Satya liked storms—their noise, their wild energy, and the strange feeling they brought. Cloudy nights felt alive to him, almost as if the sky was leaning close and whispering. He thought such nights opened doors, where the normal world faded and things like dreams, memories, or even time could slip through.
That Friday night was heavy with clouds, the kind that make the sky feel close and alive. Satya had planned to spend it at the farm with friends, where thunder rolled like drums and "Chop Suey" & "Crawling" played on repeat. Of course friends were angry at his madness over these songs and mysterious lyrics. One of them was stuck on "Kal Chaudhvin Ki Raat Thi", but they managed to steer him back, and together they rewrote some of the poems from "Madhushala". Laughter mixed with the storm, but beneath it all, Satya felt a strange pull—not drunk, not sober, but suspended between the worlds.
The dream that had been waking him up for the past few days returned again. The big chambers and the small little girl in the beautiful red dress. He wondered why he shouldn’t experience something like that and share her pain in some small way. He went into the bathroom, locked the door and window so no air could enter, lit five or six cigarettes, and filled the room with smoke until it was completely foggy. Maybe nothing was left other than a high amount of smoke. He knew it couldn’t replace the kind of carbon monoxide or Zyklon B that was in those chambers, but he was still trying. He tried to breathe, and tried again. The suffocation was real, a private hell.
Suddenly, there was a huge sound and flash of lightning near the window. Maybe the glass cracked, and he could breathe again. He saw something shining near the huge mango tree. It was like a mirage in the desert. He was curious and completely awake. As he went closer, it was like amber, and he could see the same chamber from his dream. He entered and felt water flowing around him. He looked through the small window of the chamber, and his heart stopped. The same girl in the red dress was scratching the walls with her nails. It was foggy there as well, but he could still see through her soul and feel the pain of suffocation.
An iconic still from Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” (Photo courtesy Universal Studios)
Nazi soldiers were laughing outside the chambers, peering through other small windows. Satya shouted at them to stop, but they couldn’t hear him. He somehow entered the chamber. He could see many people and children. She held his hand and hugged him very tightly. His whole body went numb; he was speechless, and his eyes filled with tears. He was suffocating again and started scratching the walls like the little girl, desperate for air. He lost consciousness and collapsed.
When he became slightly conscious and awake, he heard his friends’ voices knocking on the door. He got up and opened it. They were frightened and asked him why he was shouting as if he had seen a ghost. They had been knocking for a long time, trying to wake him up. There was no way to tell them this story—they wouldn’t understand. They left for home early in the morning.
When he woke up again after the night’s drama at the farm, his wife was terrified because there was blood on the bed. He couldn’t explain the blood, the dream, or the real experience. When he took off his shirt, there were real scratches on his back, and his nails were damaged. He was shaken. He had never shared his dream with his wife before, so how could he explain what had happened last night? He tried to forget everything, but the dream—and the girl—were still there.
He visited the place near the mango tree again to find the same fracture in the fabric, but nothing was there. He knew whatever he had experienced was as real as the sun and moon. He visited multiple nights, staying awake just to save her from that chamber, but he couldn’t.
Was it time travel? A dream? Or something beyond both? Satya didn’t know. He only knew that the girl in the red dress was still waiting.
to be continued…
P.S. War, Gas chambers, Time Travel, and the girl from Schindler’s List.
Vipul Arwade
09.01.2026
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