Somewhere in those Dreams

Prologue

Aviral woke up panting, he heard someone scream. His mother, it was her voice. Another scream and now he was sure it was his mother. He got up and went to check his parents’ room, lights were on, his father was sleeping, but his mother was not there. He checked the kitchen, living room, bathroom, she wasn’t in the house.
Another scream. He was getting scared now. The main door was slightly ajar. She was outside.
He went downstairs to check the main gate. It was locked. Now only one place was left. The terrace.
He heard the fourth scream when he came back to the first floor. And as he started racing towards the terrace he noticed something, the stair light was off. He thought, why would his mother go to the terrace without turning on the light? And if she did turn it on, then who turned it off?
The stairs were small in size and big in numbers, he checked his watch once he turned the light on. It was 1:35 AM. As he reached, he saw the door open. She was here.
She was standing on the boundary. Not moving. Standing still. In the same night dress in which he saw her before going to sleep.
“Maa!”. He shouted as he started moving towards her. She didn’t say anything.
“Maa, what are you doing here?”. Still no reply.
“And why are you standing on the boundary like this?”. He said as he was standing right behind her.
“Maa, what’s wrong with you? Come down and…”. She interrupted him in the middle and said,
“You would know”. And then, she jumped.
He tried gripping her arm but it was too late. She fell down and the last thing he heard before waking up with the jolt was the thud with which his mother’s body hit the ground.
It was a dream, just like the other two he saw in the past week. His little brother woke up as he was panting very heavily.
“Bhai, you okay?”. His brother asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. What time is it?”
Glancing at the table clock he said, “It’s 5:20”.
“Oh, okay. You sleep. I’m fine.”
“Water?”
“Huh”?
“Water. You need some?”
“No, I’m fine”. He said, despite his dry throat.
“Okay. But tell me what do we say when we are going to sleep in the morning. Good night or good morning?”
“I’ll tell you later. Now close your eyes and sleep”. He said as he gently covered him with the blanket.
He stepped down the bed. Changed his clothes. Checked his phone. It was still having 57% battery. Connected his headphone to it. Started playing James Arthur’s Certain Things. And covered his ears with those big ear-cups of it.
He checked his parents’ room before leaving for his morning walk. His mother was there. Sleeping: silently.