It was a day that started with the sun peeking from behind the clouds, playing hide and seek early in the morning.. The first light dawned so beautifully from behind the shadows of the clouds, the first ray shining ever so brightly through the curtains of my room. The gentle breeze made the pink curtains dance to its tunes..

Not wanting to sleep anymore or laze in my bed, I quickly got up and changed into ‘road’able clothes and in a hurry that I have not known before, stepped quickly out of the house.. I started into a run as though I wanted to make use of every moment of the day. I gave a cheerful ‘good morning’ shout to the first person I saw on the road, stretched my hands wide, lifted my head up to the sky and felt a dew drop landing on my nose. I wanted to scream out in happiness and did a loud scream inside myself. I could not resist the temptation though to skip forward.

Lining the road were plants with colorful flowers – a riot of pink, yellow, white and lavender,  Sitting comfortably on the leaves and the petals were many a dew drop. My hand stretched to touch one of them but it looked so beautifully seated on the leaf that I did not want to disturb it.

As I skipped along, there came a smell wafting to my nose. The smell of freshly baked bread. Ah, the baker uncle has opened his bakery!! Without looking that side but just hollering a ‘good morning’ and hearing his sing song response, I skipped on.

In no time, I was at my favorite field. Plants that had grown to a few feet high, gently swaying to the wind that caressed them. Fresh and green they were, bearing proudly sunflowers that looked up to the sun in all admiration. I slowed down my skip to a slow walk, walking along the pathway between the fields, wanting to touch the swaying plants yet reluctant to. I could not help but stand in admiration at the green and yellow combination in the field. It was so quiet with just me and the field. I felt the warmth of the sun on my shoulders, as though giving me the strength I needed. Slowly I walked along, with not a thought but in the company of a fragrance that seemed to follow me through the field of sunflowers..

I finally reached the place I seemed to be in a hurry to reach, A beautiful river where the water seemed to be still yet flowing. There was a small raised wall close to the river. A little tired after the walk through the fields, I sat on the wall and dangled my feet. My toes touched the water. I wanted to play with the water that I thought, was playing with me. Dangling my feet in the water, my eyes looking far ahead at the horizon and a song on my lips, I did not notice the passage of time. A splashing sound startled me. Alert now, I became aware of someone nearby. I realised that the sun was slowly setting. Still startled and not wanting to see who it was, I turned around and ran back the same way I came. I did not see anything around me as I ran as fast as I could and stopped only when I heard the chimes of a bell. I was drawn towards the monastery from where the bells chimed. I entered the monastery and went straight to the altar. Seated near the altar was an old man, so serene and so radiant. I went close to him and sat, clasping my knees to my chest. There was just silence. A silence that connects you to your roots. I was sitting there lost in time until the old man gently touched my head. Did he bless me? Perhaps he did. I reached home in a daze. I am not sure if I answered the questions my family members asked me. I am not sure how I made it to my room. I went to bed only to get up the next morning wondering if yesterday really happened..