PEREGRINATE

CHAPTER 8

I was greeted by looks of surprise as I stood up after crashing on the floor. It was not the prince's room but the classroom that I had excused myself from. But how did I end up back here? Wasn't I supposed to be comatose somewhere? My thoughts were interrupted by the teacher. She impatiently gestured at me to take my seat but asked me on the way, "Manya, is everything alright?"

I knew she wanted to ask more, especially about my spoiled dress but I had no answer. I pretended as if I did not hear her and quickly sat on my desk. Not willing for the disruption to prolong, she resumed her class. However, my mind was not on her lessons. I was still trying to grasp what I had experienced.

I touched my hairline. There was no blood or pain. So I had not fallen down the stairs but where had I ended up? I was nowhere near my classroom when I first disappeared. I must have walked here but I had no recollection of the same.

As it was the last class of the day I was able to stay back for an hour more, trying to locate the great hall and kitchen but everything was back to how it was on my first day of school. I tried to locate the door I had found first but that too seemed to be lost.

I went upstairs but the door which I guess opened up to the prince's room just led to an empty classroom. Soon I was noticed by a janitor who asked me to leave the premises. But I still stayed back and went around the castle but the back door to the kitchen was missing. I found the stable but it was at a different location. The green pastures were replaced by courts for basketball and soccer. Cricket practice was going on, so the air was filled with the shrill sounds of whistles and shouts of players. My ears yearned to hear the clucking of hens and the wind rushing by.

I felt discombobulated by the jarring emotions raging within me. On one hand, I was missing a palace that never existed and yet I was glad to be back in a familiar environment. It felt as if my soul was split into two and my body no longer belonged to only me.

I felt cheated of a proper goodbye, and yet I wanted to rush home and hug my father. My feelings of sadness were accompanied by confusion and anxiety. Was something wrong with me? Why did I hallucinate? I wanted to ask someone but who will be able to explain the inexplicable?

Confused and frustrated, I walked back home. I knew I was safe and back in my time and yet I kept looking around, not wanting to be ambushed by the unexpected.

Back in my room I thoroughly examined my clothes, hoping to find some clue in them. But they were the same clothes that I had ironed and worn this morning. I turned to the internet for any plausible explanation for my experience but grew more confused. For every account of perplexing incidents, hundreds of comments refuted the claims. My deep-focus search was interrupted by my dad. As I sat in my darkroom with the screen as my light, I screamed when my dad patted my shoulder.

"What are you up to? You have not even switched on the lights. What are you working on so intently?" As he peered over my shoulder to see what I was reading I quickly shut the laptop.

"Nothing, Dad, nothing at all. Let us go downstairs. I will make some dinner."

I pushed him down the stairs. I did not want him to know about what had happened today. He had enough on his plate already. Moreover, he would never understand. He was a man of science. At best, he would dismiss my concerns and at worst, accuse me of losing my mind.

As it had gotten late we agreed that it was best to have dinner in town. I was preoccupied and disturbed by my thoughts. I did not even remember what we ate or if my dad even enquired about my silence. I functioned on autopilot.

I was jerked back into reality as I brushed against the cute guy as we exited the diner. As we touched we made eye contact and that was what struck me out of the fog I was in, his eyes. I had seen those eyes but I did not know where. And then we were in the car and I had another mystery to solve- why were those eyes so familiar?

The next day I woke up even before dawn from a night of very disturbed sleep. I must have slept no longer than an hour. Tired of staring at the ceiling and racking my brain for some clue I got up and went to take a bath. The hot water and the soothing actions of washing my hair had managed to calm me down even on my worst days.

Making some excuse to my dad about an early class, I went to the woods where I had met that kind stranger. In the middle of the night, as I shuffled around to be comfortable for the umpteenth time, I had finally made the connection to why those eyes were so familiar. They were the exact shape and color of the stranger with the horse. So I went to that place with the hope of finding the proof that I had not gone crazy. There were no more trees and it was a farm now. I skipped over the fence and went to the lone tree there.

I touched its trunk hoping something would come to me. But it was of no use. I closed my eyes and slowed down my breathing, forcing my mind to form a mental picture of my knight. Head full of dark curls. And a bit of himself if his attitude was any indication. Bright moss-green eyes give a glimpse of his emotions and feelings. Face hidden by a beard. Broad shoulders tapering down to a narrow torso, long lean legs. He was tall, at least a head over my five-two. I had to crane my neck to glare at him for his insolent behavior. Deep voice that fluctuated between worry to irritation, whichever caught his fancy. I even remembered that troublesome horse who like his master hovered over my knocked-out self.

A minute passed. Then five. After it was more than half an hour since I arrived here I wiped off my tears of frustration. This was a futile attempt. I got no answers. Disheartened, I drudged towards school.

In the first class of my day, my focus was disrupted. I just could not keep track of what was being taught. A splitting headache was forming behind my eyes and I just wanted to lay my head and rest. I decided to close my eyes for just a moment. But the moment was longer than I thought because the next thing I knew was a bundle of clothes being thrust into my hands.

Author's Corner:

This was a challenging chapter to write. I had to demonstrate Manya's feelings of missing home when she was in fact home. Hope I did right by her.

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