A Nightmare.

Sidhi(P.O.V.)

"Hey! stop stop!! Don't... Ashi! Don't worry...I am here. ... I won't let anything bad befall you...Ashi...are you ok? ...hold my hand. ..don't leave me..." I woke up with my eyes wide open. I was agitated. My heart was fluttering to see Ashi.

I sat up on the bed and looked around me. Ashi was fast asleep.

"Thank God! it was just a nightmare." I felt relieved. I went close to her, caressed her head with my hand and imprinted a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you my li'l sis. I will be always by your side. Don't worry. Wakey-wakey sleepy head." she grabbed my hand and entwined it close to her heart. She looked so innocent while sleeping just like a child. I tried to twitch her slightly so that she could let go of my hand but it was like pulling an octopus off its prey. I grabbed a pillow and replaced it with my hand slowly.

I headed to get freshened up.

Ashi! She was my younger sister who just passed out 12th standard and was preparing to enter into graduation. Though she was mature and astute enough to attain my belief in her yet she was still childish by heart that had always been my subject to worry about.

In the midst of my thoughts, I heard her moaning "ouch!". I hurried to get ready.

" what's it now? what could happen? what's wrong with this girl? I wonder if she really is so stupid or just pretends to be silly. "

She was hugging her pillow tightly when I stepped into the room. I didn't make a move as I chose to stand and to watch her foolish acts silently.

"Oh my, Edward!" I rolled my eyes at her. Perhaps, she was fantasizing about Edward again.

"oh, fantasy queen. ...Come out of your dreams.."

I rebuked her for being so late and warned her to get ready soon. It almost made me chuckle to see her reaction. She rushed to the bathroom. Meanwhile, my phone rang and I picked it up.

It was Daiwik.

"Hello" I answered the call.

"hii! sidhi. Sorry if I disturbed your dreams. " He apologised but not by heart. I could hear his low giggling.

"shut up! and tell me what it's about?" I snapped at him right back.

"ohkay! calm down. I called to remind you about the assignment. Hope you don't forget that the due date is near.

"oh, God! how it's going?" I pouted. "Why are our professors so merciless? Me not gonna do it." I bit the edge of my lip that I usually did either when I was nervous or when I was tenacious.

"But if u don't submit an assignment on time, you know that they won't give you handsome marks in practicals." he tried to explain to me quite seriously.

"I know yarr. umm. okay," I said casually not sure how to do it or where to start from.

"you don't worry! Your friend is here" he said enthusiastically. "I have completed the assignment so now you can take the help of my notes. I have already sent them to your phone. U can check out." He said excitedly from the other side of the phone.

A smile lit up my face, not sure if it was for the assignment or his soothing voice.

"OMG! so soon, I thought you were dependent on me. Thank you so much Daiwik. I love you." I blurted out.

" what!" he was shocked yet he was laughing so loud. I bit my tongue for what I just said. I regretted just after spelling out that word.

"I meant that you are the best friend so in this way I like you...that's all " I cleaned the mess I created.

"Yeah yeah. I do understand. hahaha. don't panic. it's ok " Thankfully, we knew each other for the last seven years so It was clear that he would understand and not think wrong of me.

"ok bye, take care."

"you too, see ya."

As soon as I hung up the call, Ashi came into the room.

"Let's go," she said with a smile. I checked the timing on my wristwatch. It showed 7:45. It boiled my blood because I could never compromise with the punctuality of time and health. I scolded her but she was yet smiling. My anger had no limits then.

"Ah! grow up, Ashi. when will you change? why act like a jerk?" I didn't wait for her response and went straight outside the door.

I didn't take note of it, the morning was unusually beautiful. A cool breeze brushed softly against my cheeks.

I looked at Ashi who was lost in her own thoughts, not sure what was roaming around in her head but to be sure, her mind was absent somewhere. Perhaps she was upset with me. I should not have scolded her that much. After all, she was a human too and not a God that she had to do everything perfectly.

Amid all this came an elderly man. He threw some pieces of bread to monkeys at the corner of the street and disappeared. I got a notion to teach Ashi a lesson. Simultaneously, I picked up the speed as fast as I could and was almost about to reach the end of the lane when she called me.

"hey! wait for me," she yelled.

"oh, you wanna join? I thought you were enjoying your whereabouts." I excused her.

She was lost so much in the beauty that she didn't even see her rivals of which she had a phobia. Probably, that's the reason she dared to let me go leaving her alone in the barren street with all these Rhesus.

I couldn't say anything furthermore. So, I thanked her for leaving me alone and turned my back on her.

Although, I passed that street and then turned right but didn't want to leave her alone so I stood there to wait for her. She didn't come yet.

"it's been long. Why she has not come yet? " Negative thoughts started popping into my head.

"what if they attack her!? no no " I shrugged my thoughts out of my mind. "she must be fine, I know. Today, she has to be strong. We can't be always with her. She should learn a lesson. I will wait here"

I kicked and threw the stone away that was on the ground. I was moving like a turtle, not willing to go further. My ears yearned to hear her voice calling my name.

"where are you? should I go back and check her?" I was in a dilemma but I kept going ahead.

Then there came a moment when the flash of the nightmare I had seen in the morning drove me to my knees.

It was a gloomy night engulfed with darkness all around. I saw Ashi panting heavily under the shade of a tree. Her eyes were crushed near and she looked timid. I hurried to her lest it could be too late to be with her. Although I was far from her yet I could hear her whining. She was struggling with some unseen thing that I couldn't see clearly. More it seemed like there was no one and she was just shrieking and flapping her hands vigorously.

I comforted her "stop...stop Ashi....don't worry....I won't leave you..." she hugged me tightly. I rubbed her teary eyes and caressed her head with a kiss.

With that, I got into my senses and came into the real world.

"what if my nightmare transforms into reality? no no sidhi...runnn...." I rushed back to Ashi.