A BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

3: THROUGH TIME, TOWARDS YOU

PARADISE POINT,DEHRADOON,2012
Piya closed her eyes,as she felt the ground dissapear from beneath her feet.In that second,it was as if she could see the flashback of her whole life before her.Growing up as an outcast in society,shielded by her mother,her world shattered with her mother's death,then the whole nightmare of living with the Dobriyals,living near her own father and denied the love of a father.Her dreams of becoming a writer would die with her,crashing to nothingness in the ruthless rocks below.
But what Piya Dobriyal did not know,was that the real plans of Fate had just set in action.When Destiny plans,and when the soul calls there is no way of escaping from what it has in store.And destiny had not planned for Piya to meet with Death,at least not now.Instead,Destiny had planned a different meeting:Piya's meeting with her life;life in the name of a young stable boy from the nineteenth century.
1812,PANDHER KINGDOM
Siddharth Raichand came out of his house,preparing to go to the palace to begin his daily errands.Dawn had broken a while ago,and Siddharth was needed at the palace early today,to help in preparaions for the visitors of the kingdom.A smile curled his lips.Siddharth had none of that dimpled,killer smile of his younger brother.It was a smile of selfish satisfaction,a smile that always formed when he went to the palace because it meant seeing Princess Maithili,and that was what he loved.
It made him angry and hateful towards his brother when he realized that it was Abhayendra whom Maithili had chosen,Abhayendra whom she loved.He did not know why.It wasn't that he wasn't handsome.Oh he was.He had a strong,handsome face,with dark gray eyes and dark hair that fell to his forehead.But what Sidharth did not know was that,his heart could never be as pure as Abhayendra's,or as selfless.He just hated his brother for stealing something that should have been his,that though he was adopted,he had everything Siddharth ever wanted.
Siddharth was pulled out of his thoughts as he saw his father emerge from the secret working place.He had never seen that look on his face,that terrified,agonised,helpless look.Further,he had never seen him crying.
"Father!"Siddharth called out,hurrying towards him."What happened?Is something wrong?"
PARADISE POINT,DEHRADOON,2012
It happened in the blink of an eye.One moment,Piya felt gravity pulling her down,the next moment,something slammed into her so hardthat she was knocked backwards,onto the ground behind.The ground was sloping,and Piya started to roll towards the bottom,her eyes still closed ,too stunned to make out what was happening.The something that had collided with her also rolled with her,finally both coming to rest at the bottom of the slope with Piya on top.Piya's heart hammered.All her shocked brain was processing was that she had somehow been stopped from killing herself.But what-?
Shocked and confused,Piya opened her eyes,and found herself looking right into a pair of hyponotic ice-blue eyes.
1812,PANDHER KINGDOM
"What??"Siddharth,shouted,his mouth hanging open as he stared at his father,trying to digest what he had just heard. A time-travelling machine?Abhayendra sent through?
"Father,what are you saying?"
Johan seemed to have lost all strength to speak,as he somehow stammered. "What have I done-What crime I have committed,I sent my son in the maze of time,and the machine was not completed-I can't bring him back-not till I finish-Oh God-Abhayendra-my son-"
Siddharth's mouth was still open,but his mind was already working furiously.Abhayendra-gone-maybe forever?And he hardly cared.He was not even his own brother,just an adopted orphan. Siddharth mind worked out a plan slowly. This meant his way to Maithili was clear. He had to just make sure that Johan did not complete the machine. He had to destroy it before that. Then,his way clear. Forever.
PARADISE POINT,DEHRADOON,2012
Piya suddenly realized she was lying on top of a man,and suddn embarrassment flooded through her.But she could not move.Those ice-blue eyes held her captive.It was his voice that pulled her out from her trance,a husky voice,that was no less captivating."Maithili?"
Abhayendra couldn't make out what was happening.Something was wrong.What had happened?He remembered coming through lots of sounds and colours,and then slamming into something-maybe someone-had it been Maithili?But something was strange.Maithili didn't have those baby brown eyes,nor did she have curly hair.And the dress was all wrong.Not the gowns that princesses wore.This was-what dress was this?Abhayendra couldn't understand.Maybe he had been hit on the head and was seeing things.But this was his Maithili,right?He called her,"Maithili?"and reached out to touch her face,gently pushing back the stray strands falling on him.
Piya leaped up and away at his touch,her spine tingling.She hadn't been prepared for his touch,and had been even less prepared for the weird sensation in the pit of her stomach.
"W-what are-W-who are you?"she stammered."And M-maithili?W-who is she?I am Piya-Piya dobriyal."
Abhayendra stood up too,his face shocked.Piya for the first time noticed what he was wearing.That loose white shirt and pants,he looked straight out from the past times.Little did she know how right she was.
"Maithili?What are you saying?Abhayendra walked up to her and held her shoulders,staring at her."Don't you recognise me?It's me Abhayendra.And where is your gown?What are you wearing my princess?"
Piya knew there were only two possible things happening here:either she had really died,or she had just gone mad.
She shook away his hands from her shoulders and stepped back."I should ask what you are wearing,mister.What's wrong with my dress?And I told u I'm not Maithili"she added her temper rising."I don't know her.I am PIYA.What's with this "princess" nonsense?And Abhayendra?Who has that name in the twenty-first century?Now please leave me alone.As it is,you've spoiled my plans."angry tears formed in her eyes as she spoke. Oh,how she hated this world.
Abhayendra's blood had frozen hearing her speak.
"What did you say?"he whispered"Which century is this?"
Piya gave him a strange look,one that clearly indicated that she thought he had lost his mind.
"TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"she spoke a little loudly. "What else is it supposed to be?"
Abhayendra stumbled back,his mind blank with shock. Piya frowned at him. What was wrong with this person?She knew the matter a moment later,as he stepped forward once more,his face still shocked and a little frightened."U must help me"he spoke,his voice barely audible."I think I have travelled through time."