Wake Up – Chapter 1

Last night I had a dream:
I’m watching a basketball game at my high school gym. The home team is up by 4 points when the buzzer goes off. Now that I’m 21 and I’ve been graduated for a few years it’s fun to come home for a game every once in a while, even if it is over an hour away and in the middle of nowhere. I grab my coat and head towards the door as I listen to the excited chatter that fills the gym.
The air in the parking lot is cool and crisp. The wind kicks up the snow on the ground and twirls it around. It’s completely dark except for the soft yellow glow illuminating the parking lot. I hurry to my car wishing to get out of the cold as soon as possible. My car is an ugly yellow hatchback with a squished in front but it gets me where I need to go. My husband could easily afford to get me a new one but since I’m the only one who drives I wanted to wait until I could buy my own car.
I drive slowly out of the parking lot and turn towards home knowing I have a long sleepy drive ahead of me. I take a right and I’m the only car on the road. I wind around the familiar twists and curves for a while thinking about life, the game, and nothing all at the same time. Not really paying attention I take my next turn and suddenly everything is different.
It’s suddenly so incredibly bright. I try to adjust my eyes but the burn from the light. It sounds different too. Where before I was kept company by only the soft rumble of my engine it’s now impossibly loud. The chime of bicycle bells and roar of engines is all around me. I can also hear people bustling aro0und me. I blink a few more times as my vision slowly comes back. I look around astonished. It looks like I’m in Bangladesh. I recognize it because that’s where my husband is from. We come here every year. But that’s impossible. I think to myself. I was just in Viroqua, Bangladesh is on the other side of the world. I look around the car and it’s still my car but definitely not where It’s supposed to be. I sit there stunned before coming to a very scary realization. I’m alone in a country where I don’t speak the language and I have no idea how I got here.
I began frantically looking around for anything familiar. A landmark so maybe I can find my way to my in-laws’ house. I know they’ll help me, and they might even know what’s going on. As always there are so many people but I don’t see anything I recognize for sure. The buildings are all tall and colorful and there is a lake to my left. I wonder to myself if maybe that’s elephant lake. It looks like it is based on the bridge I see in the distance. But it is strange it looks like it’s still under construction. My husband had told me that the Bangladeshi army had built it years ago. I wondered if maybe I was wrong and this was a different lake. I thought maybe I should get out and try to ask someone.
As I stepped out of my car the hot, humid air hit me in an almost suffocating way. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my winter coat and gloves. I peeled off as many layers as I could and left them in the car. I then began looking around for someone who looked friendly enough but young enough that they might speak English. As I looked around I saw the back of a head that looked way to familiar. It was my husband. Oh thank god, I thought to myself. I’m saved. I noticed that his two friends Imran and Rakib were sitting next to him.
“Ron!” I called. No response. I wondered if maybe he hadn’t heard me. I got closer. “Ron!” I called again. I was sure he heard me that time but he still didn’t react. I got right behind him and said “Rounak.” I never called him that but that was his real name. On hearing that he whipped around and stared at me with a confused look. Confused by the way he was looking at me I cautiously asked, “What are we doing here?” I asked cautiously.
His face twisted with even more confusion. He looked down almost like he was [icking his words very carefully. I noticed he looked different somehow. He looked like he was younger maybe. His friends looked younger too. In fact, his friends looked much younger. Imran looked much thinner and Rakib still had quite a bit of his hair. I know that couldn’t be possible though. Just then my thoughts were interrupted by Ron speaking. He spoke slowly as if he were unsure of himself, “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”
I was taken aback, “Of course you know me, we’re married.”
“Married?! I’m only 16, I can’t be married.”
I couldn’t understand. My husband is 23, we’ve been married for more than a year now. Why do they look so young? I start to feel light-headed.
Imran looks at me and says “Maybe you should sit, you look ill.” He and Rakib slide down leaving me room to sit between Ron and Imran.
I sit on the concrete wall and put my head in my hands. “This can’t be happening,” I mutter to myself.
“What can’t be happening?” Ron asks me looking still more concerned. His face looks like the first time I got a bloody nose and he asked if he needed to call 911.
“What year is it?” I ask.
“It’s 2013,” Ron says.
It’s 2020 for me I think to myself. Is it possible? Have I traveled back in time somehow? “Ok, you’re going to think I’m crazy but I think I’ve traveled back in time.”

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