Two

 

The dream had such an engaging sense of magic that the old man thoroughly enjoyed it. He hoped that it would go on and on and on, traversing nights. Indeed, when he went to bed, or even when he had a shut-eye in the day time, in between classes, he was most disappointed if he had any other dream.

There were so many reasons behind this. For one, there were multiple questions that excited him! It seemed like a wonderful puzzle that explored how the little girl, if she did actually exist, would be identified. And then, how would someone actually discover this mysterious place that no one wanted to talk about, let alone travel to!

Tough questions, but these were not all.

Who, for instance, did the flute player speak of as being the un-dead? Why were the nights starless? What was all this nonsense about a double-headed serpent? Why did so many have to wait with such great eagerness for a little girl? What dark secrets did that place hold? Why was it known as the Land of the Blue Jasmine? Who on earth was the little girl? And why was she called The Awaited One?

One question led to the next, as is the case usually with questions of this type. And so, when the old man woke up in the morning, after his usual six hours of sleep, he was most disappointed because all the questions had remained unanswered. ‘Wheels within wheels. Clues left at random. You need to put them together to figure it all out,’ he muttered as he made his morning cup of tea.

He dearly wished he knew how the story would end. ‘It’s like a complicated detective story,’ he grunted irritably to himself.

Strangely though, he dreamt the same dream every night for seven nights in a row, always ending the same way, with the flute player asking him to hurry up or horrible things would happen in that faraway land. It did appear as though, with every passing night, the flute player was getting more and more insistent. ‘One day, when you are ready, you will receive a sign,’ said the flute player, ‘and you will know that the time has come! Remember to tell of this dream.’

‘It’s getting to be rather mysterious,’ he told himself one morning, as he walked to the school from his home. Night after night, the very same dream! Could it be that someone was trying to communicate with him through the world of dreams and tell him something important?

When the old man could no longer hold himself back, he decided that he would consult his wife. So, he told her about his dream.

Imagine his shock when he learnt that she too had the same dream every night for the last seven nights! And with the same questions, for which no answers appeared forthcoming in the dream!

‘This is no ordinary dream,’ the old couple told themselves, ‘there must be something to it and it would be wrong of us to ignore it, especially since both of us have had the same dream for the past one week!’

Could it be that the Land of the Blue Jasmine truly existed, they wondered.

‘I have heard the place mentioned,’ said the old man, ‘but only in hushed voices. I have always considered it to be a mythical place, conjured up by people with great imagination. They say it is a hidden place swathed in shadows and in evil. And now, the dream speaks of such a place as actually existing!’

‘But it is also believed that even talking about it brings untold suffering!’ the old man’s wife said.