A yawn escapes her. It’s been a long day staring at the monitor in the company of a cat. When did it begin, when does it end? Words swim, blur into an ocean, play hide and seek between weeds. And suddenly, everything expands, becomes boundless, immeasurable, infinite.

It was as if her life spilled over everywhere like a hastily opened packet of peanuts, rolling somersaults on her desk and scurrying away to hide in the corners. Nothing in order, everything in disarray. No method to madness. This was pure bedlam. 

Outside, the sky looked as inviting as a blue fondant cake decked with candy floss cloud toppings. What a delectable fare! A little bird that fancied tightrope walking was practising its moves on a swinging electric cable. She stared at it. It stared back at her and said, “Hello.”

And after this short cordial greeting, the bird flew off from the sill before she could even register what had happened. She stood there by the window, jaws open wide, in disbelief. And wanting to do something to break what could only be called a spell, she picked up the water can and began to water her plants. Then, she blinked. 

The next few minutes were a haze. She ran out, grabbing a purse, slipping into the first pair of sandals she could find, round and round the spiral stairs, and into the wide open.  

How did she get here? This place was calm and beautiful; so unlike her cacophonous street. Was it some portal she unlocked through the strange course of following the bird?

She walked on...was it the water? One couldn't say for sure. Everything was ambiguous in this place, languid even. One thing flowing into another, as if the borders were erased hastily. She picked up what could have been a shell or a rock. And it looked like the whole cosmos was packed tight in its insides. The whole world rests in my palm, she thought.

She dropped the stone/shell on the floor. And instantly, a rainbow began to sprout like a beanstalk from the ground. It stretched itself—strangely in a way that reminded her of her cat—and arched over, disappearing into the clouds. She touched it, expecting the light to spill over her hands. But, it was solid, like rubber. And the second she touched it, the whole world around her tilted, by a skosh.

Unlike the proverbial pot of gold, all that awaits her at the end of the rainbow is a maze. She wonders if she has become delusional or floating through one dreamscape after another, even though there was nothing horrific or nightmarish about the experience. She wishes she’d meet someone on this journey, someone who could help her make sense of these surroundings.

She decides that the only way to find out is to get through the maze, so she begins to make her way, wondering what was in store next.

The maze was long, confusing and endless. Finally, she got out only to stagger into a strange world filled with fish. Fish flying in the air, fish walking or dragging their fins along as if they were gliding, fish bouncing, and fish flouncing.“Excuse me,” she said to a passing fish, after clearing her voice, “Where am I?”

The fish gurgled, and somehow, she understood its language. “You are in the land of hereandnow, where everything is transient.” It didn’t really answer her question, so she tried another way. “How do I get out of here?” she asked. The fish replied in gurgles. “Climb over the river and under the hill. You will be in the land of thereandthen. Here, she will take you there”, it said, nodding at an enormous bird that had appeared out of nowhere behind her. She climbed on the bird, trying not to ruffle many feathers. And they took to flight, soaring over the land of fish, towards the distant hill.

As the hill approached, the bird began to make its descent. It dropped her at the very top and flew away. At the top were three ancient wooden doors. They were just old doors in their frames with apparently no rooms behind. She was puzzled. Did she have to knock? Or could she open one, manifesting a room behind? Or was this all an exercise in futility? She looked around. Maybe there was someone to help? But there was no soul to be seen. Feeling like she had no other choice, she opened one at random.

Although the door had looked enormous, it opened out into such a narrow space that she had to walk sideways. And she was surprised to see that unlike all the other places she had visited so far, this was crowded. A mouse with a beret scurried. “Excuse me, excuse me, make way so I don’t scrape my knee!” he shouted out to no one in particular as he squeezed his way out. A singing crow flapped its way out, wings hitting her head. And to her great surprise, there was also a plant that was making its way towards her screaming, “Finally, finally, oh dear! I thought you’d never reach here.”

She followed the plant and as they walked the path got wider and broader and all of a sudden they found themselves in a large hall. At the end of the hall, on top of a platform sat a plant growing on what looked like a mountainous mound. But when it spoke, its voice belied its appearance. In a booming tone, it said to her, “It’s now too late to eat. And let’s not waste time anymore. There’s time to meet and greet. C’mon now, give us the cure.” 

She stood there, stupefied, not understanding what she was expected to give.

