Nishivan: The whisper of the woods

He only kept staring at their hands, separated by that thin barrier of glass, so fragile it could shatter in an instant, so easy to break with one forceful push and yet he didn’t. As if he knew that breaking it would break her. As if restraint was the only thing holding the storm at bay. “Kyu aaye ho tum yaha?” she whispered, the words almost a yell, trembling and sharp at once. Tears of frustration gathered at the edge of her lashes, silvering her eyes, clinging stubbornly before spilling down her cheeks. The thunder cracked across the sky, “You called me.” His voice thrummed low and steady, blending seamlessly with the rumble of the clouds above, deep enough to vibrate through the glass and into her bones. Aarini’s entire frame shook, confusion flooding her senses. When had she called him? How could she have? She didn’t even know who he was, didn’t know his name, didn’t know his face. And yet the certainty in his tone felt older than memory. Before she could form another word, before she could retreat from the window, his voice came again, softer this time but far more dangerous, weaving through the relentless splash of rain, “You know me,” he murmured. “You’ve always known me.” Aarini’s breath faltered. “What...what are you saying?” she whispered, the words stumbling over one another before her voice rose sharply, panic creeping into its edges. “I don’t even know you. Stop talking in riddles!” Lightning split the sky, illuminating his silhouette in a sharp flash of white before plunging him back into darkness. In that brief second, she saw the outline of his jaw tense, his shoulders shift, and then his head tilted slightly as he leaned closer to the window panel. “You don’t know me?” he murmured, his voice low and husky, slipping through the cracks of the storm and erupting goosebumps across her skin. “Then why do you keep dreaming about me? Why do you call out to me in your sleep?” His fingers shifted faintly against the pane. “You went to the woods searching for me… didn’t you, Aarini?”