Serpent Prince

*“Help me, help me. Is anyone here? Please help me!” I was screaking, shrieking and yelling for help, at the top of my voice, clinging to a cliff that appeared like an enormous, steep crater.

I knew deep inside that my cries for help were just futile as there was not a single soul in the vastness of land around me. I was more terrified of something at the bottom of the crater. The bottom of the crater was strangely coloured in the shades of fluorescent. Perhaps the fluorescence was coming from strange creatures inside it. They were like tiny, neon serpents ready to creep on me as soon as I landed on the bottom of the cliff. I considered them poisonous because I had heard that nature’s most beautiful snakes are poisonous.

I was ultimately out of breath, feeling helpless and hopeless, cursing my fate. My eyes were welled up with tears and pleading for help. My heart rate increased, my face flushed, and I was breathing faster. I was trembling and whining in fear. My disappointment of getting help was turning into frustration. My movements to climb out of the cliff turned into desperation. I was trying to dash out violently, in the process hurting myself. My body was restless and hyperventilating, pacing around wildly, rocking back and forth, trying to clutch onto the ground to crawl out. My brain was panicking, and my body felt numb and light-headed. I lost all of my strength and was having difficulty hanging on. My mind was formulating the thought to leave the grip and accept my fate of dying horribly in the pool of serpents. I was in chaos, feeling lifeless, apathetic and downright catatonic.

A hand came towards me in all this chaos, bringing a ray of hope. It gave a tiny smile to my face. It gave life to my body, and my strength surfaced. It boosted my positivity when things took a turn for the worst for me. I eagerly held onto it, and in no time, I was out of the cliff. I composed myself for a moment and looked in his direction. All I could see was the dark outline of his muscular body against the purple sky and orangish sands as tears and dust covered my eyes. I moved towards him to see his face, but he disintegrated before me, and I shouted “NO!” and woke up from my usual dream.

Nora’s POV

I woke up from my dream in my hostel room. My room was quite the opposite of the exquisite place I saw in my dream but certainly was less terrifying.

“Nora, are you okay? Again, same dream?” My best friend and roommate Meghan asked me. I just nodded.

I could not get back to sleep, so I just lay in my bed and observed Meghan. She is the opposite of me, so we are best friends. She is more friendly, extrovert and headstrong, unlike me, who like to keep to myself. She was working on a class project.

Out of the blue, Meghan said, “Did you see the face of your boyfriend?”

I was shocked, “Which boyfriend?”

Meghan replied, "The same one you keep seeing in your dreams and ditches you by simply disappearing”. I was annoyed as she made fun of me and threw a pillow on her missing head. And then we both started laughing.

The following day, I got up early to prepare for my university. Before leaving my room, I saw myself in the life-size mirror of my room. Unlike Meghan, I prefer basics to fashion. My pink top and blue jeans perfectly complement my perfect curves and tall stature. My brown curls hung loosely on my back and perfectly going on with my glossy skin, thick eyebrows, velvety eyelashes and sharp nose. Meghan always teases me about my dull dress sense, but I prefer whatever I am comfortable with.

My university was just a few minutes away from my hostel. Meghan had a car, and she always offered me a ride to university, but I prefer walking. I am happiest when walking alone, but this morning was different. Before leaving the room, I got a call from my mom. My parents live in New Jersey, three hours away from New York. They call me once a week, but today I sensed a bit of worry in their voices. My father had to undergo a life-saving surgery which was very costly, so they were contemplating whether they should go for it or not. I told them not to worry. I will try arranging for money. However, in my mind, I knew that it was not possible to fetch that kind of money with my mediocre part-time job in a nearby cafeteria. My job only took care of my expenses in costly New York city and maybe some occasional savings.

On my way, there were lots of billboards on which I used to read daily news while walking. But today, I was least interested and was totally engrossed in my own thoughts. Occasionally, I saw a few billboards that mentioned the latest news in audiovisual format.

