Me II

"The husky voice called out, 'Wait for me, Meher, please!' And there was just a fragrance that followed -- the complex trigger of freshly ground spice and a faint hint of washed, mowed grass. The figure, I think, if I remember, was a shadow, of someone who was delicious...perhaps...yet, something I was running away from. You know, it felt being at home with how strangers smell. I did not feel the abandon, rather it was an embrace of kindness. But in the end, it was the borrowed, comforting world of unfamiliar faces. I do not know how else to recall that feeling, I wish I were there, really!"

"Mine was an intriguing one too, Meher. It felt like being a part of a Dali canvas, my limbs all over, and apart from each other. It wasn't a static canvas, of course! There were insects and animals, hanging in place of fruits, on trees...you know what I mean? Toads on a mango tree where mangoes should have been. Spiders on apple branches. And we were running. I don't remember if were chasing something. But there was a great rush, I can still feel it. Wait, somewhere there was also a seashore. When the waves left, our footprints remained, and we were amused! But we had to run, and you stayed behind, drew a ring, with all your attention, on one of the fingers in the footprint, and joined me. When you finally caught me, you clutched my jacket and then I don't remember. I think you were saying something about big birds..."

"Yes! That's it! Birds! In my dream I felt as if I was sitting on a bird, and it flew me away from the voice..."

"Oh Meher, but how is it possible? You were speaking about birds in my dream!"

"Hmmm. But I was there in my dream too. And I am here now, speaking about birds in my dream."

There was a longish pause between the two. Finally Meher spoke. "Do you think this is the bigger dream then? What if this is the dream in which we are both discussing tiny little dreams? And then what if there is no way to leave this space? Could we possibly be trapped here? Let's wake each other up, cmon!"

"Meher, Meher, please! This is us! We are here. Don't get carried away like the bird in your dream. Er...in my dream."

"I could not have been there in my dream, and then be in yours too! Do you not understand? We are all part of one dream, this!"

Meher rushed out of the room and walked out to sit under a leafy tree. Significantly, after a while, she began to draw a ring on the toe of her right feet, just like the one in my dream. And that was when I asked myself Meher's question. "What if this were indeed a dream in which we were both trapped? What if...?"