"No… no… please leave my father."
Six-year-old Abha pleaded while staring at a shadow in front of her."Please… don't hurt him."
But while saying those words, the sight before her made her freeze.Her father's lifeless body, covered in blood, lay right in front of her.
Once again… she had failed to save him.
Her tears had not even dried when suddenly her father's blood-soaked body moved.
She slowly walked closer. But when she turned the body over, she realized…It definitely wasn't her father.
It couldn't be.
Two dark, black eyes were staring straight at her.
Suddenly the figure began to laugh.
A loud, horrifying laugh that made blood trickle out of her ears.
She stumbled back away from the corpse.
"Child… tell me… where is your father?"
"Ha… ha… ha…"
The same dreadful laughter echoed again, piercing her ears with unbearable pain.
Abha could not bear the pain anymore.
"No!" she screamed.
"No… you're not real!" she cried, though she tried to make her voice sound strong.
She stood up and ran.
"I'm trapped in my dream again… I have to get out of here… Get out, Abha… Arjun is waiting for you," she encouraged herself.
Without looking back, she kept running… and running.
But that terrifying laughter still echoed inside her ears.
For years she had been trying to escape that voice… that nightmare.
She just wanted it all to end.
Suddenly, a truck appeared in front of her.
She screamed.
But someone grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the truck.
And finally… her eyes opened.
Her younger brother Arjun was sitting beside her, holding her hand.
He handed her a glass of water.
"Are you okay?" Arjun asked.
"Yes… I'm fine," Abha said after drinking some water."Won't you be late? Go get ready. I don't want your ridiculous friend sitting in our house again."
She tried to joke.
But Arjun didn't smile.
"Did you see the same dream again?" he asked.
For a moment, she remained silent.
"Yes," Abha said quietly, hiding her face.
"This is the fifth time this month. And the month isn't even half over yet. Do you know why this is happening?" Arjun asked.He had many questions… questions his sister kept hiding the answers to.
"No… I don't know," Abha snapped.
"I don't know anything. Now if your interrogation is over, go get ready."
She tried to sound strict… but failed.
Arjun stood up and hugged his sister.
"I'm always with you. Remember that."
Finally, defeated by her brother's concern, she said,
"Pandit ji told me… after a certain stage, the dreams will start coming again and again. After this year… they might even come every single day."
"Didn't he give any solution?" Arjun asked.
"No… there is no solution. And I don't know about you, but I definitely don't get along with my boss," Abha said with a small smile, trying to reassure him that she was fine.
Just then—
Thud!
The front door opened loudly.
"Dude! You scared me," Arjun said, placing a hand on his chest.
His friend Raj walked inside.
"Why did you give him the house keys?" Abha asked.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I didn't give them to him. He took them from my bag, made a copy, and put them back," Arjun replied.
"Then take them back."
"I've taken them back three times already. Who knows how many copies he has made," Arjun said.
"Oh hello! I'm standing right here. Stop talking about me like I'm not here," Raj interrupted.
"Then why are you standing here? Leave. You are not welcome here. We don't need you in this house," Abha said before walking into the bathroom.
"Tell your sister to talk to me properly. Otherwise I'll cancel the wedding," Raj said loudly toward the bathroom.
"I'm not stupid enough to marry you," Abha shouted back, slamming the bathroom door.
"Dude, I'm your friend. I know you. And I'm telling you, you're not marrying her," Arjun said.
Inside the bathroom, Abha could hear her brother and Raj arguing outside.
These were the moments she tried to hold on to.
These small moments… were the only happiness in her life.
Sitting beside the door, she began laughing… and crying at the same time.
(How do I tell you… that all of this will stop the moment I stop breathing?)
She couldn't forget what Pandit ji had told her.
He had clearly said that her life was nothing but a curse.
A curse that would end only with her.
She still hadn't found the courage to tell Arjun the truth.
Abha's life had never been easy.
And the future would be even more difficult.
Her younger brother Arjun and his friend Raj were always with her.
But how long would they be able to stay?
Life's ups and downs often make a person stronger.
But for that, one must also have a certain faith in oneself.
Abha had accepted Pandit ji's prophecy as the truth of her life.
She didn't know what the future held.
But she knew one thing for certain—
When her life ended… all her nightmares, her fears, and her memories would end with it.
(What kind of life is it… when all you can do is sit and wait for your own horrifying death?)