I opened my eyes thinking mom had switch on the lights of the room but contrary to my expectations I saw various unknown faces. Scrunching their eyebrows shoving their faces close to mine, they were all looking at me curiously.
'Where am I?' I asked a woman with blond hair looking at my direction. She was holding a basket while glancing at me suspiciously
'Who is she? Is she talking to us?' I could not understand what they were talking about. They spoke various unknown syllables making me more and more anxious.
'Please tell me, where am I? I don't know this world. I was just sleeping in my room!' I started crying in desperation. Maybe people will take pity on me. It was not something that required the skill to know one another's language.
'Huh? why is she crying?' a man said
'I think she is someone suspicious!'
'Look at her. She is so different from us!'
'Maybe she is an evil Shaman?'
'Should we kill her?'
People looked as if they were feeling scared of me. Their furious eyes and look of disdain gave me shivers. Twenty full grown adults and their suspicious glares made me feel alienated and anxious.
'Please, believe me I am not someone suspicious.' I made some hand movements. At the end I was tired and scared, I plead for some refuge.
'What is she saying?'
'We should call the village chief'
'Yes, we should'
Nobody touched me as if I was a plague. They had knifed and other tools used in farming with them. Ready to attack me if I made any movement. Crouching on the side of road, unaware of my surrounding I prayed for help. After some time, a benign looking elderly man came. He was wearing course clothes of brown color with grey moustache. I felt at peace looking at him.
'Sir please help me' I prayed to him while tearing down and kneeling at him.
The old man surprisingly smiled looking at me.
'She is not dangerous. I will take her to my home '
'What? But we really don't think you should do it.' A woman said angrily while holding a hatchet.
'Yes! Maybe she brought plague with her '
'Evil shamans are great actors. They will garner your sympathy and kill you apathetically'
'It is alright!' He said while making the sign to keep quit. 'She is my responsibility! Go now!'
The crowd dispersed as soon as he put some force in his words. He raised me up signaling to follow him.
I was so afraid of the people that I forgot to see my surrounding. However, moving through the bustling street, I felt that I really had arrived in another world. No matter how much I pinch myself I was not waking up from this lucid dream. The place was crowded with smell of known spices and unknown dishes. The sound of people even though I did know their language made me feel like it was a town marketplace. The streets were busy with small shops made on the portico of people's houses. The vendors were haggling. Magicians were a little too real with their magic tricks
The people were dressed in medieval era clothes. They looked impoverished and tired. Looking at them I guessed being suspicious of me was very normal. I was dressed in a shirt and shorts which completely different clothes from them. To add onto the suspicion my brown spectacles must have looked some kind of weapon to them.
'Here. Come over here.' The kind old man signaled me through hand gestures to walk into an abandoned street.
No way I am going there.
I ran in the opposite direction. I was not going to go somewhere suspicious in this unknown world.
Never trust anyone
'Hey! Where are you going? This girl!' The old man was running to catch me with all his might.
I was so absorbed in keeping the track of the old man that I forgot to look in front thus bumping into someone.
'Hmmm…This is the girl you talked about?' A hoarse voice of a tall man was heard under his black hood. He was wearing black clothes which looked as if it was of very high quality. I could not see his face or his features due to the loose cloak covering his body but I was sure that he was limping.
'Yes, Kautilya I was afraid that she might be someone who could bring bad luck to our poor town' The behavior of the man completely changed. A few whiles ago he was ordering people around but now he felt to be completely crushed due to the power radiated by the hooded man.
'Very well. Take these as your reward.' The man threw two pieces of gold coins on the ground which was greedily taken by the old man.
Disgusting!
'Little girl. You are not very beautiful but I am sure I can make do'
I do not know what that man was saying or thinking back on it after six years it would leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I did not know before losing consciousness that I would be stuck in this lucid dream forever and that all my dreams will be crushed ruthlessly.