Garima couldn't remember falling asleep. But the last thing she remembered is begging for an idea. And not getting one. That meant Sleep took her without warning. And she couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality. She didn't remember waking up. But she was midway through a sentence she was writing. And her usual tap-tap sound of the keyboard keys. She paused her fingers over the keys and stared at the screen. And there was silence. It was nowhere near her usual morning.
She didn't dare to move. But the next moment a place unfamiliar replaced home.
She found herself underneath a vast sky. It was blue but unlike blue. It had a misty layer. Which made the whites appear silver. Making the pale sky shimmer. The green grass beneath the feet stretched far beyond. It looked endless.
Garima blinked
"Okay" She said slowly "Either I am dreaming or was it opium in my chai?"
Even though with doubt she found herself walking along the path. Watching birds, animals, people as a silent observer.
She felt herself floating. And she thought about jellyfish. She saw huge jellyfish. She thought about dragons. She saw dragons. And golems. And monsters. Then she thought about heroes. She saw heroes. Then she thought about huge castles. She saw huge castles. She thought about ruins and she was ruins.
It is like her imaginations coming alive. Like you write prompts and AI gives you images.
She laughed " This place is my imagination?"
She laughs again.
"This is…. AWESOME"
"Honestly if this is my dream, my brain deserves an award"
"Now let's think about a story" Okay we need monsters, devil generals terrorizing villages"
The earth began to shake and people started screaming.
Garima laughed in anticipation. "Now we need heroes fighting devil bosses"
Then came a familiar feeling like how she writes her stories in her laptop. But this time she didn't need words to describe. Her story was already coming out like a drama. She only needed to think. So she thought about a Swordswoman, a tanker, an archer and a mage.
She felt like a puppeteer pulling the strings making the devils and the heroes fight. It was exciting.
The battle began, the perfect fantasy scene. She stood still above, floating and invisible like the perfect strategist. It's like when you play chess alone.
The battle was deadly. She named weapons, she named devils. She made them fight each other to death. A hero lost his hand. A heroine lost her eye.
Her words came alive
"YES…this is exactly what fantasy stories need"
A world packed with
The heroes
The devil generals
Adventurer Guilds
Legendary Weapons
Mysterious Creatures
Magical buffs. Cities, Kingdoms, ruins, hidden systems of power, walking through the stretch of the world, everything common and cliché but different at the same time.
This is it.
A massive Story.
Her thoughts started small, yet they took shape. He imagined depth and tragedy in her story. Different plots, different adventures, ranking up and conflicts. She thought about the entire arcs of the stories.
"THIS IS IT!"
She screamed. And woke up. Thump. Thump. Her heartbeat wouldn't slow down. Her eyes darted everywhere. She scanned the room in a rush.
Her bookshelf, her table, her laptop. Her posters, her figurines. This was her room. Her reality.
Yet the details of her dream remained. Every Detail. Every Creature. Every adventure. Her eyes widened.
She scrambled out of her bed to her table. She sat down with her laptop. With a blank new page on the screen. Then tap-tap-tap, letters appeared on the screen one after the other. Then it formed lines. Faster than thoughts.
Without pausing. Her hands kept typing.
Sentence after Sentence. Paragraph after paragraph. And her story took shape from her thoughts. The words kept coming.
"OH GOD! I am actually writing"
By the time her alarm rang Garima had just finished her 30th page. Sunlight crept through the windows and she stopped typing. She just sat there elated.
Her mother knocked once and entered. Then she froze. Maybe because she looked eerie.
Messy Hair hastily tied into a bun. Tired eyes. The laptop screen is still flickering.
"You didn't sleep ?" Her mother asked
"Nahi"
"Kyu"
Garima turned dramatically to her mother.
"Maa, I had a dream last night"
Her mother sighed used to her antics by now.
"What did you see, this time?" she asked.
"A story"
Her mother blinked
"A story"
"Yes, A story"
" Okay Good, but now you eat something and sleep. You need sleep. Just look at your eyes beta"
At breakfast she was still excited.
"I wrote thirty pages"
A cough burst from her brother as the tea caught in his throat
"Thirty ? Really?" He asked surprised
Her father smiled. "Accha?"
She nodded proudly.
"This is my big novel"
"You said the same about your last six novels" Her brother argued
"This one's different," she insisted.
"How?" He asked
" It has Devils, Adventures, and Dragons"
"So what's new"
"It's really different, It's like we both are different but we all are homo sapiens, It's like that"
"Papa she is going crazy, I am telling you"
Their father just chuckled.
Garima just glared at everyone. "You will see"
Her brother laughed.
"Still fantasizing about being like JK Rowling. And Oda Sensei, bro face reality"
"I won't give up, I will never give up. And They are my idols, you don't get to speak about them."
"Bas karo, Stop it you too. And have breakfast" Their mother sighed.
Later after sleeping for a bit. Garima started writing again. Her brother peeked at her from the doorway.
"Still writing?"
"Yes"
"You are serious"
"Yes, I am"
"We'll see"
She just ignored him. Her fingers worked constantly and the screen filled with letters. The story continued. Chapter by chapter. It stretched further this time. Heroes formed parties. And created power systems.
Her chest swelled with happiness. This was something that felt like a beginning. Not another try. The story was taking shape slowly.
The next morning her father came to wake her up. And found her still at her desk. Writing.
"Is it going well?" He asked
She nodded, still absorbed in her story.
"Then write, Just keep track of your sleep and health"
Garima grinned looking at him. "I will"
At breakfast her mother gave her eggs and meat for protein.
Her brother was also less annoying than usual.
She felt sweet.
Her family was silently supporting her.
And they was all that mattered
When sleep came, it was already midnight. And now the document contains 35 more chapters.
She yawned and slept.
And somewhere the world she imagined began to move.
Real and Alive.