'Faye'rytale

Chapter 5

 "If only I could bottle dreams like scent ...", thought Athena to herself breathing in the strong aroma of her brewing coffee.

She knew it was her seventh coffee that day. No amount of caffeine was enough to energize her to the extent 'the dream' did. At this rate, she was likely to be an insomniac again. She thought she had left behind her days of weariness and sleeplessness. It was almost like she had gotten over that phase. Would she have a relapse?

When Ava heard of 'the dream', she burst into laughter. But the contents of the wooden box intrigued her. She picked up a handwritten diary from the pile of artefacts. The beauty of the letters reflected the writer's grace. It gave her an eyegasm. Each page was signed 'Sahara' at the bottom. Ava flipped through it, chose a random page, and started reading out loud –

"The Tragic Tale of the Wolf and the Moon - Pondering my profound joy at the sight of the moon, I sat atop a treehouse in the middle of the forest..."

When Ava looked up from the yellowing paper, Athena was standing by the kitchen window staring at the sea. The avalanche of dark locks that went down to her waist billowed in the gentle breeze along with her royal blue kaftan. Her honey toned face was flushed red. Her eyes glistened with a teardrop. Ava, not knowing what was wrong, touched her shoulder as if to comfort. But Athena did not budge. She was under the spell of her own words.

"I sat atop a treehouse in the middle of the forest. I heard a wolf howling – singing for the love of his life, the moon. But the wolf and the moon knew they can never be together. If the wolf tried to jump on the moon off the cliff, he would lose his life. His pack would be ashamed of him. And if the moon left her orbit to be with him, it would hurt Mother Earth. So, the two of them sacrificed their love for the greater good."

Ava was speechless when Athena completed her sentence. How on earth was that possible? Maybe, she read the diary last night. Then again, there were more than a thousand pages in the book. Certainly, she could not have memorized all of it. Dumbfounded, Ava tried again. She flipped through the book and read aloud another line –

"Under the cherry blossom tree, on a postcard perfect day, I uttered those three magic words ..."

Before Ava could go any further, Athena interrupted.

"He went down on his knees, pulled out a ring and asked me to go get a white dress. He said he will talk to my dad. Floating on cloud nine, I smiled like an idiot. Only, it was all in my head. In reality, he brushed it off laughing. I was stupid to even imagine it was possible. We were completely different people ..."

Ava couldn't believe it. This must be what they call witchcraft. Before Athena could go any deeper into the trance, Ava shook her back to reality. That was when Athena realized what just happened. She collapsed on the kitchen floor with a thud and sat there, her eyes wide open. Even she couldn't fathom the depth of the words that flowed out of her. She started sobbing like a baby. Ava gave her a long tight hug and demanded no explanation. She knew Athena was clueless. As she lay her head on Ava's lap, Athena remembered a long-forgotten love. 

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