A friend from Australia is listening to the audio messages I sent him on Instagram last night before going to bed. I could actually see his face as I was sending the message. He must have kept the phone's speaker close to his ear, trying to understand the thoughts behind the messages, in my imagination.
I'm in a village in Maharashtra, staying in a house that is built in the style of old buildings and resembles a little fort with a massive gate and tomb at its entrance. The driveway leading to that residence has a little incline. As I approach the location where I will be staying, I see a number of modest houses. I was just going around because I hadn't seen anything from inside.
The next thing I know, I'm sitting on a rock near the beach. I couldn't tell what time it was because there were people all over the place. My daughter is with me, and I notice a friend of mine approaching me. He was about to take a seat next to me when we heard the sound of waves. Although it appeared to be quiet and calm, I noticed that the water level near my feet was rising. It didn't take me long to realize that the sea level was rising and that it was a tsunami. I looked at my friend while holding my daughter's hand. We began running in search of a high-altitude location. I'm aware of the chaos going on around me. I was crossing lanes, climbing rocks, crossing trees, and looking behind to see how things were going.
I'm out of breath, but I couldn't stop running when I saw my daughter. At the same time, I kept wondering how my friend could be in India when I saw him listening to my messages in Australia! Was he only in India? Or has he come solely to meet me after hearing my messages? Did he really care to do all of this just because he realised I wasn't feeling well? There were a lot of questions in my head; I couldn't stop thinking about it all, but the fear of losing our lives was more pressing. We didn't pause and kept going. We managed to get to our house, which was at a high altitude and looked down. We could both see the aftermath of what had just occurred; it was all brown coloured water around us.
"So, do you regret coming to India after everything that has happened?" I asked him.
"No, I don't." I was desperate to do it myself. You tell me how long I'll keep thinking about everything in my life all the time. I'd rather do things now and regret later than not do them at all." he replied.
I was listening to him and looking him in the eyes, but I said nothing. I was delighted to hear whatever he had to say. He didn't say much, but I knew exactly what he meant, and I was relieved. I happened to open my eyes and smile as I awoke. It took me a few seconds to realise that I was dreaming, and my smile faded to a normal expression. I got out of bed and went to the restroom. I messaged a friend and told him about how I saw him in a dream and how there was a tsunami. Coming out of the bathroom, I hear my husband telling me about the tsunami that hit Indonesia last night.
I was speechless, staring at him blankly. There was a tsunami, both in the nightmare and in reality.
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