Everyone has some obstacles in their lives which they want to remove but there is always a difference between reality and fantasy but the story of my life is no less than fantasy. It seems that my experience was just a dream because all the adventures, joy and fun I had is fading away from my memory gradually. Everyone has a time when they seem to forget about their joyous moments and important memories but my case is totally different, because it is not something to be believed. Time travelling, defeating spirits and thrilling adventures, I remember every important detail but still think I had a beautiful dream. There were bitterly sweet moments of rage, pain and sorrow. I still remember when I first saw him.                                He was the most handsome man on Earth. It was the time when I was a high school girl. I was walking towards my home after hanging out with my friends for a while. It was a holiday that day so we decided to hangout for a bit. Our group contained only three female friends: Susan, Jasmine and me (Ashma), so we enjoyed the whole day. We all went towards home riding on our bicycles before getting dark but unfortunately, I got stuck in the middle of the street due to my bicycle. Its tyre had gone flat so I started walking with it. It became dark after some time and the whole street was empty alongwith nearby streets. It was dark and I had no  flashlight but there was a full moon covered by the thick clouds that night. I was getting a feeling of rainfall. After some time, it started to thunder. Although I never felt scared before, the situation that time was scaring me. I constantly felt someone chasing after me. I raised my speed and after feeling insecure I threw my bicycle there and started running as hard and far as I could. I didn’t even look back but had a constant feeling of being chased. There was heavy thunder and lightning. In the meantime, it started raining. I was short of breath, had no energy to run and severe pain in my kidney. I hardly walked towards  the dead end. Luckily there was a trash bin so I hid myself  behind that. Because I was short of breath, I couldn’t help but make a sound. The person by whom I felt being chased was right in front of me. My heart was almost drowned but due to dark and heavy rain, I couldn’t see his face. He was dressed as a gangster and seemed as a middle aged man. He lifted his right hand towards me with a creepy laughter. I was scared to death and closed my eyes wishing for someone to save me. Suddenly, I heard a sound that he was knocked down. I opened my eyes and saw that he was shot by an arrow.I felt a huge relief and calmed myself. But, after being shot that man didn’t drop even a single drop of blood and vanished in black dust. The rain stopped, the clouds faded and left the moon all alone in the open. The stars boasted of their beauty and the one who saved me came in front of me. That was the time when I saw him, the most beautiful boy on Earth. He descended from the sky in front of me in the soothing air. Under the bright moonlight, I had a brief glimpse of him. He made my heart skip a beat and gave me an eternal feeling. The boy had a good figure, silky and smooth black hair almost long till his neck, a blue band tighten on his forehead, clear big lavender coloured eyes, handsomely cool and the rain drops dripping from his head onto his body in the moonlight made him look so dreamy. He was wearing a white t-shirt with blue pants. Only one glimpse  made my eyes fixed on him and note every detail. He looked up at the sky and as I blinked, he vanished like he was never there, leaving a chaos in my mind and heart. Then I heard a faint sound. I heard some people calling my name. “ Ashma!” , “Ashma!”, they cried separately. I came out of the dead end and found my family and the cops looking for me at some distance. I ran towards them. My mother spread her arms and I cling to her hug. Tears started running from my eyes and I felt like being freed from a devil’s cage. It was very strange to feel something like that. “I should feel like coming from the mouth of death. Why am I feeling like coming out of a devil’s cage which is worse than death?”   

    I hugged my mom more tightly and said, “Mama, it was so scary. I felt like it was the end of the world.” My mom looked so worried after hearing my words and asked, “Ashma, what happened? Did someone do something to you? Why are you crying so much? Tell me, my heart is sinking right now.” My father told my mother, “Sarah, don’t ask so many questions at once. Can’t you see she is already scared.” Then he put his arms gently on my shoulders and directioned my face towards him as I was crying with my face facing the ground. He asked, “Child, what is the matter? Don’t be scared. Just tell the truth to Papa.” I, wiping off my tears, said, “ Papa, after hanging out with my friends, I was heading for home. But my bicycle’s tyre had gone flat so it became dark in the way. I felt someone chasing me so I threw my bike there and ran to hide but was found by him. But, luckily I was saved by someone.” Mama said, “Where is that person? We want to thank him for saving you.” I said, “ I don’t know. He just helped me and vanished.” 

