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“Terrified” is not the apt word !!

The room looked eerie. The fan not noisy as it used to be and the window curtain moved in the most unusual manner.

Is there anybody else in the room? I looked around and stared at myself. For a moment, it appeared that there was somebody behind me; I looked closely at the mirror and found nobody, what crap !! started imagining things, did I??

I was hungry but didn’t want to eat anything; wrapped myself under a thick blanket and switched off the lights. Sleep, at times, when needed the most, is so scarce. Fear gripped me. I was afraid to sleep too. People dream when they are asleep and I was afraid that I might get that dream again.

The previous day

Oh damn! I didn’t know it was raining outside. I had promised Monica that I would be online by 7, had stepped out of the office in a hurry and my heart dropped dead when I saw water all over and the rain thrashing the ground. The wind blew heavy like a cyclone, it actually could have been a cyclone, I don’t know.

It was water all over, as it was two days back, I thought the damn rain was done with our city but no respite; it had started to pour again!! To add to our woes, there was a flyover construction happening right in front of our office and they had dug up every possible corner of the road, For those who worked in my office, reaching office was like fighting a war and getting back home was like winning the battle, with all hopes on my Honda Unicorn, I kick started my voyage towards home from office.

The wind was hitting hard on my face and I found it difficult to drive. My home was ten kilometres away from there. It was then that I saw the huge yellow bus, I decided to trail behind it and it served as a breathing space from the heavy wind.

Fortunately, the bus took the same route that I usually take towards my house and the bus was moving at a comfortable speed. I covered over 8 kilometres trailing behind the bus and since the wind had slowed down and my home was not too far away from there, I decided to get ahead of the bus. The road was dimly lit and the rain reduced to just drizzling. I was still behind the bus. There was a woman riding a TVS Scooty adjacent to me. The bus approached a traffic signal and it was about to slow down. I overtook the bus from the right side. I got ahead of the bus, just few metres ahead, the signal light turned red and I applied the brakes. I knew the bus would stop behind me but before the bus could slow down and come to a halt, something horrible happened.

I heard a noise, like that of a tumbling metal and turned behind. It was the Scooty, it had hit the bus and in the impact, the women fell from the vehicle, both the woman and the vehicle rolled down to the wheels of the bus. The two-wheeler that she was riding crumbled underneath it. I saw the wheels run over her. I witnessed the most gruesome scene I had ever seen in my life. I saw the woman, being hit by the bus, lose balance, fall onto the road, roll over underneath to the wheels of the bus. Before the driver could apply the brakes, the bus had run over her and came to a halt with the front tyre over her neck. I heard her bones shatter and explode. Her mouth was wide open and blood oozed out of it. There was no screaming or yelling, no time for it, but for a very short moment of time before life moved out of her body, there would have been so much of pain and at that moment, there was somebody watching her in utmost bewilderment, it was myself.

Soon people gathered from everywhere, they pushed the bus behind, they screamed at the autorickshaw drivers to stop but none seemed to be interested. I saw a traffic policeman approaching us; he was walking slowly and appeared passive unlike us. He stopped a taxi and with help from the people around, took her body out and the car rushed to the hospital. I knew she was dead already.

I stood there in the rain shocked, not knowing what to do, for a moment I felt allergic to two wheelers and road. Few minutes later, I drove slowly and carefully towards home.

Even after reaching home, my thoughts were about the accident.

I had a dream that night and I saw the accident for the second time, exactly how I saw it happen in front of my eyes. The dream or should I call it nightmare? It woke me up in the middle of the night, I wasn’t terrified but I felt odd. I gulped down two glasses of water and sat on the bed, my head on my knees, trying to think about something pleasant. That night, I was actually alone in my room but I had a feeling that I’m being watched, I looked around, the curtain moving in the wind, the fan not noisy as it used to be, the ticking sound that the clock made, the shadow of the window grills on the floor when the wind blew the curtain over, it was a full moon day. I convinced myself that I’m alone and pulled the blanket over my head to sleep.

The next morning at office, I told all my friends about the accident. I told them about the dream too. All my friends then shared their experience of the various accidents they saw. Accidents have become common, everybody have seen accidents, but the one I saw was very gruesome and the lady looking at me at that dying moment was stuck in my eyes.


