It was pretty much like any other day. I sat at the ice cream parlour near my house. It wasn't a fancy parlour like those you see in the cities. But it had ice cream. The necessity of life. You see, I have a sweet tooth. My craving for ice cream has been daily quenched at this very shop. I took a scoop into my mouth. I did not devour it immediately. I let it melt inside my mouth. Oh, what fun! I took another scoop and let my eyes wander outside.
I, being a nature lover, was thrilled to watch the clouds race by. They formed various shapes, animals, mystical creatures, why, I even saw a tree! I watched how the golden arrows of the Sun pierced each cloud. I was amazed by the reflection and refraction of the rays. How wonderful it must be to be a Sun, with all the planets revolving around, I wondered. The clouds literally seemed to glide by. Every one was different from the other. Some white, some grey, some dark, some high, some low, some wispy, some fluffy, some smoky, some feathery, some heavy nimbus, some stratus, some cumulus, why, some even had a purple lining! I felt as if I walked through a museum of clouds. Lost in thoughts, I nibbled my ice cream joyfully.
In the middle of my fifth ice cream, Teena, a girl from my school came and sat near me. I have never talked with her before. You see, I am not very good at talking with people. Now, I was in the situation to talk to her out of courtesy. One cannot simply ignore the person sitting next to them. Especially, when one knows them.
“You live nearby?” I asked.
“You never knew that before?” she asked quite sharp.
I gave an awkward laugh. I was getting slightly annoyed. She was now standing between me and my cloud museum.
I started sky grazing again. This time, I decided to ignore her completely.
“So, you are now in Hankerland?” she asked. Now, I sensed an enthusiasm in her tone.
“What is that? Neverland 2.0?” I asked.
“Haha! Maybe.” she said.
After a few moments of silence and ice cream nibbling, she continued “So you have never been there before?”
“No.”
“I will take you tonight.” she said and left.
Only after she left, I realised how quick she ate her ice cream. Only after sometime I started wondering what she meant by taking me tonight. The more I thought about it, the more it felt awkward.
It was dusk. The Sun rays came peeping through my window. The Sun was now a beautiful orange ball. The sky was cloud free. I watched through my window if Teena came. I somehow had only little hope that she will come. But still I got ready and got permission from my mom by telling her that Teena will be taking me to her house.
The next morning I couldn't shake off the feeling that Teena was stupid enough not to ask me where my house was. I went early to school that day with hopes of having a conversation with her.
“Hey. You didn't come yesterday night!” I accused as soon as I entered the classroom.
“You didn't see me in your dreams?” she asked indignantly.
“Dreams?” I felt like talking to a psycho.
“Yeah! That is how you go to Hankerland.” she replied with her tone still cool. “What did you think? We could fly there?”
“Huh?!” I stammered.
“Tonight be careful to watch out for me in your dreams.” she said.
I got ready to go to bed that night. I still felt funny about Teena.
Soon I was sound asleep.
Sure enough, I had a dream. A weird dream. I was somehow in the sky. Walking in the sky. As if walking on an invisible floor in the sky. I was afraid to look down. Afraid that I may fall down. I kept on asking myself aloud ‘Where is she?’
Sooner, I started cloud watching. They were quite at a distance from me. Felt like seeing distant mountains and not my regular cloud watching. I started walking along the direction which somehow I felt must be right. After sometime, which felt like hours, I noticed that the clouds changed into pastel pink. What a girly flavour I thought. I reached an end after hours of walk. It ought to be the end. There was this wall. The wall that blocked me. What was this wall anyway? Why was it here?
“So you came tonight?” I recognised Teena’s voice.
She started climbing the wall. She climbed with ease too. The more she climbed, the more inclined it became. Now, I had this invisible urge to climb it. I climbed after her. Even the wall seemed to extend for miles. I was surprised that I was feeling sane even in my dream. Teena explained that it happens all the time in Hankerland.
“Is Hankerland pastel themed?” I asked. I couldn't see any sun. Only cotton candy mountain like clouds. And everywhere I turned, it was all pastel coloured. And I was getting tired of this. It seemed too girly.
“We are yet to reach Hankerland.” she replied. “You got tired of the rainbow, huh?”
“What rainbow?” I asked.
“Why, the one we are climbing!”
“Oh! So it is a rainbow. I thought it was some forbidden wall.”
At last the so called rainbow ended. Well, it looked somewhat like a rainbow from this side. In front of it, there a huge cherry tree that blocked the only way in between surreal cliffs.
“Look, we are now at the entrance. We have to act crazy in order to enter in” she said. “roll your eyes and run around in circles pretending to chase a tail that you don't have.”
We both did and the huge tree moved.
Beyond it, the was land at last. Moss covered land. This place was now in a creepy green colour. The rocks there breathed bubbles. Yes, bubbles. Like soap bubbles. And I saw many other crazy things too.
“Welcome to Hankerland!” she cried at the top of her voice.
Soon we were deep inside the land. It seems like Teena was the ruler here in Hankerland. And Hankerland is only a part of the larger mainland. She has apparently created it and made it this crazy.
We passed through many curious lands and of course, people. We even passed by her castle and all the soldiers were half human and half goat. I wondered why would she create such a thing after all?
We at last arrived at a fountain. It looked too murky. She scooped her hands, took some and drank!
“Yikes!” I cried. She laughed crazy and pushed me into the fountain.
I woke up as I fell. I was happy. Happy for all my dreams I had that day.
I don't remember getting ready to school that happy.
“Hey Teena! I saw you yesterday night in my dreams!” I said.
“I know.” she replied calmly.
“You pushed me down, you idiot!” I asked indignantly.
“That was all chocolate lemonade. Whenever you feel afraid in Hankerland, the dream will end.” she explained.
“What kind of a drink is that? Chocolate lemonade? It sounds too gross.”
“Believe me, it tastes great!” she said.
We sat in silence for sometime. “Don't you have any interesting creatures there?” I asked.
“Like what?”
“Maybe dragon or dinosaur or maybe even trolls!” I said.
“Trolls?”
“Trolls fighting. Like two sects of trolls fighting.”
“But why would the trolls fight?”
“I don't know!” I replied honestly.
“You can create your own Hankerland.” she smiled “With trolls fighting.”
“How is that?” I asked.
“It’s so simple. Think out well how you would want your place to be. Like, the details of flora, fauna, demography, geology, etc.. Don't forget to make a way! Or you will never get there!” she said.
If I had heard it for the first time, I would have taken her for nuts. But, not now. Not after visiting Hankerland.
It had been years, since this all started. Teena no more lives in our town. I don't have any sort of contact with her. She left without a goodbye.
Still, everyday we meet. We meet in Hankerland. Teena never grew up or changed. She is still the crazy teenager when I first met her.
Now, I have my own land. I call it Neverland 2.0, Alwaysland.
Today, I have completed my Alwaysland novella.
I turned to the first page and wrote, “In the loving memory of Teena, who taught me how to dream.”
