Author’s POV—
After coming from the temple and seemingly overthinking about the cliff and the dream a thousand times, Vaani finally found a solution.
She thought that if she told the dream to some else, maybe it will finally leave her mind.But there arose another problem— who would be the unfortunate soul who would listen to her rant without judging?
One name did come up to her mind—Shruti,her best friend.
The call—
“Hi Shruti, how was your day?”
There was a pause.
“You called me… to ask how my day was?”
“Yes,” Vaani said quickly. “Just checking on my best friend.”
“My day was a day,” Shruti replied dramatically. “I woke up late—it was Sunday—finished all my incomplete homework, had breakfast… and survived. That’s it.”
Vaani smiled faintly.
“Oh… what about dreams?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
“Dreams?” Shruti repeated. “I think I had one… but I don’t remember it now. Probably not important. Why?”
Then she added, “What about you? Did you get a dream?”
Vaani tightened her grip on the phone.
Perfect.
Just the excuse she needed to start her rant.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “About… two people.”
“Ohhh?” Shruti’s tone immediately changed. “Now I’m interested. Go on.”
“So… there was a young man and a woman,” Vaani began. “They were standing on a cliff. Facing each other. Arguing about something…uh..serious.”
“Okay…”
“And then suddenly… she fell.”
“Fell?” Shruti sat up. “Like… off the cliff?”
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Okay, that’s a bit dramatic,” Shruti said. “But dreams are random. So it probably means nothing.”
“No,” Vaani said quickly. “That’s not the part that scared me.”
“Then what did?”
“The cliff,” she said. “It looked… familiar.”
“Familiar? From where?”
“The one near the river.”
“…Wait,” Shruti said slowly. “You mean the river near the Shiva temple?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Okay, that’s a little creepy,” Shruti admitted. “But still, you’ve been there before. Your brain probably mixed things up.”
Vaani shook her head.
“No… it wasn’t just that.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I saw that cliff today,” she said quietly, “I suddenly stepped back.”
“Stepped back?”
“Yeah. For no reason. Like… like I was about to jump.”
Silence.
Then Shruti said softly, “Or maybe it wasn’t you.”
“What?”
“Maybe it was that girl,” she said. “From your dream. Maybe she was the one stopping you.”
Vaani exhaled. “No time for jokes, Shruti.”
“That’s why I called you,” Vaani continued. “I thought if I told you everything… maybe this feeling would go away.”
“Or,” Shruti said thoughtfully, “you could’ve done something better.”
“Like what?”
“When you were having such a beautiful dream, you should’ve invited me.”
“Come on, Shruti.”
“I’m serious. You were out there living a tragic love story, and I’m stuck dreaming about food. Not fair.”
“I don’t think this feeling is going away,” Vaani said quietly. “And quit joking.”
There was a pause.
“Okay, fine,” Shruti said. “Tell me something.”
“What?”
“What did you like about that dream?”
Vaani frowned. “What?”
“Answer me, Vaani. What did you like about it? Focus on that.”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Try.”
Vaani thought for a moment.
“The atmosphere,” she said slowly. “It felt… intense. Like everything mattered too much.”
“Hmmm.”
“At least tell me what they were arguing about,” Shruti said.
“I think…” Vaani hesitated, “since he was a prince and she wasn’t from the royal family… maybe they were arguing that they can’t be together. That if they were… she would be banished…or humiliated.”
“Vaani—oh my God.”
“What?”
“You’re actually good at this.”
“At what?”
“Creating stories,” Shruti said. “You should become a movie director. I’d pay to watch this in a theatre.”
“Why did I even befriend you?”
“That was your choice,” Shruti laughed. “Now you’re stuck with me.”
“Of course I am.”
“You know what? Forget my dream. What about yours?”
“Like I said,” Shruti replied, “I dreamt about eating a buffet.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“At least you should remember what you were eating.”
“Nope. Just that I was eating. And it was a buffet.”
“You and your love for food.”
“Also, Vaani…”
“What?”
“How did the prince look?”
Vaani blinked. “Why do you want to know that?”
“No, no—just for information purposes.”
“Information purposes?” Vaani repeated.
“Yes. Very important research.”
Vaani sighed.
“As far as I remember… he looked quite good.”
“Define quite good.”
“Shruti—”
“Handsome?”
“…Maybe.”
“Okay.”
“What do you mean okay?”
“Nothing,” Shruti said casually.
“Just saying… it’s a bit odd.”
“What is odd?”
“This,” she said. “Coming from someone who claims she hates the dream.”
“I don’t hate it,” Vaani corrected. “I just feel uneasy.”
“Ohhh,” Shruti hummed. “And I think that uneasy feeling has a name.”
“What name?”
“It’s called a—”
“Vaani, who are you talking to?”
Vaani froze.
“Wait,” she whispered. “Hold on.”
She quickly muted the call.
“Oh—hi, maa. I was just talking to Shruti.”
“Oh,” her mother said. “Alright. Continue.”
“Okay.”
Vaani unmuted the call.
“You there?” Shruti asked.
“Yeah. My mom just came.”
“So,” Shruti said, “done?”
“Done with what?”
“Talking about your dream? Cause I have some important work to do.”
“Sorry to disturb your busy schedule.What is your ‘important’ work anyway?”
“I was about to sleep.”
“You call sleeping important?”
“A healthy mind needs a healthy sleep cycle.”
Vaani smiled slightly. “Whatever you say. Bye, Shruti.”
“Bye-bye.”
Author’s POV—
She cut the call.
For a moment, everything felt… normal.
Quiet.
She picked up her phone and started scrolling, trying to distract herself.
Then—
She stopped.
A name.
Vanessa.
She shook her head lightly.
“Just a coincidence,” she murmured.
But something inside her didn’t agree.
Because one thing was certain—
That name wasn’t going to leave her alone.
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