It was cold winter morning. He was lying half naked on the bed with the bed sheet covering his bare torso. There was a serene smile playing on his lips. You could tell he was dreaming, dreaming of a girl. She was not a dream girl like in the movies dancing in scantily clad clothes. She was a lot different than that. He believed that she was his guardian angel. She comforted him every time he was troubled. He never shared his problems with anyone. He was a closed book to everyone else. He didn’t like to be seen as a sorry soul. Everybody was busy with their own lives anyway, so nobody bothered to make him talk. And that morning, he was lying in her lap while she patted his head gently. He was feeling better already. She had kissed his troubles away, like always. His angel always made him feel better. Except that his head was suddenly full of a ringing noise.

It was his alarm clock, which had rendered its services to him for months now. Waking him up every morning at the time he asks it to. All it required was little winding. A faithful servant it had been. His hand stretched, involuntarily, trying to reach for the snooze button. It had become a reflex action by now. He was so accustomed to hitting the snooze button that, he could do it without even having the sense of being awake. He started to position the clock far from the bed, once he realized what was happening. The hand kept searching for the snooze button, which was consequently, too far away to reach. He had to wake up now and he knew that the damned alarm wouldn’t let him sleep or anyone of the final year students next to his room who didn’t wake up until it was past lunch time.

He finally woke up and hit the alarm silent. His head was clearing up now. He was smiling again thinking of his dream. He knew things are going to better today and he took his brush to start the ritual of getting ready to classes. All the while, he couldn’t stop wondering what was the meaning of the dream. But he could sense something good was gonna happen. Its been ages since he woke up with such a clear head afterall. He was the only one awake in the wing. It was only 630am after all. The BOGS wouldn’t be full until another hour.. sometimes even upto afternoon.

He pulled his favorite shirt out of the closet where he had kept it, neatly ironed, over a month ago, as if saving it for an occasion. He didn’t know what occasion it was gonna be today but he wanted to wear it. He wanted to look good for no reason. He rushed off to the freshie wing to douse himself with some perfume. After hunting through the entire wing for the best brand of deodorant, he was happy with Brut. It wasn’t very strong like Axe or Denim. Now he was feeling good. He put all the notebooks (which never served their purpose in class), into his hardly used, dusty bag. He slammed it against the wall to rid it of the dust and dusted the rest of it with his hands. He shoved the books into the bag and was ready to go.

It was only 7 am, and an unusually foggy morning for Chennai. He could see wisps of vapour coming out of his nostrils and mouth each time be exhaled. He had loved doing that as a kid, when he imagined himself in the place of his favorite hero from a movie, puffing away at a cigarette (Not that he enjoyed smoking, he was asthmatic as a child and allergic to cigarette smoke.) It was too early for the class but he wanted to walk amidst the fog. It gave him a feeling of walking into unknown territory, marking an unchartered course; he was thrilled by the unknown because you never know where it would take you or what it would do to you. He descended the stairs expectantly. He didn’t know what he was expecting to happen, but he knew something was going to happen today. Something that might change his whole miserable life. He kept wondering, if it was what his Guardian angel told him in his dream. He didn’t know; he wouldn’t know unless he went out there and found out.

He stood near the entrance to the hostel, gazing around, waiting for something to happen.Looking around, he found no one except a lone security guard, fast asleep. He waited. Restlessly. Fiddled around with a Tamil magazine that featured a pot bellied actress on the cover. Ten minutes later, he was still waiting, now disappointedly. It was just a dream, he told himself. Nothing happens like it does in a dream. He descended the stairs near the entrance walking sullenly towards the department. Frustrated, he kicked stones around, marching through the fog as if it were non existent. He then found bigger stones, to practice his non existent footer skills on. He had stopped thinking about the dream. He was himself now; he wanted to turn away and go back to sleep. On the other hand, he was already awake and so wanted to go to the class.

Going about on the road he knew too well, with the fog not impeding his progress, he continued kicking those stones around until he kicked one too hard. He watched it disappear into the fog and he followed its apparent direction. Suddenly, he found himself looking at a pair of feet, wearing the most beautiful sandals, walk out of the fog. Out came a girl, wearing a white chudidhar and red dupatta. She had a mesmerising smile on her face and for a moment, the world stopped still for him, and he was stuck in the moment with her. And suddenly, the world was on fast forward when he heard the sweetest voice say hello to him. And it took him awhile to realize that the girl had indeed walked all the way upto him and said hello when he was stuck in the moment.

(To Be Continued…..)
Note: My apologies to the readers for the late post. My broadband had given me trouble for the past couple of days and it took me awhile to compose this master piece. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as archana did .