text: The whistling sounds emanating against the window resounded through the corridors. Even though she walked with padded footsteps, the loose floorboard under her feet croaked suddenly and, her breath hitched for a moment. After looking around to see if anyone was awoken by the noise, she again sauntered towards the main chamber to check on Mr. Charles. Erna released a sigh of relief as she glanced at the man entering his older adulthood, sleeping peacefully. Unlike most of the time, on that night his visage was calm and serene. His aged frame was not shivering of fear but due to the cold gusts of winds penetrating through the gaps in between the ventilating windows. Erna tiptoed to the window frame and shut the panes with a thud. A whimper passed between the lips of her husband and, she turned around abruptly, only to find him still sleeping peacefully. She trudged towards his figure with a small smile and engulfed his frame in a duvet before reclining on her side of the bed. Eyes drooping of exhaustion, she caught one last glance of the sleeping man as she enveloped herself in her own sheets and entered the realm of her dreams. - A man in his mid-fifties was strolling along the trampled trail, his back facing her and his frame enveloped in track pants and a white t-shirt. Erna squinted her eyes as she tried to discern the outline of the frame under the dim moonlight. The small bald patch on the back of his head caught her sight and she sprinted forward to call out to him. "Edmund! Edmund! Right here!" she waved her hands back and forth, repeatedly to grab his attention. Mr. Charles turned about to find her wife, Erna, standing upright a few feet away from her. He gave her a rueful smile as she got frustrated due to his sudden melancholic behavior. As Edmund beckoned her to trudge towards him, she noticed a white light radiating from his frame. She took a step in his direction and his smile widened, betokening her to continue to do so. Erna gathered all her confidence and will and reached out her hand to hold his. As his palm came in touch with hers, she shuddered due to the sudden and unfamiliar coldness. She glanced at him again. "Why are your hands so cold?" He again gave her a pitiful, weak smile. "And what's with those smiles? You know, I have had them for the forthcoming ten lifetimes in the past twenty-two years." Erna forewarned as she glared at him. Edmund broke into a peal of laughter, amused at her wife's grimace. He imperceptibly patted her shoulders and she slackened immediately to find him back in his usual demeanor as her hazel orbs now wandered around to recognize her strange surroundings. She ascertained herself standing in the middle of what looked like a clearing in an unknown forest. Green shrubbery and trees surrounded her from all sides as the shrill hooting of the owl reverberated through the area. She hesitantly left the warmth of his hands as she plodded towards the sound of low, cascading water, originating from somewhere in between the huge trunks. Before she could move any further, the huge figure of Edmund Charles hovered over her small frame, arms draping around her shoulder. "I'll escort you there." "Where?" Erna inquired, utterly perplexed. "You'll see." He clutched her hands again and motioned her to follow his lead. She soundlessly trudged behind him for a few minutes as the only sound that could be heard at a distance was that of the rustling of dry leaves and the faint murmur of water. A thousand visions passed in front of her eyes and she could only envision what was the thing of so much significance that made his husband travel all the way down to the middle of the jungle. "Earth to Erna, are you dying on me?" Edmund chortled at his own words but abruptly opted a grim expression on observing the bemused expression of her face. "No, I am not. Not now, not ever." she retorted back. Edmund's face broke into a gleeful smile as he conjectured the concealed meaning behind her words. "We're here!" he announced softly. Erna turned her head to espy the scenery as a gasp of astonishment escaped her lips. She rummaged her brain to find the familiar image embedded in her wits and then it clicked. "The fall!" she shrieked. Edmund nodded dubiously in her direction as his orbs traveled back to the breathtaking picture painted by God himself. There stood in front of them, a gigantic and colossal waterfall as the water tumbled down along with the boulders, accentuating its waves, and the watercress rooted in the river bed danced along with the wind. The water descended with white foam originating at its edge and the river-water reflected the subtle white moonlight. The trees surrounded the stream as if shielding it against all harm from the outer world. Erna reminisced the picture she had seen in his personal album. It was of the same waterfall. "This is the Lake of Zion. Dew named it." Erna was startled at the sudden piece of information provided to her. "W-What? What do you mean?" "I have had enough of this life, Erna. When she was here, I wasn't. Now, when I want her to be here, she cannot." "Erna D'Maryne Charles, I regret marrying you sometimes. Not that I don't love you but because of me, you had to opt for that boring last name that my family had been cursed with." She gawked at him in skepticism as Edmund broke into a peal of laughter. Realizing that she wasn't up for witticism, he shut his mouth for the 'greater good.' "And...no. No, I am not leaving you. Not now, not ever." He returned her own words with a small smile and her eyes widened in cognizance. - "No!" Erna woke up astounded to find her frame sprawled on the bed. Sweat dripping down her forehead, her eyes frantically traveled around her chamber, seeking her husband. This wasn't her usual paracosmic dream. It felt too... realistic to be just an illusory dream. She glanced at Edmund once again before placing her palm on his forehead, only to bring it back perturbed. To say he was cold, was an understatement though, his face was still serene. "Lucy! David!" she called out to her housemaid and personal doctor. Frenzied footsteps were heard along with the creaking of the wobbly floorboards and, the door swiftly flew open to unveil a middle-aged woman and a man in his early thirties. "W-what happened?" David asked in between his gasps of air. "It's E-Edmund... he is not reacting." their eyes widened at Erna's words as they scurried towards the bed in the chamber. David remained speechless for a few minutes as he examined the sleeping man