The Dream That Knew Her Story Before She Did
The Dream That Knew Her Story Before She Did
Malar seemed unusually excited that beautiful Saturday morning.
Today wasn't just another Saturday.
She was ticking off one of those childhood dreams she had carried quietly in her heart for years.
“Bharatanatyam”
For Malar, it wasn't merely a dance class anymore. It had slowly become a part of her life; a little piece of the girl she once was, finally meeting the woman she had become.
Every time she wore her jhumkas before class, she couldn't help but pinch herself.
"Is this really happening?"
Everything she had once wished for was slowly coming alive.
She smiled at her reflection, adjusted her jhumkas one last time, and stepped out.
She was ready to put her foot to work.
Quite literally.
But the day had other plans.
Her scooty refused to start.
Malar stared at it for a few seconds.
"Seriously?"
She tried again.
Nothing.
She could have complained. She could have called someone. She could have waited.
Instead, she looked at the road ahead and smiled.
"Maybe the universe wants me to slow down today."
So, without wasting another minute, she decided to walk to her dance class.
And perhaps, the universe had its own little reason for making her walk.
For once, she wasn't rushing past everything.
She noticed the leaves dancing with the breeze.
The little flowers blooming beside the road.
The sleepy sunlight slowly filling the streets.
A child laughing somewhere nearby.
Things she would normally pass without noticing suddenly seemed beautiful.
"Maybe this is why I had to walk today," she thought.
"Maybe some things are meant to be appreciated from a closer distance."
She smiled at her own thought.
And then came another tiny wish.
"A little breeze would be nice."
Nothing dramatic.
Just enough wind to play with her hair and make the flowers sway a little more.
And somehow...
the universe delivered.
A soft breeze brushed past her face, lifting a few strands of her hair.
Malar smiled.
"Okay, Universe. I see what you're doing."
She continued walking, feeling lighter than she had a few minutes ago.
Then another thought crossed her mind.
Her favourite ice cream parlour.
It had been closed for the past few days.
"I wonder if it's open today."
She almost laughed at herself.
"Imagine if it is."
She reached the corner.
And there it was.
Open.
Malar's eyes widened.
"No way!"
At this point, she was convinced the universe was taking requests.
She walked in and ordered her favourite;
Butterscotch.
And because one cone clearly wasn't enough to celebrate all this magic, she bought two.
Two cones. One ridiculously happy Malar.
And a growing happiness that everything she wished for today was somehow finding its way to her.
She stepped back onto the road, ice cream in hand, her heart unusually light.
As she walked, another thought crossed her mind.
"It would be nice to have someone to walk with."
Someone to share these silly little moments with.
Someone who would laugh at her excitement over an open ice cream parlour.
Someone who wouldn't mind walking slowly.
She smiled at the thought and took another bite.
Completely distracted by her ice cream, Malar almost walked straight into someone.
She stopped.
So did he.
And suddenly...
the universe seemed to have one more surprise left.
He was tall.
Six feet, perhaps.
His smile had the kind of warmth that could make a stranger forget what they were about to say. His eyebrows were perfectly shaped, framing eyes that seemed to carry a story every time they blinked.
There was something effortlessly handsome about him.
He looked as though he had carried a piece of the night into the morning. His crisp white shirt glowing like a moon caught between the clouds, while his grey trousers stretched beneath it like a quiet evening sky. Somehow, the colours belonged together, as though the night had borrowed a human form and decided to wander through the morning.
Nothing about him seemed intentional.
And somehow, everything about him looked perfect.
Malar looked up.
He looked at her.
For a second, neither of them moved.
She forgot about the ice cream in her hand.
Forgot about her dance class.
Forgot about the universe.
She simply stood there...
dwelling in his eyes.
And somewhere between the morning breeze, two butterscotch cones, and a scooty
Malar began to wonder if perhaps...
the universe hadn't made her walk to her dance class at all.
Maybe it had simply wanted her to walk into him. ❤️
They stood there, facing each other.
Two strangers who had somehow managed to become familiar in the span of a few minutes.
Malar had no idea what to say.
She looked at him.
He looked at her.
The silence grew a little longer.
And because Malar had never been particularly good at breaking awkward silences, she did what felt safest.
She held out the second butterscotch cone.
“Have a good day!” she said with a smile.
He looked at the ice cream, then at her.
A small smile appeared on his face as he accepted it.
And just like that, they started walking.
Malar couldn't help but smile to herself.
Maybe the universe really did hear her.
She had wished for someone to walk beside her.
It had delivered a companion.
And suddenly, the two ice creams made perfect sense.
No wonder she had bought two.
It's all connected, I guess.
On the way to her dance class...
Neither of them spoke for a while.
Yet, strangely, the silence didn't feel uncomfortable.
It felt calm.
Familiar.
Malar walked beside him, occasionally stealing a glance, while he seemed completely at ease.
She noticed his eyes wandering towards her face.
More specifically...
Her bindi.
Her jhumkas.
He seemed to be quietly taking in every little detail.
Finally, in a voice soft enough to belong, he said,
“You can do it.”
Malar looked at him, confused.