What cure? - she meant to ask. But her words emerged in rhyme, "What is it that you need? I have no bead or seed!"

“Oh Messenger! Don’t make us wait, give us the word, the spell to cure us. In your hands lies our fate, now stop making a fuss,” bellowed the plant, sounding slightly irritated.

She thought for a while. And then, out came the words in rhyme, “A bird brought me here, I know nothing about a spell, I fear.”

The plant turned purplepinkblue if plants could turn purplepinkblue. And a noise louder and scarier than thunder emerged.

Instantly, a being appeared. Was it a bird? Was it a machine? One couldn’t say for sure. It picked her by her clothes on its beak and flew up, up and out another door and into the wide open sky. Below was a neon ocean bubbling and spewing what looked like fluorescent lava. She hoped against hope that she wouldn’t be dropped into it. 

But, dropped, she was! And into the deep neon ocean, she went. Just as she thought she’d burn to a crisp, she felt the cool water swallow her. And strangely, she was able to breathe underwater. As she dove down, deep into the bright ocean, she saw the bubbles generated by a giant musical instrument. 

And as she floated there, stunned by the instrument, something stirred near it. At first, she couldn’t say what it was. It appeared as if it was playing the instrument. Slowly, as it moved and turned around, she realized that standing in front of her was the most extraordinary creature she had ever seen in her life!

“Hello stranger,” the creature said in a meek voice, “how are you here?” “A bird dropped me,” she replied.

“Not that. How did you get here in the first place?” it clarified.

“I am not sure. But I followed another bird. Suddenly, I was in this world,” she explained. 

“Interesting. Not everybody gets to visit. But you must be looking for something. Here, take this. It may have all the answers,” said the creature, handing a small drawstring bag. 

She opened it and found a conch, dazzling and strange. 

"Listen to it," the creature instructed.

The second she picked the conch, it began to grow big. It grew heavier and heavier till she couldn’t hold it in her hands. She dropped it. Once it grew as tall as a house, it stopped growing.

“Step inside and listen,” said the creature once again. 

She stepped in, and the conch began to sing in an unearthly voice. And as soon as the voice flooded her ears, she was transported visually to another plane. Strange blurry colours, sounds and images flooded her.

And then, everything materialised. 

She was a marionette. And each of the strings was being held by some invisible hand. They were tugging her to do all sorts of dances to the conch's song. She tried to break away and do something opposed to the tug. Nothing worked. 

"Speak. Set yourself free," said another voice from the conch. "Don't give it the power." 

"I don't give yyouuuu the powerrrr," she stuttered.

Cracks began to appear all over her body. Was this the end of this strange dream? Was she dying?

Her body split into two, yet she was able to see everything, almost like a spectator at her funeral. The world went dark, and then like the break of dawn, a light appeared at the cracks of her broken marionette body, fizzing, bubbling, frothing. The light rose and broke into a million pieces, startling and stunning. Just as her eyes readjusted, she saw someone rising. A human phoenix of sorts, she thought. And strangely, this person bore a striking resemblance to herself.

A realisation dawned - this WAS her. And instantly, a whorl caught her. She felt her being fuse with the phoenix version of herself with pressure, unlike anything she had ever experienced physically. She screamed and thought she’d crumble any moment now. But, she landed softly on a shore, fluorescent waves licking her feet.

Sighing, she rose and began to walk through the wondrously blue land with strange foliage. She felt exhaustion seeping into her. There had been no difference between the days and nights in these alien lands (was she experiencing them? Visiting? Dreaming?) She had no sense of how much time had passed since she had seen the bird and run to find it. She longed for her old life.

From the forest of misshapen leaves, she plucked one, curious to see how it looked up close. It instantly transformed into a kite. It shone a bit, almost invitingly. Letting go of the kite, she grabbed its string instead in her hands. Slowly, it began to float and glide through the treetops. She felt calm. Somehow she knew, the kite would guide her to where she’d be going next.

The kite began to twitch as if seized by hiccups. It was becoming hard to hold on to it. It moved here and there and everywhere, as if unsure of where to go. And then, after a severe lurch forward, it let her go.

Somehow, she was not accelerating towards the ground, which hadn’t seemed very far. Instead, the world spun around on its axis. And the floor became vertical. And so, she began to fall very slowly, almost as if she was dancing through vertical fields of bright flowers.