She's Dreaming

Chapter 5

"You seem like you would be a small eater, but you have a good appetite. That's really nice to see." The announcer said, as he helped himself to a second serving of soup as well.

"I thought I would be hated by you folk. I thought I had to prepare to fight." She said, when she finally finished the soup and felt her stomach bulging out, as if she were pregnant.

She picked out the knives from beneath her dress, and threw them to the floor. "I thought I would have to defend myself, and therefore, I made sure to have some weapons with me. But you are nothing like I imagined you would be. All of you seem nice and kind. I'm rather confused." She said, finishing with a sigh. She was content and happy. Confused and sleepy from all of the food, she felt like the world was spinning around her.

Was this actually a trap? Had they poisoned her? Or had they sedated her, so they could take advantage of her, while she lay there paralyzed?

But it was nothing like that. Again, she was just being paranoid. Her body, used to tiny meals, and tiny portions, used to starving, and eating very little, was dealing with the assault of heavy food in a completely understandable manner. She felt drowsy from the meal, and her head lolled to the front.

She even asleep for a few seconds here and there, her snoring waking her up. Oh, how embarrassing, she thought she woke up and saw the announcer grinning at her with peace in his eyes.

She realized she had made a terrible mistake.

"Let me explain to you what is going on here, before you fall asleep on us, my dear." The announcer said, laughing. The crowd laughed with him. He clicked his tongue in a specific way, and the crowd disappeared. The roar of conversation and the noise that assailed her ears before, was muted. It was all gone. They were in a room now, not on stage. And the food that had been on the table had evaporated as well.

"The government of this land is a deviant one. A dictatorial one. Some of the things done to the lower castes are indeed terrible. They are so proud of their deeds that they even televise some of the cruelest bits to the rest of the world. You must have seen the carnage. It is too much to be borne. Well, that's how it used to be. What we have done as libertarians of the higher caste is we've taken over the carnage, so to speak. The government has outsourced it all to us. We use computer animations and graphics in order to create the carnage on TV, broadcasting it out to the world. The government and people still believe that the lower castes are mistreated. But in fact, what we do is boost them up in secret. Getting them married off to higher caste folks, or sending them to universities under pseudonyms, or getting them adopted into rich families with no children, or few children. Things like that." He blew some smoke out of the pipe that he was ostentatiously using. It felt like she was in a movie. Was he actually telling her the truth?

Kali was so confused. And she was supposed to be a goddess. How ironic.

"I'm sure you don't believe me. Most lower caste people don't, when they are first invited to this stage. But I want to assure you that this is going to be the first of many delicious, full meals you are going to have. Your future awaits you, my dearest. I hope you enjoy it."

He smiled at her then, and she knew that he was telling the truth. She knew that she had made a mistake, in coming here, with revenge in her heart. They were doing their best to change their world, to fool their government, until they could overthrow the regime. She could see it all now. Until now, she had believed what I saw. She had been blind. She had only seen what she wanted to see.

But now she could see the truth. And the more truth she saw, the more truth she was able to see. In a self-perpetuating cycle, she saw the future, the past, and the present, all at once. She could see that they would indeed be successful. They would end up getting what they wanted. A government that was fair to all of its citizens, and a joyful, peaceful, and equanimous life for all.

It was all too good to be true, but it was, in fact, their future. They had worked at it, and they were going to make it happen. She could see it. And she was glad for them.

No need to bring out her full goddess mode. Her destroy-and-eat-up-the-world mode. She relaxed and let herself smile back at this man. He was one of the good ones.

And a second later, Kali was gone. She didn't know which lower class citizen took her place, but she didn't need to be there anymore. They were doing it right, and it was necessary for her to step away. Step back and let them free to go about their business to righting their world.

Kali stood there on one of their moons, and saw Shiva descending onto the puckered surface next to her.

"Had fun?" he asked her, with a shine to his face.

"You were the soldier who took me to my grooming session. The one who smelled like Sage." She said, to him, finally getting the connection.

He burst out laughing. "I knew it. I shouldn't have used so much sage. But I wanted to give you at least one clue to this whole business. I didn't want you to think that I would abandon you again after being away from you for so long."

Her heart felt lighter than it had in decades. She felt reborn again. All was not wrong with the world. In fact, there were more things right with the world than bad. More things filled with hope in the world than despair.

There might be a few steps taken backwards, but always a few more steps taken forwards.

"I learned an important lesson today." She said, as she put her head on Shiva's shoulder, and snaked her hand around his powerful waist.

"Did you now?" He said, as he hugged her tight against his body, and made her feel like she was home again. "Maybe we can go back to our home on Mount Kailash and have a long discussion in and out of bed about it??"

She looked up at him. He looked like a little puppy asking his master for a treat. She wanted to tease him and punish him a bit longer.

He almost started whimpering. She decided to be kind. "Yes, let's go back. I have missed the fresh mountain air, and the cool spring water. It has been way too long, my dearest Shiva. Let's not do this ever again."

They kissed, and as if it were a magic spell of sorts, in a moment, they were transported back to their home.

She shivered a bit. "Oooh, I had forgotten how cold it gets here." She was still dressed in just a shimmery transparent cover up from the planet. She ran over to her closet, and draped a silk and wool sari around her body. "Ah, much better. Warmer, and cozier."

Shiva looked at Kali for a second and then pulled her to sit on top of him. "Why have you covered yourself up like this? You could have just asked me, and I would have warmed you up from the inside out."

"Ah, I have missed your sexual innuendos. But too bad for you, I just got my period, and I don't think I am in the mood to have sex now or for the next seven days. I am in pain, and I just want to eat food, and be pampered." She knew she was whining a bit, she felt like she deserved this.

Shiva grinned at her. "Your wish is my command, my dear. What would you like? Some delicious sweet Gulab jamuns to take care of your sweet tooth? Or would you like some spicy hot biryani to get your blood running? Whatever you wish, I shall bring it to you and serve you, on a moment's notice."

She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them again. Shiva was still standing there, waiting to serve her to her heart's desire. She had had these fantasies before, but they had always disappeared in a poof when she woke up. She pinched herself once or twice just to make sure, but he was still there, looking a little concerned at the silence.

"I want biryani, but only from that one place that you know I love. And I want sweet rasmalai. And..." The list went on and on.

Shiva remembered it all, and happily delivered to his beautiful wife everything that she wanted. Lest she get angry again and destroy the world in her wrath. You have to be careful with a woman like her. Actually, you have to be careful with every woman. They have powers beyond all of our imaginations.