The Wheel Of Fortune

"May I have your attention please, train no. 06948 with the destination to Vasco da Gama railway station started from Hubli Junction station via Dharwar station at 02:15 is going to depart from platform no.2" The announcement is repeated in Hindi and English many times before the speaker goes off. While others are sitting, walking, and trying to find their seat. I am standing in the middle of the platform clueless. I look left and right to figure out where I am but find no trace of a signboard. As I stand in my place, I also try to focus on the announcement thinking, it will help me figure out my location. The station is relatively small with only three platforms and a small shed. This place has a peaceful and rural feeling to it, providing me with respite from my busy life. By now I am sure that I have never been here before, just where could I be? What is this place? I try to gain help from others, but I don't know why nobody is listening to me. It's almost like I am invisible. Or am I overthinking this? It could be just that everybody is busy. Let's just stand still and try to figure out my situation. For now, the conclusion I can draw with the help of the announcement and dressing of the people is that I am in South India. I am kind of relieved to know that I am still in my country. But even if I know in which country I am, how will I know where exactly am I? And how will I get out of here? I still don't know what is going on.  Why is everything so messed up? Why could I not remember what happened before I came here? How could I not remember a single thing except my name? This is strange, no, everything is strange. Nothing is making sense. Do I have amnesia that I couldn't recall anything? I have so many questions about myself. And aside from things about myself, there are other things I am curious about. How did I come here and why am I here in the first place? I feel like I know why am I here but at the same time, I don't know why am I here. What is this feeling? I am not scared as well. In fact....why am I feeling curious and excited? I don't even know what I am excited about but I am having a feeling that something critical is going. Something is going to change. But I don't know what it would be. After some deliberation, I look down at the only thing that I currently have. A book. A book really? Just what was I....forget it, I think I must be not even thinking since I chose to bring a book instead of what any normal person would have chosen to bring. Things like clothes, daily necessities, food would have been more fruitful. Who knows what I was thinking before coming here? I must be out of my mind. I sigh while looking at the book, why did I even bring it with me? I don't see any use of this other than spending my time reading this. The red book doesn't contain any name or title. I have never seen this book in my whole life. This book has no picture, photo, title, it does not have anything. But once I open the book, I can clearly see a story written. Who wrote this? Why is there no name? And how did it come to my possession? This book is strange but this matter is no of importance. I have more important things to worry about. Like, finding where am I?  Bringing down the book, I raise my other hand to look at the train ticket. Judging by the color of the sky, the train should be arriving any minute now. As soon as I hear the sound of the engine, I straighten up and fix my focus on the number on the coaches. Once the train stops, I quickly take my place in the line forming in front of the entry. I don't know for how long the train will stop so it's better to board earlier than later. The lack of crowd assures me that I will be able to board the train since the crowd is a common occurrence while boarding a train if you live in India. Railways carry the most percentage of traffic in India since it is affordable and convenient. I have been traveling by train for my whole life so I am well aware of how congested it can get. The person in front of me moves forward and I take her place. There are still three people in front of me in the line.  Once the man in front of me boards the train, I grip the handle and climb in. After passing some compartments, I step to the side to let the others pass and check the ticket in my hand. It's a sleeper class ticket. Turning around, I get in the line of people who are moving in the aisle trying to reach their seats. When I see my seat, I quickly get out of the line and take my seat.  When I look at the ticket again, I catch sight of the name of the station. I was so engrossed in my surrounding that I didn't think of taking a look at the ticket. I am such an i***t sometimes. From the ticket, I manage to figure out that I am currently at Londa Junction but....wait... Londa Junction? Londa? Why do I feel like I have heard this name before? Where did I even hear this?..... Ah, now I remember. I remember hearing about this station twice. As far as I remember, this village is in Karnataka. And this place is near a well-known waterfall so some tourists often find themselves attracted to this place.  Now, at least I know where I am.  Sighing, I look out of the window. Since this is a sleeper class so there is no glass window, the window is open with few rods to stop us from doing something dangerous. I peek out of the window till my cheek touches the rod. I am thankful that it's a sleeper class since it allows me to view scenery easily, though the blowing wind during the ride will tangle my hair. And I will have to use extra effort to untangle them but it will be worth it if I get to enjoy my ride.  