"I ask again, what are you guys doing here?" the lady asks.
"Nothing; some of our belongings were dropped, and we are only now finding them. Is there a problem... Miss?" Kitbok replies.
"No... I just saw two peeps snooping around, so I merely asked.....Carry on," the lady adds in an unkind way and starts to leave.
"Please wait." Ahmaya grabs her hand. "I saw you. It was undoubtedly you.Who are you?"
"What you sa...."
"Who are you?" Ahmaya interrupts and shouts at the lady.
"Ahmaya, what are you doing...?Just leave her," Kitbok advises Ahmaya. "I'm sorry, miss," he continues to say to the lady.
"No..no.." the lady whispers to Kitbok in quiet tones with a puzzled gaze. She's attempting to read Ahmaya's words and face.
Ahmaya appears to be quite tense to her.
To the lady her eyes are genuine. She appears uneasy. Her personality seems familiar. And she saw her somewhere.
"What's your name girl?" The lady asks Ahmaya.
Ahmaya just stares at her and doesn't respond.
"Do you wanna sit and talk?" She adds.
Ahmaya nods and says, "Yes."
They sit on a stone nearby. As soon as they sat. Ahmaya confronts her. "Who are you, I saw you..." As soon as the lady could speak, Ahmaya starts sobbing and wails "Please say something; I need to find out what's going on so I can return my home."
"Please elaborate, where did you saw me?" The lady looks directly into Ahmaya's eyes and asks desperately.
Ahmaya wipes her tears and continues, "In my dreams, I used to see you every day, and now I'm here because I touched the damn trunk of that tree."
After hearing this, the lady's eyes widen in shock. She does not appear in just anyone's dream. She never saw this girl, and now she is crying in front of her, claiming she saw her in her nightmares.
"Which tree are you talking about?"
"Red sandalwood tree."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the lady says, with a puzzled look.
Ahmaya stands up and sits on her knees in front of the woman. "See I might not sound very convincing to you right now but the lady in my dreams was definitely you.....uhm you always used to stand near the sandalwood tree in my house and try to say something..." She pauses for a minute and continues, "and when I touched the trunk of that tree out of curiosity, I found myself here the next moment."
The lady is staring at her, not responding, and appears perplexed.
Kitbok noticed it from the start and doesn't seem to understand what's going on. He holds Ahmaya and says "Ahmaya let's go. Please tell me everything of this when we get home, okay? Right now, get up and lets go."
Ahmaya stares at the lady for a few seconds more before standing up.
Behind the tree, the woman notices someone. A man was attempting to hide behind a tree. "You guys need to go right now," the woman yells to Ahmaya and Kitbok as she fixes her gaze on the man.
"Listen to me just once," urges Ahmaya.
"Go" the lady screams.
"I apologise for the discomfort," Kitbok says to the lady with a phoney smile.
"I think you know something about my situation; please, I request you to think thoroughly." Ahmaya requests it from the lady and Kitbok firmly carries Ahmaya away.
.
Ahmaya and Kitbok arrive to Rupomoi's home. Ahmaya is sitting on the bed, and Kitbok offers her a glass of water and sits next to her.
"It is entirely up to you whether you tell me everything or not. But I would be grateful if you will." Says Kitbok.
"You won't believe me even if I tell you," Ahmaya says with a big gasp.
"How could you know without telling me? "Just try once."
She notices his expression and, after three minutes of nervous quiet, begins speaking.
"After my father died, I moved to Mawphlang. I've been having strange nightmares since I relocated, and I've seen that lady we saw today several times in my dreams. She was in most of my nightmares, and everything was twisted up. My thoughts were not under my control. My dream also showed me the location where I abruptly came to a halt today. The red sandalwood tree pulled me towards it; when I touched the tree's trunk, I felt pain and transported to 1935." She speaks it all in one go.
"Transported? "1935?" he says, startled.
She pauses and responds, "Yes. Uhmm, where I came from is 2024."
"What do you mean by 2024?"
"Year 2024."
After 25 minutes of awkward silence between them,. Kitbok stands up and begins to leave the room.
"Can you please. Don't leave; I understand you don't trust me. But if you stay here, it will bring me some cheer." Says Ahmaya, her eyes filled with tears and sadness.
In this circumstance, his heart aches for her. He sits next to her. After much thought,. He looks her in the eyes and says, "I believe you..." I am not saying this to console you, and I am not faking it; my heart genuinely believes in every word you just said. "Can I also tell you something?"
"Sure, go ahead." She responded with a quavering voice.
"When I first met you, you were so beautiful and uttering nonsensical concepts," he smirks and continues, "your untidy hair, your messy face was kind of appealing. Just like you were drawn to the tree, I was drawn to you; you tickled my interest, and I wanted to learn more about you. When I had the thought that I should let you go, my heart dismissed it."
When my bullocky came to me and said he dropped you to a sandalwood tree, I should have been happy that you found what you were looking for, but in reality, I was dying to see you one more time, which is why I went to every sandalwood tree to see if you were there or not, and then I found you crying."
"I always wonder why you are helping me so much, but now I know." And she starts crying her heart out. "What's going on with me? I miss my mom, dad, and grandma. "My mind cannot process a thing."
Kitbok places his hand on her shoulder and attempts to console her; she lays her head on his shoulder and continues to cry.
"Don't cry, we'll figure it out," says Kitbok.
Ahmaya abruptly lifts her head from his shoulder, observes Kitbok, and exclaims, "How can you figure this out?"
"We will find something, some clue, that scandal wood tree or we can go to that place whe....."
Ahmaya interrupts and kisses him.
Kitbok moved her away slightly, "Is this right?" "Are you sure?"
"Yes, the only thing I am sure of in 1995," she drew closer to him, as close as they could feel each other's breath and heartbeat. Ahmaya gripped his hand in hers and they softly kissed each other.
"This isn't right." Kitbok muttered, still locking his lips with her.
Ahmaya responds by whispering, "You surely live in 1995," and kisses him back.
Ahmaya had kissed boys before, but this was different... she felt a sense of illumination in her chest. Her heart feels light.
.
"I should go now..." says Kitbok, standing up.
"Yes. Sure...wait wait" exclaims Ahmaya. Please help me tomorrow to find out more about that lady. She would be the one who could help me. You may wonder why I always trouble you.. but I don't have anyone here and...."
"Okay, I will find information about that lady tomorrow." Kitbok interrupts.
"Thank you Kitbok" says Ahmaya smiling.
Kitbok says nothing but smiles back and exits.
She hasn't seen her face in the mirror since she arrived. Today, Kitbok complimented her, and she wants to know how she appears in Gho and Kira, but she doesn't have a mirror in her room. She goes out of the room and finds a mirror, and she sees it.
"What the hell!" It's not her face or her body; she's Ahmaya, but this body does not belong to her.
Ahmaya is stunned, terrified, and confused, and she is shiviring out of thoughts. She is also consumed by thoughts about the lady. Ahmaya is also relieved because she has found something from her dream. But she is drained and has fallen asleep.
She gets goosebumps and has an odd sensation in her body at four in the morning. She thus began tossing and turning while she sleeps. She senses that something is breathing on top of her. She detects a breath from someone.
She opens her eyes. And she notices that woman, her wide-open black eyes dangling and her body hanging in midair just like before happened at her grandma's house.
"You asked me before who I am... I am here to tell."
"I am the forest spirit."