     My mother, worriedly, told my father, “Vanished? Karim, I think she really is so scared. She is saying such strange things.” Suddenly, I heard the voice of another man and when I saw him, he was in the police uniform.

I shouted with joy along with my damp eyes, “Uncle Sami!” He gave me a gentle laugh. Uncle Sami was my godfather and was also in the police department. He was my father’s only brother. I ran towards him and hugged him. I said, “Uncle Sami, you are here as well.” He replied, “Yes, my dear child. My little princess was in trouble. How would I not be here?” I, then, asked everyone, “But how did all of you know that I am here and also in trouble.” Then my brother replied, “Since we felt that you are late so we called your friends but they said that they are already at their home and you are not with them. Also, you weren’t answering our calls and it was already night so we became worried. We called uncle Sami and he came along with his team. We found your damaged bike on the street so we figured out that you're going to be here somewhere and thus you are here.” Uncle Sami asked, “Child, why weren’t you answering the phone?” I replied, “Uncle, as I was with my friends so absorbed in taking pics and selfies that I didn’t even notice that my phone’s battery was already so low and when I was on my way home, it became dead.” Then uncle suggested to me, “Child be careful next time. No one can be luckier again and again.” I replied, “Yes, uncle. I am sorry for making you all worry.” My family was already so tired because they have been worrying and searching for me for so long. Also, the cops recorded my statements and took the case. My father suggested everyone go home, meanwhile, I heard my friends calling my name. They were rushing towards me. “Ashma!”, “Ashma, are you okay?”, they said and hugged me. I replied, “I am fine but how did you two get here?” Jasmine said, “ Your brother, James, sent us the location. We were so worried as we found that you weren’t home and rushed here as fast as we can.” I replied, “Thank you and sorry I made you both worried.” Susan said, “ It’s already midnight. We should head back home. You should have a good rest, we’ll see you tomorrow. I nodded my head with yes. Then they went home and I, with my family, came to my home.

My mother advised me, “Ashma, sweety you should take a hot bath first and then go to bed. I am afraid you will catch a cold since you were drenched by rain. I am going to bed now.” I replied, “Okay mama.” Everyone went to sleep. I took a hot bath and went to bed. Lying on the bed, I kept on thinking about what happened today. Whenever I thought about that handsome boy, I started to blush and was very grateful. I thought in my heart, “If it wasn’t him today, I can’t imagine what would’ve happened to me. Oh my God, he was so handsome and manly. I wonder if I would ever meet him again.” Then I suddenly realized and said to myself, “Wait, why am I thinking about him. It’s true that I am grateful and want to say thank you but why am I so impatient to meet him. Oh! I think I know, maybe my brain is not working properly due to that heavy rain. Okay, Ashma, let’s sleep to give my weary brain a good rest.” Then I nodded my head with yes and said, “Hmm!”, to myself.

