"Shit", Aadhira bundled the papers scattered across her room as the gusty wind flew past the windows. Deterring them with marble made paperweight on the table, she pulled down the curtains of her room. Stretching herself on the couch nearby, she skimmed through the notes prepared for her thesis paper.

"The lost land - Kumarikandam", her eyes darted at the line.

Is this even related? Ugh!

She tossed the paper away and resumed scanning the pages for points and books. The cold wind blew across, causing the windows to rattle, making a 'whoosh' noise. Sighing at the sight of her disorganized table, she stood up to arrange it.

She pulled the polished brown-coloured drawer of the table, squatting down and began arranging the pens and papers.

"What is this?" she scrunched her eyes at the soft texture of a stone buried deep in her drawer. The coral coloured stone was translucent, and the core had semi-solid fluid that was in a frozen state. Sitting on the floor her eyes read the stone carefully, Aadhira ran her fingers softly over it and found something rough at its back. There was a carving of symbols that followed a few patterns in them.

How did I get this?

She stared at the stone keenly, trying to uncover the meaning of the carvings.

"I have seen this", her eyes widened in surprise, and she rushed to the cupboard. Pulling down the trunk box, she blew away the dust from it and, opened the box. A pile of old papers, rusted hair clips, hair bands, worn toys were dumped in it. Coughing at the dust, she tossed the items out of the box. Memories flashed through your eyes as her fingers ran through the things. Smiling softly at them, she pushed them away and continued searching.

"Ah, here it is", she pulled an old chrome coloured bag from the trunk, dusting it. Taking it to the table, she wore her eyeglasses and emptied the bag on the table. A dried rose, a purple coloured leaf, sapphire coloured pebble, an emerald coloured conch, and an old parchment of paper was among other things.

The conch had three diamond-shaped symbols, where the diagonals connected the vertices at the centre, like a kite.

"This is it", she grinned.

"Uhmm...this feels good", the faint fragrance of lavender from the parchment, scented the air around. Aadhira's curious hands opened the folded parchment.

"Love a lucid dream, The emotions a vivid illusion",

Aadhira ran her eyes across the letter.

"Playing hide and seek with smouldering love,
One can never win.
Lurking behind the shadows,
He who awaits your presence,

Presents you his heart, Kanmani."

"What is this?" she gasped in surprise and terror. The letter was dated four years back, on her eighteenth birthday. Worry and horror panged her heart, her scrutinizing gaze read the letter again and again and found the diamond symbols at the corner of the page. Adjusting the table lamp, she picked the coral coloured stone. The symbols carved in the conch and the stone matched the signs on the letter.

What do they mean? Why do I have it?

Placing the stone on the table, she leaned back on the chair and shut her eyes with her fists. The erratic beats of her heart reverberated in the room as sweat beads rolled down her face.

Am I in danger? Am I being stalked for years?

Wiping her forehead with the back of her palms, she let out a shaky breath. Resting her elbows on her knees and fisting her palms under her chin, she leaned toward it, her worried eyes staring at the scattered things before her. Under the brightly lit led lamp, the coral stone shone, the semi-solid liquid inside reflecting the light across. The coral light reflected from the stone fell on the emerald coloured conch, and she watched the coral hues blending with the glossy texture of the conch.

The vibrations of her phone on the table shook her out of her thoughts.

Let's head to the library, Aadhi.

Letting out a deep breath, she gathered herself to head to the library, as Shilpi asked.

As she collected her scrambled notes and documents, her eyes landed on the four-leaved clover she got a week before.

The insides of her stomach turned heavy as panic stung her heart.

"These are mere coincidences. You're safe Aadhi", she patted herself and left her home.

The gusty wind gradually slowed down into a gentle breeze. A soft cry of a bird echoed across the room as a dry albizia flower flew through the windows and rested on the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Move aside, duffer",

"Apple 60 rupees per kg",

"Icecream...Chocolate, Mango, strawberry, butterscotch...Icecream",

Honk...Honk...

The defeating hustle on the road indicated the peak hours of the day. Aadhira shut her ears in frustration and looked at the nature around her. The orange rays of the crepuscule made the baby leaves shine. The sky shaded in the blend of orange and red as a faint purple bloomed at the top.

"Aadhi, faster", Shilpi dragged Aadhira to cross the road as she walked, staring at the sky and grinning at herself. The flock of birds flew back to their nests, twittering and chirping at each other. The mother birds shriek at their offsprings as the naughty little ones, lagged behind the flock. Laughing at the conversation, Aadhira hummed a soft number and watched the little species flying over her head.

But Shilpi was glancing at the sides with her scrutinizing eyes. She could feel an intense gaze at them for a long time. While she was busy searching for the person, she noticed someone approaching her friend. And, before she could react, she heard Aadhira's surprised voice.

"You?"

-----------------------------------

Note:

Kanmani- An endearment used for one's beloved, especially girls.

Kumarikandam- was an ancient continent, which is buried deep in the Indian ocean. The old literature of the Tamil language has a huge mention of the drowned continent as the southern archaeologists believe that this place was the oldest civilization, dating before the Indus and the Harapan civilization. 

Pronunciation:

Kanmani- Pronounced as, 'Ca-n-money'
'Ca' - as pronounced in the word 'call'

Kumarikandam- Pronounced as, 'Cu-mary-ca-n-dam'
'Cu'- as pronounced in the word 'cucumber'
'ca'- as pronounced in the word 'call'