Echoes From The Past

"It ends today”, he said, his eyes fixed on the shadow he had been chasing for ten years. His heart was thumping madly in his chest, but he kept running. He tripped and grabbed the nearest tree for support. And then he heard laughter, like water flowing from a bottle. It was so disturbingly familiar. It was all he could hear in the silence of the night when sleep took its flight and during the day when he was alone in his thoughts. He was on a gentle rise with trees closing in around it from all sides. He turned around, straining his ears for any sound that would tell him where it might be, nothing except the gentle stream flow down the slope on his right. He had lost it again. His legs wobbled slightly as he trudged toward the stream. “Strange,” he muttered. “I have been here before.” He frowned as he searched his mind for when. He just knew he had been there with someone, but who? He kept walking toward the stream; he had to get closer, and even though he felt faint, he had to. There was a log by the stream. It wasn’t there before. It was as if he conjured it up himself when he thought of resting. He sat on it, he just knew he should. The sky was gray, but the sun was still there fighting to take control. He was rocking to the steady flow of the stream when he heard a light rustling. He turned and saw her standing about ten feet from him. The gentle breeze gave life to her powder blue dress, swaying to its beat. He got up and walked toward her. Her hair, woven in thick braids, was tied with a white ribbon at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were huge and dark. “You are a woman,” he said. She cackled, “And you’re always so slow. I see nothing has changed.” His eyes hardened, “Why have you been tormenting me? Slowly, she turned and melted into the breeze. He blinked, and she was perched on the log, staring at the sky. He frowned and followed her gaze. There was a very bright star in the sky, sparkling, and beside it, another one, pale and fading. When he looked down at her again, she was a child of about eight years old. She had the same face, but her eyes were sad. Her face glistened in the dark, and when he peered at them, they were tears. She got up and started to walk away. “Stop! Who are you? Why have you been haunting me?” She turned and resumed her pose on the log. He didn’t want to move closer to her, and she might disappear again. He had to put an end to his misery and solve this mystery. “For ten years, you have tormented me. Why? The thick veins in his neck protruded as he spat the words at her. “You are still slow. I have been teasing you all your lifetime.” “What does that mean?" “It means it’s what I do, dreams notwithstanding.” “This is a dream?" “Of course, Bablo, otherwise I wouldn’t be here now, would I”? His eyes grew round, and his brows went up. “How do you know that name? She smiled. “Speak now ---” “Or what? You are always all barks, Vyn. And teasing you is my pleasure. It’s all I have now unless you tell me to leave,” she said, sashaying toward him with each word. “Who are you”? “What! I can’t believe you asked me that, she said, pouting. It hurts. “Who are you!" She shook her head. “You have to remember me, Bablo. You have to.” “What are you talking about?” “You have to remember me before it’s too late.” “I can’t believe you lured me here for this child’s play. I had hoped the old man was right about me having a woman in another realm, and I almost believed him for a while. Leave me alone, woman. Go, and never come back.” She shrank back, and her dark eyes turned green and glowed. The little girl vanished, and in her place was the beautiful woman with pink lips and fiery red eyes. The pink lips opened, and she spoke in a hoarse voice, “There will be a time when you will need me. You will seek me but will never find me”. There was a brief and light rustling of leaves and trees, and she was gone. The log sank into the ground and disappeared as well as the stream. When he looked at the sky, there was only one star, and then it was gone, and so was the night. He suddenly felt lonely. He placed his right palm on the left side of his chest and rubbed it gently. “I didn’t mean it,” he said to the wind and the sky. He felt as heartbroken as the woman and was surprised when a single tear dropped onto his chest. “Please, come back”, he whispered into the night. He looked up to see his wife hovering over him, hands on his shoulders. “Wake up, Vik. Are you alright?” “I think so”. She called me Bablo. How did she know my childhood pet's name? “The dream again”? He nodded and rubbed his eyes. “Did you dream, too?” She shook her head and waited for him to tell her what he saw, but he said nothing. .