It is still dark, the sun has not risen. I am suspecting it is around 3-4 am in morning. In this twilight, there is nothing to see outside. Switching on the light, I lean back and make myself comfortable for the ride. Just when the noise settles and an old lady takes her seat beside me, the train starts with a jerk. I reach for my book to start reading. Though I am not sure, how did I got here or why I am here but strangely enough, I am not feeling stressed or panicked. It is weird but I don't mind it. As I get invested in the book, the train slows down and stops at one point. I look out of the window. We have stopped at a station. I peek out again but I can't see the name of the station, the light is not much bright. Shaking my head and look at the people in my compartment, there is a snoring old lady above me and a young man in front of the old lady. Since it is night, they have already pulled up the seat to sleep. There are three seat beds on one side, the middle seat can be folded down to take a seat in the morning and bed in the night. Except for the seat directly in front of me, all seats in the compartment have been occupied. A total of 6 people can sit in one compartment so there are still three seats left. In the silence of the night, I can hear snores of people who are sleeping in the nearby compartment. After observing my surrounding for a while, I go back to my book. The sound of the door opening and the footsteps is heard. The footsteps stop in front of my compartment and the owner of the footsteps move in. I am aware that someone has taken a seat in front of me but the book was too good for me to waste my time in looking up, so I continue reading without glancing at my new neighbor.  The plot of this book is good. Well, I have to admit I thought it would be insipid when I first saw the cover but it turned out to be better than expected. The introduction is also interesting but it does give a hint towards a tragic ending. The story starts with the introduction of a curse that was placed on a royal family. Under this curse, the heir of the family will meet his/her soul mate and fall in love with them but because of the curse, their soulmates are destined to die a tragic death before they could attain the 30. Unfortunately, the member of the royal family will unable to love another for his/her whole life. The story starts with the tragic death of the empress who was the soulmate of the emperor.  I am engrossed in reading the story I didn't notice how quickly the time flew, I only look up when the sound of water catches my attention. It's the sound of falling water.  I look out of the window and a smile automatically forms on my face. The sky has lightened, surrounded by green vegetation, the train is going across the bridge. And the most awaited waterfall can be seen on the right side of the bridge. It is a gentle sort of waterfall with a stream cascading over the rocky outcrops and it should be around 310m in height. As the train nears the waterfall, I start feeling the coolness of the water in the air. It is so refreshing. Soon we will be directly in front of the waterfall, for now, I am watching it by peeking from my window.  Nature and being away from city life always give me a sense of freedom and calmness. This type of sight never fails to bring a smile to my face. I turn my head without thinking, still smiling, to look at the person sitting in front of me but my smile disappears as soon as my eyes land on the person. My breathing hitches because of the shock. I feel my throat drying.  Who is...he? I don't know him but I do know one thing, in front of me, is one of the most handsome people I have seen since birth. I have seen only a handful amount of handsome men in life but no one was as attractive as him. Soon I notice that he is also staring at me with his intense eyes. He is wearing a white shirt with a band collar and slim jeans with casual white sneakers, his skin color is fair in contrast to my light brown skin. And he has black hair and dark brown eyes like me.  There are so many emotions in his eye. But I can't find myself to name even a single of them. Why am I feeling this? Why am feeling a pull towards him? I have never felt like this before. There is also a sense of familiarity mixed with this strangeness. Looking at his face I can tell he is feeling the attraction. The pull is making him unable to look away as well. Though I am feeling shocked, but on inside it's like I have never been this calm whole my life. It's like I know him from somewhere, but in fact, I have never met him before. I would surely remember a guy as handsome as him if I ever met him before. Have I really met him? But how could I have forgotten him if I have met him before? Or maybe we did meet but I forget? Uhm...but that's very unlikely since looks are not something I can forget easily. So did I really not meet him?....  I am still lost in thoughts when a bright light is reflected in my eyes that makes me close my eyes. Once I open my eyes, my gaze falls on a golden antique Georgian hand clock which is rested on the handsome boy's lap and reflecting sun's ray. The clock is adorned with a long golden chain that can be used to hang it around the neck, a golden pin on the side to adjust the time, and another one on top to act as a stopwatch. The clock is still ticking even though it looks ancient. It looks expensive as well, where did he buy it?  