Myne

two

The first time Rain spoke about the girl, the first time she saw the girl, she was seven. It was winter. School was closed for the winter vacation, the last days of December and the first two weeks of January. Not as long a vacation as the summer. And not as busy, because teachers didn’t give out as much homework. Project work, was the term school preferred. During the summer vacation, they were assigned project works in every subject. There was just so much to do. No project works were assigned during the winter vacation. Firstly, it wasn’t a break long enough. Second, it was the period between exams. There was so much studying before and after the vacation, plain homework was enough to keep the winter vacation busy. By then, Emi had already shaped into the person she would be. She didn’t care for the homework. She was smart enough to earn average grades. And she wasn’t at all shy about copying homework. And she didn’t have to worry because her favourite person in the world loved her back just as much, and would never say no to her. And Rain always finished homework first. In the first few days of vacation, Rain finished homework, while Emi kept her company, playing video games on the side.

That was the morning after Rain had finished all homework. Emi said they would be celebrating, with a movie marathon. A word she learned from her father, when she asked to borrow a bunch of DVDs from the video store. All of them movies their parents said were their favourites growing up.

“We’re going back in time,” Emi claimed proudly.

Her father was delighted, not just by the movies, but even more by how cute the seven year old Emi was when she made such a claim with such pride. And he taught her the word as he drove her to the library and rented a bunch of old classics.

Emi brought them over to Rain’s early next morning. Wasn’t a very long walk. They were neighbours. And the walk down the hallway from one door to the other took a few seconds at most. Emi could do it half asleep. She was far too excited the moment she woke up. She didn’t wash her mouth, or shower, or eat. She grabbed the DVDs and ran out. She would do it all with Rain. Today, she was going to be Rain all day.

After their parents, all four, left for work, and the girls were by themselves in the apartment, the girls promised to not take one step out until their parents returned in the evening, Rain finally spoke.

“I had a dream,” Rain said.

“What dream?” Emi asked.

They were lying on the carpet in the hall. Emi had put on the first DVD. Her father had actually listed the order in which to watch the movies. The best way to maximise the enjoyment, he said. Emi didn’t understand everything he said, but she had no reason to ever doubt her father. Even her mother said her father knew what he talked about. The movie had just begun, when Rain hit pause.

“There was this girl,” Rain said, and stopped, frowning while gathering the words in her head. “No, wait. There was this room. Like mine. But bigger. So much bigger. The bed was as big as both yours and mine put together. It had four tall posts. And a beautiful net hung down from the posts. The walls were white, and golden. And the curtains on the window were golden too. Outside the window was a big garden. And a lake was on the other side of the garden. There was this girl in the room. It was her room. She was like me. Same big. But different every way. Her hair was silver. Her eyes were the same silver. Her face was different. Eyes smaller. Nose smaller. Lips smaller. Even ears, smaller. But her legs were longer. Her hands were the same as mine. She was sitting on the bed. Under the net. Looking out the window. She could see some of the garden. But she wasn’t looking at the grass. She was looking at the lake. And at something that was beyond the lake. I couldn’t see what it was. I could feel what the girl was feeling. Whatever was on the other side of the lake, was important. It was like we were waiting.”

“We?”

“The girl and I. We were both waiting. The girl was waiting. And I was waiting with her.”

“Such a strange dream,” Emi said, her hand on her chin like she was lost in thought. It was a look she learned from one of her mother’s favourite movies. A detective had this look when he was thinking. “If you had a dream, and there was a girl in it, it should be me. I’m so pretty. I’m so amazing. Why do you need to see some other strange girl?”

Rain nodded in agreement. Emi was pleased. She was grinning as she continued.

“But now that you have seen the girl, let’s figure it out. Who is she? What is she doing? Why is she coming in your dream?”

“Yeah. Let’s,” Rain said.

“The next time you see her in your dream, see everything. Remember everything. And we will find everything out.”

It was the first time. They were both seven. And they had a movie marathon on. They didn’t think too much about the girl. But the girl remained a constant visitor over the years. Staying in the same room, on the same bed, under the same net, looking out the same window, at the same lake. While growing up the same as Rain. She was always taller than Rain, because of her long legs, while otherwise smaller in every way. Smaller face. Smaller eyes. Smaller nose. Smaller lips. Shorter hair. And so very silver, as opposed to the black hair and eyes of Rain’s. As Rain grew, she saw more, observed more, remembered more details, about the room, and the girl. But still, there wasn’t much to go with. She was just so much more familiar with the girl and the girl’s room. She even felt the same about the girl’s room as she felt about hers. But they were no closer to solving the mystery. Who was the girl? What did she have to do with Rain? And what was on the other side of the lake?

And so, Emi was understandably excited at the mention of the girl. If the green book was a clue to solving the mystery, then it certainly seemed plausible that they couldn’t find it easily. And that was all the more reason to try so much harder searching for it.