I saw broadcasting of the President’s speech, in which he was urging the citizens not to panic. I also saw the video clips of vehicles similar to UFOs at some army base. A news anchor was saying, "A few days back, 5th July 2067, our scientists at NASA observed a strange disc-shaped object entering the Earth’s atmosphere. All the air force and army units were alerted. But with some communication with them, it was assumed they were no threat to us, nor they were planning on any attack. They find us and were hoping to visit our planet and develop friendly relations and since those few days diplomatic talks are going on between them and world leaders”.

Recently they had revealed some photos of these aliens. I was hoping they would be typical slimy, tall, greenish, squishy creatures without a nose and big eyes, typically like we see in the movies. But, in reality, they were totally different and looked very much like earthly beings. They were like us but appeared stronger. Yes, they looked like humans. Particularly, one face appeared on screen, giving me a feeling of familiarity and Déjà vu.

I finally reached my university, one of the most beautiful places in the city, widely covered in trees with occasional few blocks of buildings. I entered the building and started moving frantically towards my classroom as I was too late. Upon entering my class on the far-right corner of the hallway, I started searching for Meghan but, as usual, didn’t find her, so I finally took my seat on the second row. Our history professor entered at the exact moment, wished everyone, and started the lecture.

Out of boredom, I looked around the class and found a set of eyes glaring in my direction. It was Liam, my friend. He smiled and said,"Hi.”

Liam is the sweetheart of our university. Every girl wants to be his friend and craves some attention from him, but he likes me. He is a very decent, charming and sensible guy. My parents also liked him, and to give our friendship a chance to move ahead, we even went on dates, but I could not commit to him for some reason. I am strangely drawn to the person in my dreams and can’t think of anyone else. So finally, we gave up and ended up just being good friends. My parents were wary, but Meghan supported me. I didn’t want to rush into a relationship with no feelings.

After the class, I started going towards the canteen to search for Meghan. Suddenly Liam called, "Hey, Nora, are you okay?”

I just nodded and retorted, “Why do you ask?”

“I am just worried; you look tensed. Is everything okay? I heard your dad not keeping well”.

“Yeah, Dad is not well; he has to undergo surgery, then he will be fine. Thanks for asking”.

“You don’t have to say thanks; I am always there for you”.

“Thanks! Oh, sorry!”

Then we both started laughing and went to the canteen.

Meghan was sitting a few tables ahead and intensively looking at her phone, unfazed by our presence. I punched on her shoulders, and she protested.

“Where were you, Meghan? You didn’t attend the class?”

Meghan broke the silence, “I was occupied with something you won’t believe”.

“What? You can confide in us. Of course we will believe you”.

“You know my cousin Amy working in NASA?”

“Yeah, I heard of her. How is she doing?”

“She is good, she just called me today and told me that our government is looking for around twenty volunteers for a trip to Crixus”.

“The same planet from which the aliens come?” I asked.

She responded, "Yeah, the same one”.

Just out of the blue, I asked, “So Miss Meghan, don’t tell me you are volunteering”.

“How do you always know?”

I was like, “NO! you can’t go there. I was just joking; it can be risky”.

Meghan protested, "NO, it is not at all risky; in fact, I will suggest you both also apply.”

Liam was thinking indecisively, but I was quick to respond, "No way! We don’t know what lies there. What if we cannot make it back to Earth? I can’t leave my parents alone. And also, there is no way I can get selected; maybe Liam has more chances to get approved”.

Meghan answered, “I will tell you two things. The first one is they offer lots of money if you got selected and secondly, I had heard sunset on Crixus is purple, so maybe you can get answers to your dreams on Crixus”.

I was so perplexed to speak. Liam looked at us in confusion. My mind drifted into my subconsciousness and started a debate. On one side, I was scared, but the other side of me wanted to explore my dreams of finding my soulmate. I would have given anything to have a look at his face.

Finally, Meghan said, “I am applying for all three of us”.

I was unable to say NO. Maybe my instincts triumphed over my mind.

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