CONNECTED: A BEAUTIFUL DREAM?

CHAPTER 8 DAROLI

Ruby stepped out of the station and after few minutes' drive reached the village and as soon as she entered she was mesmerized by the beauty of nature around her. She thought as to how could such a beautiful place be haunted and she walked away. Daroli was a beautiful village located at the foothills of Shivalik range, covered with greenery and varieties of flora and fauna can be found. One can see the mountains from every angle, two rivers flowed parallel to each other and it was believed that the water flowing came directly from the glaciers, people were sitting at the river banks feeding the fishes and enjoying the sunset view. The houses were made purely out of mud and hay. These beautiful views made Ruby lose track of her mission behind visiting the village for a moment.

Ruby finally reached her granny's house. Her granny and grandpa lived in a house which was situated opposite the river on one side and was surrounded by deep green forest on all the other sides. The house was big enough for a family of six and a separated area was dedicated for kitchen garden where her grandpa had sown various fruits and vegetables. The house was made out of mud, hey and the roof was made of wood and tin in a manner that was favorable for any kind of weather conditions. Ruby entered the house and greeted the family members present and then visited her granny's room to pay her respects and to remember all the fond memories she made when she was alive. She felt nostalgic after entering the room, memories of her childhood ran through her mind, tears welled up in her eyes, "I miss you, granny," said Ruby and went to her room to retire for the night.

That night an unexplainable dream happened where she witnessed the same scene of time running, day and night passing by, cuts on her legs and arms, a kind of déjà vu and her screaming for help but then there was a kind of glitch and her dream faded into a new dream and she found herself standing in front of a burning house near the graveyard, screams of the deceased could be heard, her granny walking towards her looking scary with twisted arms and legs. Ruby started crying still trapped in the dream unable to escape, her dreams shifting between time run and graveyard... unable to bear it anymore she forced herself out of dream paralyses and woke up with tears in her eyes and stayed awake for the rest of the night. Ruby decided to investigate the matter as soon as possible before she goes insane.

The next day, she got ready and decided to gather information right after having breakfast and thought of asking her grandpa as he was the closest to granny. She made a plan about asking the other people in case of any other extra information she could gather. After breakfast she sat near her grandpa and said, "Grandpa, what was granny like, her nature, what did she loved to do the most and is there anything she wished for before her demise?" to which her grandpa laughed and replied, "Child, you should slow down, I will answer every question."

Grandpa sighed and continued, "your granny was one of the most precious and special person one could ever ask for. She was full of positivity, was cheerful and active and took part in all kinds of work enthusiastically. She had a kind heart and was ready to help anyone in need irrespective of their background. I cannot remember as to if she wanted anything special before her demise but yes, she was very fond of one thing... that was her hometown and a flower that she used to take care of and was planted in her home garden. She always wanted to visit her hometown and bring that flower with her but never got a chance to do so after her marriage." Grandpa laughed remembering the memories and then continued, "one more thing she cherished and treasured the most were the times spent with you more than anyone else my child." Ruby smiled after listening to the last line and was thankful to grandpa for sharing such sweet memories and took leave to look for other people for more information.

Ruby continued gathering information but all she gathered was that her granny was kind-hearted, sweet, helpful and a cheerful person by nature and this information was not enough to get to a conclusion and she decided that she will have to visit her granny's hometown to get to a point where she could explain her meaning behind her dreams, where she could find her answers. Ruby asked for her granny's hometown address from her grandpa and having received the same she read, "Raipura Village, Panagar Tehsil, Jabalpur District, Madhya Pradesh, India." She quickly checked for transport facilities to reach there and found that railway services were available for the same and booked an early morning ticket of departure. She then returned to her room to pack her luggage and prepare herself for the trip.

Once finished, she noticed that it was still afternoon and even though risky she decided to visit the graveyard after coming up with an excuse to go out to enjoy the beauty of nature as well as to return home after having dinner out at a famous restaurant she saw on her way. It was a thirty minutes' drive from the house to graveyard. She got off the taxi half a kilometer before and walked all the way until she reached in front of the graveyard, looked around and then carefully entered. After searching for a while she found a stone with her granny's name and offerings in the form of flowers could be seen. Suddenly she felt a shiver down her spine, an icy feeling and someone whispered in her ear, "Ruby, you came... go away, why have you come, go or you will die." Ruby knew it was her granny and replied by saying that she knows that it is her and that she has come to help her and asked her granny to guide and protect her and even though Ruby was scared she gathered her courage and got up after paying her respects and returned back home without anyone noticing her.

On returning back sherushed to her room as fast as she could, took a bath and changed for the nightand hoped for a peaceful and sound sleep while eager for next day as it willmark a new journey for her. For the very first time Ruby was not scared even ifshe experienced the same dreams again as she knew that this was all going toend very soon because she will find answers and she could see that, that daywas not far and went to sleep.