The high tide couldn’t catch up with the early morning sea breeze as they raced towards the land. The sea was furious because of the curse that was looming on her waters for millennia. The curse limited her from freely exploring the land together with the breeze. She was permitted to kiss the land in short bursts, but then the curse would pull the waters back to where they belong. She was waiting, for at times the curse would get weaker, unable to hold her back. Then the sea would flood the land with happiness, sweeping aside everything in her path, to claim what was once hers. The breeze turned into a high wind as it started exploring the land.
The kid’s grip tightened, afraid the wind might take him away from his father. They were visiting a book store that was bankrupt and selling some good books at a very low price. He was only interested in books with color illustrations. They were already late as the store was shut down only the previous night. All that was left was a deserted store with sheets of paper, which were once a part of a story, dancing in the speedy winds passing by.
“I’ll buy you something on the way back,” the father said affectionately. The kid started collecting the flying sheets of paper. He collected every last one of them. His father bought him clips that could keep a bundle of random paper intact. Two very large clouds hit each other head to head due to the drifting winds. The rain became intense with time. The bundle was large enough to shelter their two heads. By the time they reached home, the bundle was coming apart. Water rushed into the intimate spaces between sheets of paper defusing the fading old ink. Every single sheet had imprints belonging to other sheets. The plotlines, characters with color illustrations, footnotes everything was distributed among the stack. By the time they dried up, not even a single sheet could retain its individuality.
[Bohemian Rhapsody in the background]
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Every syllable uttered by the flute touched the hearts of all the life forms in close proximity to the tune. The rhythm diffused the dullness in the daily routines of animal life. Out of the flute flowed the melody of life. The bees hovered close to Krishna to get a taste of the sweet air blowing out of the flute, for it was the sweeter than the holy nectar. Krishna was the pied piper, and the world itself was his musical. Lost in the lush green meadows Cinderella was attracted to the intoxicating melody which pulled her towards Krishna. He noticed her and stopped playing.
“Who are you?” he questioned out of curiosity.
“You don’t look like someone around here. I doubt you are from a different timeline.” He added sarcastically. Taken back by his continuous questions and comments, she came close to answer.
“One moment, I was on my way to the palace for my wedding and the next I’m left all alone lost in the woods. It all happened in a moment. Who are you and where am I?” she spoke with caution.
“I’m starting to think this is some kind of mix up. I can’t contemplate what could have caused it. Lady, do you remember your plot?” he questioned in a lost thought.
“I’m Cinderella. I was born with an evil mother and two bothering sisters, who will marry the prince at the end”, she was embarrassed to introduce herself. She had never done that. She was a famous character and everyone knew. The fact that he didn’t even know of her existence proved his point that she was in a different timeline and that this was a mix-up.
Krishna was lost in his own train of thought in trying to construct a rationale out of this plot twist. As far as he knew, he was the demigod to a billion people on this planet, born to kill his uncle. There were a lot of females in his story, but out of the zillion times he lived his story, he remembered everyone in the cast and also that she was not part of it.
“If this truly is a mix-up, then I’ll be relieved. I never wanted to marry a prince; all I wanted was to get out of that hell hole, away from my mother and sisters.” She smiled.
“So, you don’t like your plot either. I don’t like butter either. My plot keeps getting stupider with time. I always have to choose, between mothers and brothers” He blurted out.
[Bohemian Rhapsody in the background]
Mama, just killed a man, put a gun against his head,
Pulled my trigger, now he is dead.
The sound of a horrific human cry dissipated into the air simultaneously with the sound of a couple of gunshots. It sent chills down their spines. They never heard it before. Dense fog swept the meadows. It was highly unusual and out of reason to see fog at noon. Krishna tightly grasped her as they couldn’t see each other. In a moment the fog cleared up and it was bright and sunny.
They both were shell shocked after witnessing a person’s head being blown up into pieces right in front of them. The moist grass had turned red as a person lay dead in a pool of blood. Krishna could notice tiny pieces of metal stuck at various parts of the dead body. Cinderella hid behind Krishna clutching him tightly that by the time she released her grip and her nails left their signature on his skin. Adolf pointed the metal towards Krishna.
“Are you with him?” he shouted. Krishna didn’t answer.
“I don’t want to be part of this anymore. I’m sick of it and I hate myself. I don’t know why I have to do this. All this anger is killing me. My brutality is eating me alive, it doesn’t let me live peacefully. These voices in my head, I hate them. They put me through hell. Just end me now.”
Tears rolled down his eyes and the muffling in his voice kept growing to a point where he could not speak but cry. Krishna reached out to him and looked at him closely, and then he spoke,
“Who are you old man and why are you in such pain?”
“I’m Adolf. I’m a brutal tyrant and a killing machine. That is all I know. Random people have been chasing me to take my life. I don’t know why. I have this urge to kill them all. From what I learned from this dead man, I was modeled based a person called Hitler. Someone who hated Hitler created a story in which he is chased and murdered.”
“This is too much to process!” Krishna gasped.
[Bohemian Rhapsody in the background]
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see.
As they kept walking through the meadows, Krishna heard the sound of waves.
“Let’s head to the sea. I desperately need some solitude after a day like this” he said.
“I love to collect some seashells, haven’t done it in years,” Cinderella replied.
“I hope we find a boat and get the hell out of here,” Adolf replied.
On the beach, everything was completely new to them. The sea was surprisingly calm, it was still and silent. They could hear the animal calls clearly, which wouldn’t have been possible if the sea was in its usual state. Krishna and Adolf had sensed it, something was wrong. The beach looked deserted. Krishna started looking for life around the waters. That is when he spotted a black silhouette approaching them. He was sure it was a girl, he could tell by her outlines.
“Who are you guys, have never seen you here. By the looks of you three, I guess there has been another mix-up.” Urmica spoke with a tone of surprise.
“Please cover up lady, or else I’ll lose my mind. Who are you anyway?” Krishna choked.
“I’m Urmica and not to worry I sometimes seduce celestial bodies, I’m used to this.” She laughed.
“You seem quite happy, is this just a happy ending or do you actually love your plot?” he asked.
“I don’t believe in happy endings. The plot sometimes ends me out of reason. So, I’m not a fan of the plot. But the person who created me respects my thoughts. He lets me take most of my decisions. I act upon my own conscience. I’m a part of him and he is a part of me you know. It goes both ways, so I don’t have to be his puppet. Except for this one time, he killed me abruptly, I was angry but we understand each other.” She exhaled.
All three of them stood there amazed by what she said. But, their attention shifted to the trembling earth under their feet. It was a quake not on land but in the deep waters. All three of them looked at her with pale white faces. It was her plot.
“Yes, it is my plot. I don’t have to die this time. I’m the tsunami that will end you all.”
[Bohemian Rhapsody in the background]
Too late, my time has come,
Goodbye everybody, I’ve got to go,
Got to leave you all behind and face the truth.