for any cynical symptoms but found none. "It's probably the sedatives present in the antibiotics, Erna. He is absolutely fine." She gulped down her own saliva before responding to his words. "He's n-not. I had a vision. Or I thought it was a paracosmic vision. B-But it felt t-too real." "But you know that, Erna. You have had those dreams since childhood and..." Lucy's voice trailed off as Erna abruptly shrieked at them. "I know it wasn't! I had a premonition! He mentioned that he wanted to see Dew again and was going to leave me again...soon..." she croaked as she tried to muffle her sobs. They shut their eyes at her words. It was Dew. All over again. Dew Charles was the only little sister of Edmund Charles. She was everything he could ask for. A little angel that subsisted only for him. She was the one who discovered the Fall of Zion, veiled by the thousands of trees and boulders slouched in the green forest. It was her own sanctuary, her innoxious place. But she wasn't blessed enough to see it with her own orbs. Yes. She was purblind. But Edmund became her pair of eyes she never owned. His words did magic to the visions she created in her brain. It was just another usual day. Edmund and Dew were sitting on the boulder perched on the riverbank of the stream. Her head was in her brother's lap as he stroked her hair adoringly while her hands were moving constantly engraving something on the boulder with a sharp stone. At first, Edmund took no notice of it but when the ear-splitting sound of scratching the stone became louder, he couldn't keep his patience and grasped her wrist to restrict her from doing so. As soon as he caught sight of the engravings in the boulder, his eyes widened in astonishment. Her blind sister had carved a sketch of a boy, crouching in a corner, his head reposing on his knees. "Dew! H-How ??" "What, Ed?" "H-How in the name of holy l-lord did you picture this? The boy?" A gasp of surprise passed in between her lips as Dew turned to view the direction from where her brother's voice reverberated. "That's it! I've got the name! Thanks, Ed. You're the best!" Edmund looked at her in bewilderment as she pranced along the trampled foot trails and suddenly turned about to face him again. "And yes, I guess that's you..." her voice drawled on. "I've always attempted to envisage what would you look like, but of course, I am not sure..." her head drooped disappointed in herself. Edmund smiled at her innocent and cherished words. "It's perfect. I will always look what you imagine me to be like... be it a chipmunk." Dew's sweet laughter was like the chiming of bells to his ears. After what seemed like an eternity, she eventually calmed down and inhaled a deep breath to intake the floating fragrance of the oozing mud. "Hey, Ed?" she called out as she inched closer to him. "Hmm?" "Do you think it is okay for me to ramble for a while around the 'Zion'?" she asked him falteringly. "Yeah, that's perf-What? No! No! Absolutely not! What if you get lost and- " His words were cut off mid-sentence when a pair of padded footsteps caught his ears and he took a glance at Dew getting lost in the shrubs. "Dew Charles! Get back here right now!" he scowled. "I'll see you in a few, Ed!" she smiled cheekily in his direction before sprinting away. Edmund let out a huff of exasperation as he perched upon a log of wood lying near the riverbank, waiting for her little ball of happiness. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Half an hour. Three hours had passed. Still no sign of her. Edmund was agitated as he stood upright and looked around for Dew for the rest of the night. He was clueless as to what had happened to her. Nobody knew where she went or what had she met on the way to never return back. A month had passed. Six months. A year... Forty-two years. Even forty-two years were not adequate for him to overcome the sudden loss of his beloved sister. The Police force had terminated the case after six months of its commencement. But there still lay a ray of hope that maybe, she was alive. Maybe she would reappear again. And it was then, Erna realized the meaning behind his words. He was never going to leave her. Because he had no intention of returning home. Which meant... "No!" Erna bellowed. "No! No! No! Don't do this! Edmund, Don't do this! Don't leave me alone! Don't die on me, Edmund!" her voice resounded through the mansion. Her head was swirling. Her breath was becoming slow. Everything around her was black. A muffled voice jolted her back into reality. "Erna!" Her bloodshot eyes flew open as she recognized the voice that belonged to Lucy. She turned to face her frantically. "He's going! He's going! HE'S GOING TO LEAVE ME! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!" Lucy and David were baffled at her sudden change of demeanor as they slowly approached her. "Erna, he's alright. It was just a dre-" "DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT WAS JUST A DREAM!" she screeched at David. "I need to go to him, I need to find him!" she uttered slowly as she sprinted across the chamber leaving David, Lucy, and his body behind. Upon reaching the garden of their mansion, she sat on the swing, hinged to the soil bed, and shut her teary eyes close to see her husband for the last time. She was sitting on a boulder. A colossal waterfall was running down to meet the edge of the stream as white vapors emanated from it. Two figures emerging from between the bushes caught her sight and she squinted her eyes to see them distinctly. "Erna." A soft voice greeted her. "Nice to meet you." A petite frame of a little girl came close to her and Erna's eyes widened to see Dew standing right in front of her. She still resembled the same as her pictures. A soft smile tugged on her lips as she reached out to her arms and hugged her tightly. A comforting warmth filled her heart upon comprehending the amount of love and endearment radiating from Dew. Erna glanced at the man standing behind them, smiling softly. He was belatedly reunited with his sister. "Edmund," Erna beckoned him to come forward. She held out her hand for him and he pulled her into a heart-warming embrace. "Erna, Why are you here?" he whispered in her ears. She broke apart from him and looked into his deep blue eyes, stained with tears as she responded, "When the last ray of light had given up on me, You broke my shell to bring me to the shore of sea. And we sit together, hands immersed in the sand, For years to come, breathing on the lonely land." -Swasti Jain