I always wanted a watch like this one. Where did he even get it? He must be rich to be able to afford it. Wait....should I ask where he brought it? He looks kind of cold but I think he will answer if try to talk to him. My attention is still on the watch when it suddenly stops ticking. Uh...what happened? Why did it stop ticking? It was working fine until now, what happened all of a sudden? Did the battery die? Before I could think of another reason, my eyes widen because of shock. I watch in amazement and horror as it starts ticking in an anti-clockwise direction. What is happening? Why did it start ticking backward?  Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick.... What is wrong with this clock? Tick-Tock... And all of a sudden the world suddenly turns black. Just then I hear someone shouting in a distance. The voice was not clear because it is at some distance, but it became clearer as it was coming closer. It sound....very familiar, then I hear it.... "Nadya"  "Nadya"  "Nadya, wake up..."  My lids flutter open, the light blinds me for a few seconds but after few seconds everything becomes clear and I see my mom looking down at me while standing by my side of the bed.  "Huh" I mutter in my half-asleep state and slowly turn my glance towards the clock, it is 11:00 already. I am late again. I am a late riser, especially during vacations. And I consider this as my 'somewhat vacation' as I have just passed my 12th grade and recently started college. Today I don't have any classes so I am kind of free.  "Get up, freshen up and eat your breakfast", My mother leaves after waking me up. Being a late riser, it is normal for me to eat my breakfast during lunchtime. And since I am already skinny and easily get sick, I am not allowed to skip breakfast, even if I am late. Slowly, I get up and go to the washroom while my mind was still occupied by the boy in my dream. I take out my toothbrush and apply the toothpaste, placing the brush in my mouth as I look at myself in the mirror.  I get lost in my thoughts, trying to remember every detail of the dream. I don't want to forget that dream and especially his face. I am having a feeling I will meet him soon. I want to every single detail. I don't even know why I am feeling like this. After brushing my teeth, I try to stop myself from dreaming and focus on the day. I still have many things to do. Day went by as normally it always goes. Studying, painting, a small argument with my father, and sleeping most of the time. It was the same old day but my mind was constantly wandering towards the boy in my dream.  Around 17:30, I call my best friend to meet in front of my house. I wanted to share that strange dream I had today. There is a park in front of my house, where we usually take our evening walk while talking. We first met in 9th standard when she was a new student. Once by luck, she became my seatmate and we became acquaintances but later when I changed my seat, we stopped talking altogether and things became awkward between us. Then one day I was sitting beside her, we didn't talk much but after knowing that we held a common interest in watching anime, it was the start of our friendship. After 4 long years here we are, practically sisters we never had. Fortunately, she shifted near my house so it was easy to meet up.  "Hi"  "Hi"  "It is unusual of you to call me first, usually I am the one who calls you first." She says as soon as she matches my step. She is right, she is the one always calls first. She is the one who is more talkative among us.  "I want to tell you something," I tell Misha. "I had a strange dream today." I get straight to the point, I want to tell her the dream before I forget it. I tell her every detail about the dream, especially about the boy I have never met. It is not easy for me to take interest in boys because of my high standard, even when they are handsome. Looks are never enough for me. And I am sure I have never met him, so how can my mind form his face in my unconsciousness?  "Maybe you saw him in the crowd or streets" Misha try to reason. "You know our brain is very advance, it can memorize someone's features in a very short amount of time, so it is not much of the deal if someone we don't know appears in our dream, you must have seen him somewhere you just don't remember." I don't correct her but I knew that was not the case. It is normal for anyone to get to that conclusion and it's logical so it is the only explanation. But I don't feel that way. In crowd or street, I will always find him, it was as if something will always attract me towards him.  Topics changed and we started talking about something else. We walk for a while before deciding to go to a family diner for a change. Before we often went out with each other but now due to our studies it is not possible to spend time with each other as much we did before. I did not forget to inform my mother where we are going to avoid what happened last time. She thought we got kidn*pped. I am still confused, how did she come to that conclusion last time?  Coming back from a diner, I take out my books to start studying. I study for 4 hours and go to bed. But he remained in my mind and I knew I will meet him someday in real life, someday, m...The next day was as normal as yesterday. The only difference was, I had classes. Slowly everything became normal and I didn't see him ever again.  Maybe Misha was right....it was just a dream. Maybe I hoped for too much.   Time went by and I started forgetting his face.....And slowly I forgot him.