“You know, I dreamt of this exact moment” she says. I look at her with a sort of disbelief in my eyes. I guess she senses that.

“But we were older” she corrects herself. “We’re sitting in a park just like this; you & me, talking, laughing. All of a sudden you throw a stone into the lake and leave behind ripples. We watch them scatter across the lake. The afternoon sun reflects on the water. Sunlight blinds us and we close our eyes” she adds.

“Both of us at the same time” I steal her thoughts. “You can hear the birds chirp, you can feel the gentle breeze as it grazes your face; soothing and swift. Now you can hear the murmur sound of the leaves slowly creeping in on us as we enjoy our silence.

Silence muffles our thoughts.

I think about what we could have been. I reach out to hold your hand” I say with my eyes closed.

“What are the odds! We had the exact same dream” she says.
“Though I guess they are different” she continues.
“Yeah, in mine you brought me homemade cookies” I say.

You smile, I smile, we have a good laugh and then we look at each other as if we’ve never been hurt. You tell me I should leave. I stand up.
“Will I ever see you?” I ask.

You look at me and you can see that I’m in pain.
“I think you know. You only dream about the ones you can’t reach.”

I start moving away. Somehow your hands find mine.

…………………..
Uneven Odds | September 30
Ramna, Dhaka