CONNECTED: A BEAUTIFUL DREAM?

CHAPTER 9 JABALPUR SECRETS

Ruby woke up the next morning ready for her journey to Jabalpur which was going to take around twenty-three hours which was equal to a whole day. "This will be exhausting but I hope that it will be worth the effort and money," thought Ruby and that maybe she will be able to witness the natural beauty of her granny's home-town.

Ruby waved goodbye to her relatives at the station and boarded the train. She had never travelled to Jabalpur and decided to surf a little to gain some insights about Jabalpur. According to her search Jabalpur is known as one of the major cities of Madhya Pradesh and was the third- largest urban agglomeration. It is also known as "City of Nature Beauty" by some out of which Dhuandhar Falls and White Marble Rocks were the most popular tourist spots. Ruby studied about various flora and fauna found in Jabalpur and after 2 hours of surfing she decided to take some rest before lunch. She tried to imagine the beautiful gardens of Jabalpur, her granny's house surrounded by fresh green herbs and flowers... but after trying for some time gave up on her idea as it was impossible to imagine things she had not seen plus she was already stressed regarding her dreams.

She looked around and saw that lunch was being served by the staff persons along with ice-cream as a complimentary dessert. Ruby woke up after a short nap and looked at the time on her phone and realized that it was six in the evening and it will soon be dark and she started trembling as she knew that those dreams... those terrifying events will appear before her. She became more nervous as she nearing her destination and feared that her dreams might elevate to some new levels to scare her. She decided to give up on her sleep and try to stay awake for the whole night. They say that nothing happens the way a person wants it to happen which was exactly the case with Ruby as well... she fell asleep despite her protests and true to her fear, dream happened with a new fear.

Ruby gradually opened her eyes, "Graveyard... not again but wait, why is it so quiet, no screams, no cries... just silence." She looked around and the moment she turned her back she could feel someone's presence behind her, whispering some words which she was not able to grasp, an ice cold air surrounded her... shiver went down her spine, she clenched her clothes tighter and slowly turned around only to find that there was no one there. She felt at ease at first but then a faint, shrill cry reached her ears... it was as if a child, a girl was crying. Ruby froze and looked around and as she did so a small girl approached her at the speed of light with a bright white colored flower in her hand... Ruby was shocked and fell down from its impact, the girl started walking towards her and Ruby asked, "Who are you... what do you want... no, please do not come any closer... please leave me... please," she started crying. The girl stopped and tilted her head to one side and spoke, "take this flower and decorate my grave, this flower is my favorite, please take it..." then suddenly her voice cracked, turned hoarse and terrible and she shouted with her eyes popping out, "take it or you will die..." she was laughing and continued to speak, "you don't recognize me, I am your beloved granny... take the flower." Ruby was horrified and screamed as loud as she could and shut her eyes tight. After a while she opened her eyes and saw that there was no one around except for the flower which was lying beside her. She stood up still shaking from fear, took the flower, turned around and ran as fast as she could out of graveyard and her terrible dream.

"We have reached ourfinal destination... welcome to Jabalpur," Ruby woke up after hearing theannouncement, her eyes still wet from all the crying and her legs shaking. Shecalmed herself and got up, picked up her luggage and got down at the station.She stood there for a while wiping her eyes and then continued to walk.