On The Realm of Fantasy

A long road stretched into the horizon, running parallel to the ocean. Sun was about to set and the sky was lit up with an orange hue, one of the most beautiful times of the day. It appeared as if the road went on ceaselessly, until it commingled with the sky. Thus, a shimmering orange was sprinkled all around, and it grew darker shade by shade, as the sun dipped below. The ocean too, swayed in rhythmic waves. As beautiful as it was, a beauty it wasn’t, for that lay in the eyes of an observer.

She walked slowly along the road, all alone. Her head was bent down and her arms were wrapped tightly around her chest. Oblivious to her surroundings, she had a thousand thoughts running through her mind.  Each passing day was getting worse, and it appeared that even small joys in life had given up on her. She felt as if she had lost all perspective in her life, here she was in a city so big, miles away from home and no one to turn to. Her quaint home and enticing childhood flashed before her through a transient haze and she had the strength to walk no more. She sat down on the pavement, facing the boundless ocean.

Twilight by then had given way to a starry night, but it wasn’t dark. Diamond stars and a silver moon shimmered in the sky and city lights twinkled on the borderline, where the sky met the Earth. And they together, the stars, lights and the moon, laid a spangle across the blue ocean. Dark waves eddied around the small rocks, and the stars, lights and the moon did too, melting in together like liquid silver. Ethereal and enchanting, that night was anything but ordinary.

Her glazed eyes stared beyond, inept of noticing the sprawling magic. She sat there until she was cold, numb. Even the noise of the city traffic began to die down but she didn’t have the strength to get up. A long tear slowly scarred her face, and quietly fell into the ocean below. A few others followed its suit, until she looked down and saw what was happening. And it was incredible.

Her tears fell but not into the ocean, they lingered in the air just above it. A sparkling light blue they were. Astounded, she bent down to touch them but they drove in beyond the ocean’s surface.  Water, as if sensing them, molded itself around them till it was blue pearls afloat in a cup of liquid silver. Bewitched and bewildered, she put in her hand and water, separating, shaped around it. She twirled her fingers, and water swirled with them. Taken aback, she laughed happily. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She looked around and for the first time, she saw the surreal lights and the dreamy night that enveloped her. In the next insane moment, she kicked off her shoes and stood up. She breathed in the cool night air and dived off the edge, her arms wide open. Ocean, as if startled, jerked up to catch her, and it was uncanny! She lay, mid-air, a sparkling silver arresting her that swayed with her, like her. She stood up, and beneath her the ocean encased her every move. Euphoric, she let out a scream into the silent night and let go of even the last straw of reason. And then she flew, boundless!

She danced in the air and whirled with the wind. She ran, fell, laughed and ran again, towards the moon and the endless sky. She reveled in the enticing silver, and let herself be carried away by the magical waves, the enchanting night. A Nymph of the night, she was no more a slave to the world and its laws. She was back in a care-free childhood; a childhood full of magic, dreams and innocence, where everything was possible.

And there she hovered, traipsing the realm of fantasy.