. He started to be unresponsive. Immediately Darshini called the doctor and started talking.

But when she is talking the doctor about her husband's strange behavior, the lamp which Shiva was looking at started to expand. The lamp looked as big as the room. Now all that he could see is, only the lamp. At the same time when he was looking at the big lamp, he started to hear some voices.

5TH JULY 2022

From a little distance, he started to hear someone's shouting. His head started to hurt. Suddenly he opened his eyes. A lot of people was walking in front of him. He was sitting next to a big building near to the Aravinth Eye Hospitals. That big building was his PSGCAS college building. When he was sitting down, a lot of people were standing around him and looked at him in surprise and amazement.

Shiva doesn't understand what's going on. Now, Shiva questioned himself, "How did I get here?" And started searching for Darshini and kids in the crowd. But before he tried to ask about his wife and children to someone, a police officer came running from a distance, and carried him. He made him to sit on the police car, and drove away from the police car quickly from there.

Now Shiva who was sitting on the backside of the police car, asked him: "What happened? Where are you taking me?"

For that the police officer replied: "This is year 2022. You were playing basketball in your college campus. And your head was heavily hit. And when you fell down, your head hit the ground very hard. And you fainted immediately." Shiva asked him, "Where is my wife Darshini and children?"

And the officer said: "I doesn't know about it." And that's when it clicked to Shiva that what had happened. The character Shiva Ganesh was an illusion whereas Subash Krishna was reality. The lamp he saw was not real. His wife, his daughter and his son the last 10 years life, that is his entire life was not real. Everything that took place in that small gap where he was knocked unconscious and then regained consciousness, was his hallucinations.

Subash is not a graduate as said before. He is a Third year UG student pursuing B.Com(Accounting and Finance) in PSG College of Arts and Science in the year August 2022.

Subash has been taken to the hospital. And he was physically recovered. But after coming from the hospital, Subash was very much depressed. His family, he thought of the family where he lived for 10 years and suddenly he couldn't bear their losses. He couldn't come out of it. Though everything was his hallucination, his brain made him believe that everything was true. It felt like he really lived for ten years. Now he had a feeling of loosing his wife and his beloved children. He really couldn't come out of that. A very intense treatment was given to get out of it.

FEW MONTHS LATER

SEPTEMBER 10, 2022

3:30 AM, SINGANALLUR

After a few months, around 3:30 AM, Shiva suddenly wakes up from his bed. Wiping off his sweats, he drinks some amount of water from the fridge. His friend Adhithya, who was sleeping peacefully along with Muthu Vishnu, his junior pursuing B.B.A., in the same college gets irritated and disturbed. 

"Hey Subash. Come and sleep da. We have to go for Tamil Nadu Agriculture University by 6:00 AM, right!" Adhithya shouts at him, as the light of the fridge disturbed his eyes. Subash however said: "No brother. I am not sleeping. You sleep." Adhithya wakes up and goes near to him. As the dejected Subash sat in his chair, he asked him: "What happened da?"

"Again I got the dream brother."

"Forget about the dream and sleep peacefully da."

"No brother. Often a small glimpse of my son's image comes and goes in my mind. In that, my son's age is 5 years, and whenever he come, he tried to say something, but I am unable to understand what he was talking about." Adhithya consoled him and somehow, convinced him to sleep well.

FEW HOURS LATER

7:45 AM

TAMILNADU AGRICULTURE UNIVERSITY

A few hours later around 7:45 AM, Golden Army Club members of PSG Arts gathered together, particularly the volunteers. While Adhithya and Muthu Vishnu were busy in their own schedules, Subash was keen to find out, "Whether the girl Darshini really exists in this world." As instructed by their coordinator Venkat, the three guys stood in the Football circle to observe and guide the other college students, who are the participants of Basic Life Support campaign. At that time, Subash noticed a girl, who had a similar face to that of Darshini in his dreams.

He was surprised to see the girl in real life. She almost matched to the same characteristics of his dream girl. Happier, he flirts with her till the program comes to an end. By afternoon of that day, he almost grew close with her after some initial fears.

While leaving the place, he called her and asked: "Darshini. Can you please give me your phone number?"

Looking back at him, she replied: "It's there in the Whatsapp group. You can search and find my number." She laughed and went inside the van, through which she had travelled with few more hostellers, who were brought by the van. While, Adhithya picked up Subash and Muthu Vishnu back to the house. There, Subash noticed the room's bed lamp broken. He proceeds to clean the place with the help of Muthu and Adhithya.