DREAMS THAT FOLLOW – Ramesh Ravindran


“Terrified” is not the apt word !!

The room looked eerie. The fan not noisy as it used to be and the window curtain moved in the most unusual manner.

Is there anybody else in the room? I looked around and stared at myself. For a moment, it appeared that there was somebody behind me; I looked closely at the mirror and found nobody - I must have been imagining things!

I was hungry but didn’t want to eat anything; wrapped myself under a thick blanket and switched off the lights. Sleep, at times, when needed the most, is so scarce. Fear gripped me. I was afraid to sleep too. People dream when they are asleep and I was afraid that I might have that dream again.

The road was dimly lit and it was still drizzling. There was a woman riding a TVS Scooty adjacent to me. The bus approached a traffic signal and it was about to slow down. I overtook the bus from the right side. I got ahead of the bus, just few metres ahead, the signal light was red and I applied the brakes. I knew the bus would stop behind me but before the bus could slow down and come to a halt, something horrible happened.

The scooty was trying to overtake the bus from the left, the lady driving it looked at the tall man who appeared from the darkness, before she could react or slow down the vehicle, he kicked the vehicle as forcefully as he could into the wheels, the lady could not control the vehicle, it hit the bus, she lost balance, fell onto the road, rolled over underneath to the wheels of the bus along with the tumbling vehicle. Before the driver could apply the brakes, the bus had run over her and came to a halt with the front tyre over her neck. I heard her bones shatter and explode. Her mouth was wide open and blood oozed out of it. I woke up with a scream.

What the heck?? It was a murder, it wasn’t an accident!! What bloody crap? That day I didn’t know what happened on the other side of the bus , I turned back only when I heard the bang - the two-wheeler being hit by the bus. Why did I see something different in my dream? I was frightened to the core and was sweating!!

That morning as soon as I entered office, I gave a call to Monica, Monica does not work with me in the same office but I called her then because she usually wakes up by that time - when I will be breaking my head at office, and the reason I was curious to share my dream with Monica was because apart from a master degree in psychology, she has also done a course on interpretation of dreams from Madras university and takes seminars on it too.

Unfortunately, Monica was out of town, I sent her an email about how strange I felt and the weird dreams that I see.

Going to sleep was not easy from then, I was scared that I might see dreams of murder and accident, I was scared to sit alone, I felt that the lady who I saw die in that horrible accident is actually with me, not alive, but with me, crying for help, pleading for justice, since it was only me who was there at that moment, when she was brutally pushed to the wheels of the bus.


That night, I was about to switch off the light in the bed room when something odd happened. The window was open and a crow flew into my room. It scared me to death, fluttering its wings, flying all across the room until it managed to find its way out of the window.

Few hours letter, as frightened as I was for the past few days, was about to retire to bed, after offering sincere prayers to God that I shouldn’t have any more nightmares, of accident or murder, I prayed that I’m too weak for any murder trail or investigation, I closed my eyes hoping that the night gets over quickly, and its morning when I open my eyes.

My prayers didn’t let me down, I missed the hat trick but I had another dream, it was a dream about gathering of crows, initially it was just one crow sitting all alone, then another one flew by and sat next to it, then few other crows came, I could remember very well that there were seven crows in total.

I vaguely remembered the dream when I woke up, but that I saw SEVEN crows was very clear in my mind.

I found it difficult to focus on anything else even when at office. What do seven crows signify? I wondered. I never believed that there could be any interpretation to dreams; dreams are just imaginary visuals of the disturbed mind, that is what I believed in.

That day at office, when I told my friend about the dream, he sang me the "counting crows" song. He told me that the song existed since long, the song kept ringing in my ears.


One crow for sorrow,
Two crows for joy,
Three crows for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five crows for silver,
Six crows for gold,
Seven crows for a secret never to be told

He said that the dream could be a forecast.

Is that dream about crows an omen? Am I being told a secret through my dreams? A secret that shouldn’t be told?

I googled it out. Corvus is part of the crow's scientific name. It is actually latin for Raven. Raven is a creature of metamorphosis, and symbolizes change or transformation. Does the dream mean change or transformation in my otherwise dull life? The Raven is also a keeper of secrets, and can assist people in determining answers to their “hidden” thoughts. Areas in our lives that we are unwilling to face, or secrets we keep that harm us - the Raven can help us expose the truth behind these (often distorted) secrets and wing us back to health and harmony. But what is the secret??


