Minute 3

“Well hello stranger. Missed me?”

She’s dressed in a crimson sari. It’s incongruous, yet perfectly right. Her red hair flows down her neck and collects on her shoulders. A diamond tiara tops her tresses. God! She’s beautiful. I’m entranced. I’m so dazed and amazed that I barely hear Mind Sector 9 warn “Danger Will Robinson. Danger!”

“Sorry about messing with you in minutes 1 and 2. I’m going to make it all up to you in minute 3. You do know it’s all an illusion, don’t you?”

“I know y y you are,” I stammer.

“No silly. I don’t mean me. All the other stuff. What you call reality. “

“What? What do you mean?”

Enigmatic smile and a fade out is her reply.

I awake, lying on my back in a wadi. The dry mud of the riverbed I lie in has fractured into something resembling large square-like brownies with upturned corners.

It’s hot and I’m thirsty. I stand and try to get my bearings. Clearly I’m going to have to climb the riverbank and reconnoiter. I need water. I look up, searching for a path to the top of the cliff. And there she is. Still the enigmatic smile, which somehow expresses love and disdain simultaneously. But now she’s wearing a cellophane sari - completely see-thru. Yet the reflection of sunshine off its surface hides what I don’t want to remain hidden.

I fall back asleep. Dreams within dreams within dreams.