Vishwa closed his eyes. Every muscle gave him a burning sensation. His whole body was soaked in sweat. He was still short on breath, so he tried to draw breaths to calm himself down. His heartbeat was high, but it was not that high as that time. He felt relieved.

When Vishwa was thinking that nothing more could go wrong, he heard a voice. And he recognised that voice.

‘Look who it is,’ the taller one of the fatties was there. But the thing that made Vishwa dread the most was not the fatty. But the people who came along with the fatty.

Vishwa tried to stand up, but he failed, he couldn’t control his legs. What stupid thing to say back then. Vishwa cursed himself, he had spoken something at that time in a hurry. But now that his mind was clear. ‘I want to take that back.’ He said, his expression was dark.

‘So what were you saying back then, ‘ the fatty said, as he came near Vishwa. He had a devilish grin on his face.

Vishwa knew that this time he wasn’t getting spared.

‘Paul come here’ fatty asked one of his men to come forward.

‘You see him, this time I have asked my father to give one of his man, so that the next time I met you It would be our last. Who would have thought that you would come by yourself.’ fatty said grinning near Vishwa’s face.

For an instant Vishwa had a strong urge to punch his face. But held back his urge. Looking at those people who looked professionally trained for this kind of thing. His end wasn’t going to be good.

‘Fat… sir let’s forget the past, I was stupid to say that stuff,’ Vishwa said, he was going to call him fatty but he quickly shut his mouth. After saying that he started slapping himself on his face.

Fatty looked at Vishwa. How did this guy changed so much in just a few hours. But whatever might have been the case Fatty wasn’t going to spare him.

Watching Vishwa as he slapped himself. Fatty said, ‘This isn’t enough,’ and started kicking him.

Vishwa grimaced in pain, first the pain of muscles being overworked and second getting beaten by this fatty. He wasn’t getting any rest, was he.

Getting kicked by fatty on his stomach. Vishwa curled up his body, trying to protect his stomach. Fatty was kicking him again and again. Fatty got exhausted pretty quickly.

Which helped Vishwa take some rest. He had been beaten pretty bad. Vishwa tried to move his muscles, every movement was accompanied by agonizing pain. But if he tried he would be able to get away from them.

At that moment someone started shouting.

Police Police

The law enforcement was coming.

Vishwa was filled with sudden happiness. Atleast something good happened at the end of the day. That was then, Vishwa felt a sudden boom on his face. And his vision turned black.

The moment someone started shouting police. Fatty became nervous, he wasn’t scared of law enforcers, but he was scared of what would come next. It was time to go. But before going he gave Vishwa a final look.

Fatty saw Vishwa's face. Unconsciously Vishwa had started smiling. It irked fatty so much that he punched Vishwa straight on his face. Fatty himself grimaced in pain. He didn’t know punching others could also cause so much pain.

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Grabbing his hand, which was bleeding from a small cut, he disappeared, along with his people.

After fatty had gone for a minute or so. Another boy came in a hurry and sat near Vishwa.

He first looked at VIshwa. Vishwa was bleeding from his nose. Watching him not respond, the boy got nervous and started shaking Vishwa.

‘Wake up, man’ the boy said, as he tried to shake him awake from every possible way.

After checking upon his breathing, and checking upon his condition when he came to realise that Vishwa had fainted he was finally able to take a sigh of relief.

‘Ah!, why am feeling pain.’ Vishwa thought, his vision was groggy. He tried looking around, but no he wasn’t able to see anything. The sight in front, it was like a layer of fog was stopping him from looking ahead.

After few minutes of intense pain. His vision finally returned. He looked around looking at his front and then his back. As far as he could see he was surrounded by a fog.

The shock was visible on Vishwa’s face. ‘ Where Am I’ he thought, trying to move.

He was very surprised when he found he could actually move. ‘But it is normal for me to move, so why am I thinking like this.’ he looked ahead.

Gathering himself together, Vishwa started walking. Without a general sense of direction he was moving ahead. But he couldn’t find anything. The Gray world was such a perfect word for this place.

‘Hello somebody here,’ Vishwa shouted. But the words seemed to have got lost just after getting out.

It traveled far and wide and disappeared till it couldn’t be heard.

At that moment Vishwa was assaulted by a vicious pain that filled his whole being. Especially his head.

Gasp

VIshwa Gasped by the sudden pain, he grimaced trying to hold his whole body. He couldn’t find the source of the pain and then Vishwa remembered what had happened before.

‘ I was in the night market,’ Vishwa said in a soft voice. His memories returned. ‘Yes I was there, fatty had surrounded me, but then suddenly my vision had gone blank.’

‘No way, was I knocked on my face by that fatty,’ Vishwa thought walking back and forth. Getting knocked by Fatty had drained his expression. How stupid would I have looked.

‘I will show fatty,’ Vishwa said, planning his revenge, but truth dawned on him. He had no strength to fight.

So he improvised.

‘When I become strong, I would definitely beat that fatty,’ He said with determination.

But for that Vishwa would have to get away from here.

Vishwa walked, walked, walked and then walked. For how long he didn’t know, but Vishwa was tired of walking he thought, he must have been walking for hours and in vain.

For all Vishwa could see was a fog, that formed this grey world. Try as he might, he wasn’t able to find any clue at all.

Roaming around in this world for hours, Vishwa had the time to understand many things. Such as, it seemed like he was knocked unconscious by that fatty. This revelation was so big to him, that he had just stood with his mouth open in shock for a whole five minutes.

‘I had nothing else to do, so I thought why shouldn’t I count,’ Vishwa thought with a silly expression.

Another revelation was a fact that Vishwa didn’t want to agree with. Vishwa had looked at his body and thought, ‘It seems I am inside a dream.’

His pain had stopped the moment he understood the significance, that it was his own dream. It seemed like he was subconsciously trying to project his pain in the dream.

‘How much long do I have to roam around,’ Vishwa looked around, he found he was in the same street. Old houses were aligned on both sides. On the outer beam of each house an old lantern was fixed, that gave off the feeling that it had been burning for quite some time and lastly he saw the house. Vishwa realised it was the same house from which he had heard the noises which had been such a terrifying experience.

The house this time looked different from others. It almost felt like he was feeling a kind of reverence just watching the house.

Vishwa had experienced trauma like no other on that street. And finding himself again in this situation, he wasn’t able to remain calm.

Unknowingly he had started shivering.

‘Calm down Vishwa, this isn’t anything scary,’ Vishwa thought. As his leg gave out. He was having a hard time just trying to stand straight.

Vishwa turned around and tried leaving the street, after many tries of trying to go out he found himself in the same street.

Vishwa stopped. He looked straight at the house which looked ethereal than the most and started walking toward it. Every step he took toward that house, he felt a strong revulsion, he wanted to turn back and try again to leave the street.

But Vishwa knew it would have been for naught. Vishwa looked at the house. It must contain the answers to this dream.

Vishwa was halfway from the house. With each step he took, various thoughts assaulted his mind. He was having a hard time remain clear.

Finally he stood at the same, podium, taking a deep breath. He took a step forward. A similar creaking sound of a rusty log assaulted his senses, but he didn’t stop. Taking step after step he stood in front of the door.