I slept till 7:30 am and when my alarm rang, I, lazily, hold the clock and looked at it. “Oh my God! I am late for school. I am late, so late! What am I going to do now?” I got off my bed and rushed to get ready. I got ready in twenty minutes and was about to run for school without breakfast. My mother called me, “Ashma, dear, at least have this toast and you also forgot to take your lunch. I replied while running for my school, “Sorry mom, there is no time. I have to reach as soon as possible. I’ll buy something in the cafeteria.” I closed the house gate and started running. Since my bicycle was already damaged so I had to walk on foot that day but on my way to school, I found my cousin, Shams, riding on his bicycle. Shams and I went to the same school. Since he was the son of uncle Sami so we were close friends as well. He said to me, “Ashma, why aren’t you on bike. Come, I’ll give you a ride.” I stopped running and looked at him shockingly. He stopped beside me and said, “What happened? Why are you looking at me like my head is on fire.” I replied, “Seriously? You mean no one told you about what happened to me yesterday.” He said with a blank face, “Told me what? What do you mean?” I sighed and said, “It’s a long story. There is no time to tell you now. Just take me to school.” Saying this, I sat on the back seat of his bicycle and he took me to school. When we reached there, he said, “Let’s have lunch together today. I have to ask you something.” I said, “Okay.” He parked his bike and went for his class. I met with Jasmine and Susan after morning assembly. We chatted for a while before the beginning of class. When the bell rang, our teacher, Miss Sofia, entered the classroom and our first morning class started. During the recess, Susan and Jasmine looked at me and gave me a big bright smile which made me suspicious of them. Susan said, “Ashma, there is something important we have to deal with...” Then Jasmine completed her sentence, “...So we can’t accompany you for lunch today,sorry.” I bounded my hands, looked at them and replied, “Hmm, why do I feel that you both are up to something?” They both looked at each other and swallowed a breath. Then they told me collectively, “No, no. There is nothing. You’re just overthinking.” I said, “Okay. If that is the case you may go. By the way, I am having lunch with Shams today.” They both looked at each other and smiled. I said with a blank face, unbounding my hands, “What? Why are you both passing cheap smiles?” Jasmine said, “No, nothing. We should go now. You enjoy your lunch.” Then, they went out of the classroom and I went to the cafeteria. Surprisingly, I found Shams there. He waved his hand and summoned me to his table. I went there and took a seat. He already had bought a meal for me. It was really surprising. I asked him, “How did you know that I haven’t brought lunch?” He replied, “I’ve known you since childhood. Whenever there is a holiday, the next day you’re always late for school and your brother always brings lunch for you. I knew that today he would come early for practice since he has a baseball match coming up. So, that is why I’ve bought you a meal.” I said with a smile, “Oh! I see.” I started eating lunch. I asked him, “So, what do you want to ask me?” He said, “No rush, we can have lunch first.” After lunch, he wiped his mouth and hands with his handkerchief, then asked me, “Ashma, about morning, what were you trying to say that nobody has told me? What am I unaware of?” I said, “So it means that uncle Sami hasn’t told you yet about what happened to me.” I told him everything that occurred last night excluding the details of that boy and the death of a gangster man because I thought that no one would believe what I saw including him. They would only say that it was my imagination because I was scared. 

Sometimes people have to face some situations on their own. They can’t tell even to their closest one. I did the same. I thought in my heart, “I have to keep this secret inside my heart as long as I can, or else, everyone will think that I’ve banged my head somewhere during that incident so I’m talking nonsense. Just like that day, when I tried to tell my family clearly about the whole incident, my mom was the first one not to believe me. So, I didn’t tell anyone. I’m sorry, Shams, even if I try to believe that you would believe me, I can not tell you.” I looked at Shams with a teary face because it felt horrible to hide something from him. He was my best friend and like a brother since childhood. It was the first time I ever hid something from him. Seeing me like this, he looked very sad. He told me, “Ashma, I already felt very guilty of not knowing anything. Now, seeing you like this, I am feeling so ashamed. Not only was I unaware but  also couldn’t console you. I am really sorry.” Hearing his statements, I assumed that he thought the tears in my eyes were due to explanation and I’m still in a big shock so I tried to console him. I wiped my tears and said, “Shams, I believe uncle hasn’t told you because you have grand test coming up in few days and studying is important. He don’t want to make you worried