I woke up as the early rays of the sun hit my face. I was firm that the day will be different. I was all prepared for a murder pursuit. I decided to visit the spot where the accident occurred.

I reached there. There was a police checkpost and I saw him standing there speaking with his colleagues. It was that traffic policeman who I saw during the accident.
I was almost traumatized to realise that he looked exactly like the tall man who I saw in my dream, who appeared from the darkness and killed the lady. No wonder he was so passive that day after the accident occurred, it was he behind that brutal episode, and he planned it so well and got away with it. Nobody would ever have a doubt that it wasn’t an accident. But truth always triumphs! No matter how hard you try to hide it, it eludes you and pops out some way or the other. Truth is the testimony of God.

I was quivering in trepidation and the tall man in uniform noticed me. He walked towards me, asked me with puckered brows what the matter is, I didn’t know how to react, it was so unexpected, I didn’t expect him to approach me, “Why did you kill her?” I stammered. “You thought you can get away with it? I saw it! I’m going to tell this to everyone, you can’t get away with it, she is with me”

“What bullshit, just get the hell out of here!” He slapped me on my face and screamed at me. “Mad fellow” he answered the curious spectators.

I was mad with rage that evening when I reached home. I called up Monica and told her everything. She was back from the trip and said she’ll visit me soon.

She came with two of our friends. She had seen my email and did some preliminary investigation about the accident. One of my friend’s dad is working in the traffic headquarters.

“We’ll have to ensure that the lady gets justice! We shouldn’t let the murderer get away with it” I furiously told them.

“What justice and who is the murderer?” Monica asked me.

“You know it Monica, the lady should get justice ! else she’ll keep following me in my dreams”

“The lady should get justice from who? It was an accident ! and by the way how are you so sure that she is dead? the passengers in the bus saw what happened. Perhaps you are the only one who saw it in the most gruesome manner, she being run over by the wheels but those in the bus saw how she got to the wheels, the incident got into your brains a bit too much I guess”

“Are you telling me that I’m mad?” I roared.

“Nope, that night when the accident occurred, you were upset! You had the first dream about the accident that night isn't it?”

“Yeah!”

“We did check out details of the accident with help from Arun’s dad. There was nothing like you dreamt! That was just an accident! When the accident occurred, you were under stress, sometimes it so happens that the brain consolidates the memories that are created under stress into a smooth narrative and that is what happened with you! And I must say you have got a very creative brain” She grinned meekly.

“No, it was not imagination or mere dreams, I told you about the crow getting into my room, it was an omen” I tried to explain.

“It is proved through studies that illogical locations, characters, and dream flow may help the brain strengthen the linking and consolidation of associated memories, you saw a crow and it got into your dream flow”

I gawped at her not knowing what to say.

"We got the address from the traffic policeman and went to the lady's house. For your kind information, the lady is not dead ! she broke her neck and suffered serious injuries but quite miraculously she survived the accident, thanks to the traffic policeman and the taxi driver who took her to the hospital on time" Monica smiled.

"What?" I stared in disbelief


“Dreams are a wonder my dear friend, Dreams can link to actual sensations, such as the incorporation of environmental sounds into dreams such as hearing a phone ringing in a dream while it is ringing in reality, or dreaming of urination while wetting the bed. Dreams try to make connections, may allow the dreamer to integrate thoughts that are not true and seem dissociated during the waking life. Dreams are a product of "dissociated imagination", which is dissociated from the conscious self and draws material from sensory memory for simulation, with sensory feedback resulting in hallucination” She was speaking like an expert, she is one !

She went on and gave a long lecture about dreams, most part of it was difficult for me to understand though ! I felt so embarrassed, not that I couldn't understand what she said but that I behaved a bit silly chasing the dream.

“Now you stop sending me such silly mails and tell me what have you planned for the weekend? This will be a long weekend as Monday is a holiday for you and so how about a trip to Munnar with all our friends? You very badly need a change!” She burst into laughter and I gave out an embarrassed laugh though in the heart of my hearts i had a small doubt if Monica lied to me that the woman survived the accident.