posted September 26, 2007 09:54 AM         

But for the past two months he had not been happy. He had reason not to. Inspite of his success, deep inside his soul was fighting a battle. He did not know whether it was a battle or whether it was a war. He had a torturous nightmare atleast twice every night for the past two months. He had been too courageous to meet a Psychiatrist, who would remedy his problem. He thought he could handle it himself. He would win he thought. He did not. Day after day, his nightmare only seemed to persist more persistently.

It was a recurring dream. The same dream appeared every night. The dream was always a replay of a single video clip that run not more than a single minute. Inspite of its short duration, the horror was one hundred percent and it shook every nerve in his soul. The horror was real. Unless he woke up he would not know it was a dream. Finally when he woke up, he dreaded sleeping again. It was as if a horrible monster had been after him and he was fleeing. He was afraid of sleeping because he was afraid of his dream. He would try to stay awake, but eventually he would fall asleep and the dream who recur with full intensity.

For the past two months he was not sleeping peacefully.

In his dream, everytime he saw himself hanging by a rope, to a rock. The rock was positioned at the top of a mountain and after the mountain there was a large valley and across the valley there was another mountain. Aparjith was hanging from the mountain top and below everywhere was a vast nothingness. It was cold night and the temperature was several degrees below zero. The air was chill and blew with a howling sound, as if a hundred ghosts were howling in the valley. Aparajith was cold down to his bones. It was not entirely dark, because of the presence of a full moon, and that only added further to the horror. Aparajith would die hanging, would die from the sheer cold and starvation. It was a gruesome way to die.He had no choice upon the matter. His only option was to die.

Aparajith woke up, relieved to find himself in his bedroom. Today was August !4th, and it was exactly two months and one day right from the day his nightmare started.

posted September 26, 2007 09:55 AM         

Aparajith was sitting in front of him and described his agony for five minutes. Stanley waited till he finished.

"If you had this problem for the past two months, do you believe something particular could have brought this dream? Anything that happened when the nightmare started?" Mark asked.

Aparjith recalled nothing like that "Nothing. The dreams just started coming. There did not seem to be anything for their cause."

"Technically," Mark started to explain, "Recurring nightmares point to the presence of repressions, hidden regions in your memory, that must be negotiated"

"Like?" Aparajith asked.

"Like a heart shattering emotional event in your childhood. You would repress the event, because you are unable to experience the traumatic emotion associated with it. Not now. You would repress it when you were a child, but you need not do so any more. You are now an adult, fully capable of handling any emotional trauma. You need that assurance. I would arrange a regression therapy, and we could get to the roots of your nightmare."

"I do not have any traumatic incident in my childhood. The dream is just nonsense and frightening"

posted September 26, 2007 09:56 AM         

"Recall the dream, vividly" Mark spoke to Aparajith in a soothing voice

A series of images appeared like a water released out from a dam. Aparajith was no longer himself. He was entirely someone else. He was someone else who lived in this Earth, many thousand years ago. The realization was swift and suddenly Aparajith understood everything. He recalled his life, in an another, previous incarnation when he was a soldier. He was talented in his killing profession, and he was hanging there because an enemy man as talented as he was or even more, had left him dangling from the mountain top, leaving him to die. Aparajith noticed another portion of his life opening, a life he had lived in a distant past. This past was very different from the past he had learned from history books and archealogical research. He could recall all the agony , pain, suffering, joy and happiness that existed in that era, when not only the world was different, but what people thought what the world was, was also different. It was an era, when Science was yet to make in roads and in fact was not known. Aparajith knew how different was, what really happened and what the history books said.

"What do you remember?" Mark asked.

"It is a Past Life" Aparajith said, still remembering.

"Who are you?"

"I was Ariiknon, a powerful soldier, who knew no failures. I failed only once and that was when I was left dangling from a mountain top. I never had a chance to fail again"

"Let it go" Mark said softly.

"I would"

Mark guided Aparajith out of his trance. "You are relieved now. You have let it go. No more nightmares. You would sleep peacefully"

Aparajith said "It just isn't scientific! I could not think of anything rational to explain what had happened to me!"

posted September 26, 2007 09:57 AM         

He soon found out the name of his enemy. He was known as Tenacea. Ariknon belonged to one troop and Tenacea to another. They were fighting in the wild jungles of the mountains. Aparajith could recall the chill mountain air that hissed and whined. He could recall how soldiers would split into tiny groups and wander all over the jungles. They always knew their enemies, because they knew all their friends. If anyone was not their friend, he was probably an enemy and was dealt so. Both troops were searching for the map to a buried treasure by the inhabitants of the jungle. The troop that Aparajith belonged to had the map and his enemies did not.

Aparajith did not have the map.Tenacea thought he might have it. Aparajith was trying to return to his shelter in the woods but had lost his way in the jungle and was encountered by Tenacea. In the resulting combat Aparajith lost his weapon, and fled for life. Tenacea was after him. Without knowing it, Aparajith reached the mountain top, that seemed to appear suddenly from nowhere.

Aparajith could recall the scene very clearly. He was trapped by Tenacea, the vast death valley behind him. His enemy with the dagger was before him. Ariknon was there. He was Arkinon. He had no choice.

Tenacea threw the rope on him. The rope caught Ariknon. Ariknon struggled to free himself. Tenacea let the rope loose and Ariknon started sliding across the rock and started falling. He did not fall. Instead he was left dangling. Tenacea looked at Ariknon like a predator. He could retrieve Ariknon provided he would have the map. On the other hand he may not and trying to retrieve him could not be useful. He could retrieve Ariknon any time, and he had the pleasure of having enough time. It did not matter whether Ariknon was retrieved dead or alive.

That was the end of the story. Only thing being it was not truly the end. Ariknon was sitting in his study. What if he could meet his enemy again? Was there a revenge that had to be taken? Could he win the game this time? Tenacea must be taught a lesson, and Ariknon alias Aparajith was eager to do it.

posted September 26, 2007 09:58 AM         

"Is there a valley on the other side of this forest and that would have a rock on it?" Aparajith asked a mountain hiker who was guiding him.

The mountain hiker turned towards an inhabitant of the jungle and asked the same question in their languagge. When the man replied, the mountain hiker told Aparajith "Yes, there is, But how on earth did you know that?"

Then the tribal man told something in his language, that the mountain hiker listend and turned towards Aparjith.

"My friend, someone else asked about this place and had gone there just now. And he too seemed to know the place well! It does not make sense!"

"Somebody else?" Aparajith asked incredulously. Aparajith suddenly became Ariknon. That other man was Tenacea. He must visit the spot. He would see Tenacea. This time he would win. Aparajith palpitated and adrenalin started pouring in his blood. Fearfully, furiously he started walking. He crossed the jungle, and slowly the valley appeared thought it gave no clue of its presence only a minute back. With a pounding heart, Aparajith walked further and was dazzled to discover the place of his dreams.

There was a man standing there, who was wearing an overcoat and a cap. Aparajith was behind him. The man was facing the valley as if surveying the area.

It was the very same place.

Aparjith felt weak, numb and tired, to be in the very place where his dreams had taken him many many times. He came down to the ground and wondered what now. Would he meet Tenacea? What will happen this time?

The man heard the footsteps and slowly turned.

The two men stared at each other for a few moments with a profound silence.

The other man came out of the trance first and spoke trying to break the disturbing silence “Don’t you think, this place is both beautiful and dangerous?”

“Of course”

Then there was another brief silence, after which Aparajith spoke “We must never meet again.”

”Sure” the stranger said.

Aparajith turned and walked back.