or lose your focus. You are already the top student of your class. If your grades fall ,then it would be a shame for our family. Besides, having you with me through thick and thin is enough for me.” When I said these words, he looked satisfied and smiled. He said, “Ashma, I’m fortunate to have a friend like you.” I smiled at him, “Okay, okay, you don’t have to be so emotional right now. You’re really overprotective of me. That’s why my brother, James, often gets annoyed that you are even more protective of his sister than him.” The bell rang and break was over. He said, “Let’s go to our classes.” I nodded my head with yes. We went to our classrooms. It was physics class after the lunch break. Susan’s seat was on my left hand and Jasmine's seat was on my right hand so during class they were gossiping with each other and it bugged me. I tried to stop them because the lecture was still going on. It was difficult for me to hear a single word and concentrate. I told them with an evil attitude, “Hey! If I couldn’t do today’s physics assignment, then you both know the consequences. The Biology grand test is coming up and who is going to help you then. Also, in the midterm exam, if you both get F in Biology don’t blame me.” Then I gave them an evil laughter like with fire in my eyes. They both behaved and said, “Okay, it’s really dangerous to offend you.” Then I said, “Of course, you should know the consequences to offend your master, ha ha ha!” I listened to the whole lecture carefully but during the lecture I had a constant feeling that someone was observing me outside the window. Although my seat was between Jasmine and Susan but it was also beside the window in a row. I felt constant whispers but whenever I looked at the window, there was nothing. After the class was over, I started getting goosebumps all of a sudden. It was very odd and I felt an unusual scent around me. A very strange scent I’ve never smelt before. Probably, it was giving me goosebumps. I started feeling dizzy. My friends called me, “Ashma, Ashma! Are you okay?” But, I couldn’t respond to them.Then, I happened to hear a very faint sound of a flute. I was attracted to it. It was very hypnotising. I couldn’t control my body anymore. I heard nothing, nothing but that flute tune. I thought in my heart, “What is happening to me? Why can’t I control my body? This is terrible. I can’t dodge it! I can’t escape! What am I going to do?” I was moving in the direction of the hypnotising tune. My eyes showed no consciousness. My mind became occupied by some thoughts. I felt myself in a big valley with flowers everywhere, a cool breeze touching my skin gently, giving me its faint sound. As I walked, with every step, I heard a child’s joyous laughter, a little girl calling my name, “Big sister, Ashma! Come on. Let’s play. Big sister, are you mad at me.” I was going after the constant laughter, chasing the voice, a sensation of curiosity wrapped my whole heart, impatient to find who it was. Sure enough, I was on the rooftop of the school building and only one step away from death. I was about to fall but Susan grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her. I regained consciousness. She and Jasmine were looking at me with a great shock. Susan said, “Girl, you…” Then yelled at me while holding my arm, “What were you thinking? What were you just going to do? Are you tired of living?” Jasmine yelled at me with a shocking face, “ Do you want to die? What happened all of a sudden?” They both were so mad at me. I couldn't understand anything. It was all of a sudden. I didn’t have words to describe the situation. My mind left me in chaos. I was so confused. Also, I had never seen both of my friends so angry and worried before. I asked myself, “What should I do? What should I say? Make an excuse? Or say I pranked them? But...Would they believe me, if I tell them the truth?” I was feeling really confused. I didn’t know what to do so I ran from there with tears in my eyes escaping my arm from Susan’s hand. I thought of it as the only way to escape from the situation. I ran to the restroom, cried silently and asked myself, “Why? Why did such a tragedy take place in my life? Am I really imagining things or I am turning crazy? I don’t know. Today, I was almost dead but I can’t tell you the truth either, my friends. I don’t know what you’ll think of me. I am afraid, telling you, you’ll betray our friendship and leave me behind, saying I’m a psycho person.” I was blinded by the situation, couldn’t figure out anything. I even skipped the Chemistry period, the last class that came after the Physics class. When the school time was over, I planned to go home silently without meeting my friends, couldn’t even have the courage to face them but I texted them, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m going home by myself today. If you see me here somewhere, pretend you haven’t seen. I beg you. I don’t have the courage to face you or explain anything to you. About what happened earlier, please don’t tell anyone, especially not Shams. Bye.” I  began to walk on foot and said to myself, “I must prepare a better excuse at home.”