E01 : The Unrisen Sun

DATE : 10th July, 2012

Kashish found herself in a strange space, the one that exists between sleep and consciousness. She was neither drowned in sleep, nor quite awake; but she was feeling trapped consciously. It was just a funny, hanging state of mind where nothing made sense at all. Somehow she snapped out of it and found her body facing the smiling night sky. Her lips reflected the same expression.

Then suddenly, she realized where she was, and sat upright with a start and checked her phone. Shit, 4.30am!

To her left Rachel and Ayush were sleeping peacefully, their hands locked into each other's. To her right, Rudra was still very much awake. His glittering eyes were in some avid talk with the night sky, gazing it intensely. It feels like he owns the sky, Kashish thought, looking at him. Actually he can own anything and anyone effortlessly.

Kashish shifted her gaze to the sea and kept staring at it. It was not just any sea; it was a famous one that belonged to Mumbai’s dazzling Marine drive. 

“So...you are leaving us.” Kashish said in an even tone, never leaving her eyes off the sea.

Rudra sat upright and looked at her; he was surprised to find her face composed.
.

“No Kash, it will all be the same you know, our friendship and fun times, I promise. It’s just that, we all won’t share the same batch. But still we’ll hang out like always.”

“I am not angry about you leaving me or Rachel or Ayush, I am furious about you leaving dance!!”Kash said, looking straight into his eyes, emotions had started surfacing her face.

“I am not leaving it, okay? My dance classes will still continue.”

Rudra knew an explosion was coming, “But you won’t be trained in Dance Diploma Program with us. Don’t you realize that there are really very few who pass even the audition for this course? You were not only chosen, but your performance was announced to be the best by the judges. And here you are, turning your back on ‘The Terrence Lewis Academy’ for some shitty course in engineering!”, She was literally shouting at the dawn hour on Marine Drive.

He smiled wide, and tried to calm her down.

“Listen bozo, you know that I belong to a crazy family of engineers and doctors whole believe that the whole world thrives only on science. Their ideologies won’t ever allow me to pursuit even Law, so forget dance. You know how hard I've tried to convince them, but “

“But Dance is your only dream Rudra!!” Kash cut him in between "I see it in your eyes, even when you’re not dancing, even when you’re watching the sky, I see it.”

“Don’t worry Kash. There are always some crazy dreams in life that are blinded by invincible hope. They just won’t die or get killed.”Rudra winked. He had no regret or remorse for the way this situation had turned up. He never complained and never worried. That is why he was loved by just everybody.

Kash had to smile,“I’ll miss you a**hole.”

“And I’ll be finally happy to get rid of you bozo.”Rudra said proudly.

All of a sudden they both heard a sad sobbing, and turned their heads to find that it was Ayush.

“Awww.” Rudra and Kash both said together and grinned.

“I’ll miss you too” Aysuh stood up, still sobbing and jumped on Rudra to hug him.

“Hey careful!” ,Rudra lost his balance, and before he could regain it, Rachel and Kash too jumped on him.  The moment was beyond perfect with all the hugs and laughs and love. “Yes bitches, I’ll miss you all... too much.”

__________________________________________

“Ready for the final spin, Miss Miraya?” the pretty dealer in black dress asked with the familiar devilish smile.

“I don’t want to do this”, Miraya couldn't hold back her tears anymore, "I beg you, let go of me.”

 The rage in the dealer’s voice was evident, “You were the one who came in here, in my CASINO! I had warned you to trust the better part of me, but it was you who chose to test your stupid heart’s gambling instincts. You are NOT leaving the place until you finish the game.”

“Why is that necessary?”Miraya asked, frustrated.

“Because with every bet that you win or lose, your future changes.” The dealer reminded her once again.

Miraya did not remember how she had ended up in this strange, empty, lifeless CASINO that ringed too loud with silence.  But the memory of the meeting the dealer was still clear.

               Miraya had almost collapsed when she had first seen the dealer, because the dealer had exactly the same face and body as her. “Who are you... And where am I?” Miraya had asked ,bewildered.

But her duplicate in black dress had simply led her to the center table of CASINO, where the game of American Roulette had been waiting for them.

              Dealer had then explained the game rules. ‘You’ll be given 200 coins at the start of your game. Mind you, this is not the usual Roulette that allows one to play straight bets or color bets or even/odd bets’, her twin had said. ‘The layout of your game has only 4 sections – section A, B, C and D. Numbers 1 to 36 are equally divided into these for sections as you can see.’,she had described each section pointing it out on the layout.

‘You can bet on only one coin and on only ONE of the four sections in every turn. If you win, that is if the ball ends up in the pocket of a number from your betted section, you’ll earn your bet coin back. . But IF you lose the bet, you lose the coin too.’

“I don’t win money?”, Miraya was really confused.

“No dear, you earn marks here.You'll play total 200 turns. For every win, you get one mark. At the end of the game we’ll sum up your wins and that will decide your future.”

“Marks, of what?”

“Your Entrance Exam for Engineering....” 

Miraya was helplessly playing the game of her fate for a long time now. She had already placed 199 bets and lost 79 marks.

“Place your last bet Miraya!” the dealer shouted.

She took out her last coin and with shaking and tired hand,  she placed it on ‘section A’ of the layout. The dealer spun the Roulette wheel in clockwise direction and threw the ball gracefully in the opposite direction. The ball started losing its momentum. “D!!” Miraya shifted her bet.

“No more bets.” the dealer announced coyly.
The slowing ball landed in the pocket no '3' that belonged to section A.

 “Oh dear.....” dealer showed some pity ,"So, Miss Miraya has earned 121 on 200, not bad.... but not impressive at all!!”

All of this did not make any sense to  Miraya. “Now, for god’s sake tell me who are you, and what is this place?!”

The beautiful devilish dealer started walking away from Miraya and announced,“I am your mind Miraya, the part of you that you don’t trust anymore. And....”, the dealer said fading, “It’s time to wake up.”

Miraya flew her eyes open, and found herself on bed. Huh....!! I love you god. Thankyou,thankyou...! It was just a  dream!

 Today the results of Engineering Entrance Test(EET) were going to be out. She ran straight to her brother’s room, and found him with his laptop. He was already checking her result. 

“Morning Miraya, was just entering your roll number”, Sanjeet said with a morning smile.

“Morning, bhai”, Miraya replied in an empty voice.

She sat next to him with her fingers crossed and eyes closed. "Read it out loud bhai, whatever it is.”

“Okay",Sanjeet laughed. "Here we go.... webpage loading........and.................. I ....can.... see.... your.... result......ohh....... my...... god unbelievable.....”,Sanjeet teased her.

“Idiot say it now!!!”, even with closed eyes she punched him hard on his arm.

“Ok..... Ok....And.......Your score is........”

“121?” Miraya asked anxiously, opening just one eye and looking at her brother with a questioning look.

“Look for yourself”,Sanjeet said,awestruck.
And Miraya was not shocked to see her nightmare come true.

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