He smiled.
“Don't think too much about it. It's your day today.”
He paused for a moment before adding,
“And I'm going to be your biggest audience.”
Malar's eyes widened.
Wait.
How does he know?
She hadn't told him.
They had barely spoken.
She wasn't even wearing her Bharatanatyam costume yet.
Yet somehow...
he knew.
A tiny wave of emotion rushed through her.
Did he read my mind?
She smiled, slightly overwhelmed.
“Thank you for being kind.”
But curiosity won.
She turned toward him.
“How do you know I have a Bharatanatyam performance today?”
He raised an eyebrow.
She continued,
“I'm not even in costume yet. We haven't spoken a word until now.”
He smiled.
Then, almost thoughtfully, he lifted his index finger and gently pointed toward the space between her brows.
Her bindi.
“It's your bindi,” he said.
Malar blinked.
He continued, his voice carrying the hint of mischief.
It told me about you.
She laughed softly.
He looked at her for a moment before adding, “The moment I saw you, something about you felt strangely familiar.
He paused.
“I knew there was something about you the moment you looked at me.”
Malar's cheeks warmed.
She looked away, suddenly very interested in the road ahead.
How does someone say things like that so effortlessly?
He insisted on coming to her performance.
And when the time finally came, Malar stepped onto the floor.
Auditorium filled with audience, barely a place to even stand.
The music began.
The room slowly disappeared into rhythm.
Her feet found the beat.
Her hands found the mudras.
Her expressions found the story.
And somewhere among the audience...
he watched.
Not the crowd.
Not the stage.
Not even the performance as a whole.
Her.
Every movement.
Every expression.
Every glance.
He had seen Malar that morning.
But this was different.
This wasn't the girl walking down the street with two ice creams.
This was someone completely transformed by something she loved.
For a moment, he understood why she had been so excited in the morning.
Why she had pinched herself while putting on her jhumkas.
Why this wasn't merely a dance class.
She wasn't just dancing.
She was becoming the girl she had once dreamed of being.
And as the final beat faded into silence, he found himself smiling.
Perhaps the universe hadn't simply given Malar someone to walk beside her.
Perhaps...
it had given her someone who would stop walking for a moment, just to watch her shine.
The audience rushed towards Malar, their faces filled with smiles, appreciation, and congratulations.
Her eyes were searching through the crowd for just one person.
Him.
She stepped down from the stage, her anklets still carrying the last echoes of the performance, and walked toward him.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, it felt as though the entire world had paused to watch them meet.
Her eyes carried the glow of a sunrise, while his seemed to light up as though he had just discovered a moon in the middle of the day.
He smiled.
Without saying a word, he handed her a small folded note.
Malar's fingers brushed against the paper.
Her gaze lingered on his eyes for a brief second before slowly falling to the note.
She opened it.
There, written in simple words:
Malar ★
You are a STAR!
You are beyond a STAR!
Her eyes filled instantly.
One tiny tear escaped before she could stop it.
He noticed.
He stepped a little closer and whispered the words again, this time softly enough for only her to hear.
“Malar, you are beyond a STAR.”
She looked at him, unable to find the right words.
Perhaps there were moments when words simply weren't enough.
He held her gaze for a few seconds before whispering,
“Where have you been all my life?”
Malar's heart skipped.
Before she could answer, he gently stepped back.
He didn't want to steal the moment from her.
He simply stood there, smiling, letting her enjoy the applause, the happiness, the little victory she had worked so hard for.
And somehow, that made the moment even more beautiful.
Malar looked down at the note again.
Then back at him.
But neither of them crossed the invisible distance created by the crowd.
He didn't want to interrupt her moment.
And she quietly wished time would slow down.
For the first time that day, Malar felt something she couldn't explain.
It was as though the universe had quietly sprinkled a little magic into her life...
and given that magic a face.
His face.
She closed her eyes.
Just for a second.
She wanted to remember everything.
The music.
The applause.
The note.
His eyes.
His voice.
“Where have you been all my life?”
She smiled.
And then...
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Malar's eyes flew open.
Silence.
Her room.
Her bed.
Her alarm.
She stared at the ceiling, completely still.
Slowly, reality found its way back.
There was no stage.
No audience.
No handwritten note.
And no mysterious stranger waiting for her.
It was all a dream.
Malar sat up, running her fingers through her hair.
Yet something about the dream felt different.
It didn't feel like an ordinary dream.
It felt like a memory she had somehow borrowed from a life she hadn't lived yet.
She walked toward the mirror.
Looked at herself.
Closed her eyes.
And tried to find him again.
His eyes.
His smile.
That voice.
That impossible question!
A quiet smile lingered on her lips as his face returned to her thoughts. She closed her eyes for a moment, as though she could somehow find him there again, and whispered...
“Who are you?”
A question with no answer.
A stranger without a name.
A dream without an ending.
And somehow...
a presence she couldn't get out of her mind.
Maybe it wasn't just a dream.
Or perhaps...
the universe had shown her a glimpse of the love it had already inked for her, long before she knew there was one to read.
And somewhere within those pages, their story had quietly begun. ✨