There are things we see, we hear and we touch and there are things that do exist but we can't see, can't hear and can't touch. Sometimes in particular circumstances we can feel some kind of invisible existence around us, simultaneously we get intere...
Not only his Uncle would send him a book on the final day of his exam, but also would take Shu to his beautiful bungalow in Kyoto during the summer vacation every year.
After the scary incident (that you might have already read in the story "The Invisible Hand"), Shu was quite depressed. His mom wanted him to go out and enjoy his days somewhere and that's when his uncle ringed.
Uncle: We have decorated Shu's favorite room. Waiting badly.
Shu's Mom: He is all set. Will reach day after tomorrow. He is upset, he needs a good break.
Uncle: Don't worry. This city can only make him happy.
Shu's Mom: And please remember that the Dreams are still after him. It's been years he gets up in the night, sometimes screams, sometimes tries to jump off the bed.
Uncle: Yes I remember. The dream of Horse !! Don't worry, I will take care.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Shu reached his Uncle's house. He loves the place. His favorite is the roof top room from where He sees the dark sky filled with twinkling stars. Shu carries a binocular, he relates the constellation with different kinds of bey.
He had two friends there - Kiyoshi and Sumiko. they are the son and daughter of two of Shu's Uncle's friends.
It was vacation time for all. They were spending days playing Beyblade. In the evening they went out, had snacks in the restaurant while having discussions about their school, family, sports, music and all aspects of their lives.
As Shu used to come back, his uncle used to sit with him on the roof. Shu and his uncle had special bonding from his childhood. He was closer to his uncle than that of his father, as his father couldn't spend much time with Shu.
Uncle: Shu, you still get those nightmares?
Shu: Yes, not very frequently these days, but all of a sudden I see.
Uncle: Are they different or same?
Shu: It's the same Dream every time.
Uncle: And what's that exactly?
Shu: I see I am walking alone on a road with a dim surrounding. There is no one. It's quiet, very quiet indeed, so much that I start feeling scared. Suddenly I hear some sound, it's like a horse walking behind me.
Uncle: that's weird !
Shu: Yeah, but just as I look back, I can't see anything. The sound stops. I think I heard it wrong, but just as I start walking, the sound starts. I increase my speed, but surprisingly it appears that the horse behind me starts walking faster as well. I again look back but can't see anything.
Uncle: It's really frightening. Then?
Shu: I start running and so does the invisible horse ! I feel the sound of the hoof just behind my legs, as if it will push me down now.
[Uncle observes that Shu's voice is shaking, as though he is experiencing the Dream now]
Shu: Just then, I see someone sitting at the side of the road in the dark with a blanket covering his whole body. Then ... then ... I go to him... then ...then ...
Uncle: Stop, stop Shu. It's fine. I get that.
Uncle didn't allow the fear to overcome Shu. He digressed the discussion by saying some very funny and meaningless Dreams that he used to see in his childhood. The conversation ended with laugh. There was already call for dinner from aunty. Shu knew that aunty had prepared his favorite dish - Washoku
Next day, Sumiko informed that there was a movie 'My Neighbor Totoro' in the nearest threatre that all her friends were watching and providing very good feedback. She proposed they should watch that in the evening show. Shu called up his uncle and he agreed happily. Kiyoshi called up his mom and persuaded her with promises of spending more time in study from next day.
They met in the threatre in the evening. Shu got some pop-corn and they enjoyed while watching the movie. It was 8:30 PM in the evening when the movie ended. The three friends came out and started walking fast. It was about 25 min walking distance from Shu's uncle's place.
As they reached a crossing, the road for Kiyoshi and Sumiko separates from Shu. They waved their hands and decided the time to meet next day. Shu would have to walk another 10 min to reach. He started walking. It was very cold, the wind was piercing like arrows wherever they got a place uncovered, fingers and eyes being the prime victim.
Shu notices that the surrounding is not only quiet but quite dark as well, not all the street lights are functioning. No one was visible on the road. Shu started walking a bit faster. But then suddenly he heard a hoofing sound. Probably this was the last thing he expected. He was too scared to even look back. He moves ahead. But he could hear the horse walking behind. Now he hastily looked back and instantly the sound stopped, there was nothing but the empty road with a mystery of light and dark, as if holding so many stories of so many people over so many years !
Shu started walking faster, but just as in the Dream, the invisible horse increased its speed proportionally. Shu with all it's hope that it was nothing unusual, that it was some person taking a ride of horse in the cold night, looked back again. But no, it was just the Dream getting replayed. Shu could see none. He took the next step he had been taking since years in his Dream.
Shu started running and so was the horse. The sound started being intense as if the horse would push him down on the road.
Shu was trying to run as fast as possible, but his legs were not supporting enough. Is this happening in Dream? He knew it's difficult to run in Dream, but in real life, he was a champion runner in his school. As Shu with all his might was trying to defeat the horse, he saw the man of his Dream covered in blanket sitting at the side of the road, the only hope he always had. And he actually didn't know what happens after he reaches to the person, because every time he had the Dream, it would end just as he had approached the person.
Shu ran to the person and asked for help. Shu felt he had very little time to explain the whole scenario, but he thought just having the person in his side would stop the mysterious event just as it never happened here when Kiyoshi and Sumiko were with him.
Shu was breathing heavily, his hands were shivering. He desperately told, "Save me".
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Shu could not see the person as he was fully covered in blanket. But he saw the person stretching his hands towards him inside the blanket. Shu was trying to understand whether the person was trying to hold his hand or was asking him to lift him.
The hands kept stretching inside the blanket and they appeared to be unusually long !! Shu was at a daze, couldn't understand what he should do. But then the hands came out of the blanket and stopped near his eyes, Shu couldn't believe his eyes. A cold wave passed across his spine. These were not human hands, but legs of a horse with hoof at the end. Shu blacked out.
