The day had been pleasant for Meera. Her granddaughter, the self-proclaimed best artist at the nursery school, had drawn a portrait of her: rounded spectacled, wearing a saree with stars embroidered on it, her hair white as the page itself, with a black stroke to show her bun. She couldn't have been more proud of the budding artist, who later decided that green hair would suit her grandma and ran to hunt for her green crayon.

Meera's daughter was spending her weekend at home, taking care of her tiny little mother. Meera's body had shriveled up with age but her heart was just as big and her smile just as broad as they were in her youth. They spent the evening watching Brother Bear... the little girl enjoyed the colorful visuals of the animated movie... but something about vibrant aurora shown in the film troubled Meera.

Even as her daughter walked her to her room Meera faked a smile trying to feel happy about how joyful her day had been, but there was a small yet ancient wish which had awoken in her heart... she couldn't stop thinking about. As she lay down on her bed and wished her daughter 'Good night', she was reminded of a friend she had 40 years ago.

Tara! Yes, that was her friend's name! Oh how she had cherished her time with Tara. All the movies they'd stay up watching, all the silly games they'd play in the room they shared, all the sports they had played as a team... Even though Meera never had sibling, Tara was the closest thing she had ever to a sister. They used to make so many plans for travelling... some were cancelled because some other friend of theirs declined, some because either of them had a family function to attend to, then there were the occasion mood-ruining storms.

So many cancelled plans had left them dreaming of a far future where they'd both travel abroad and have as much of fun as was humanly possible. Meera remembered how Tara had always wished to see the Aurora Borealis with her own eyes, how she described the glowing sky kissing her pupils with its joyous green hue.

If only life hadn't been so hard on them... she might have had a chance to live through the innocent dream her friend and she shared.

It took Meera many a year to get back a life where she could dream. Tara never got that lucky... she'd passed away in an accident, struggling with her life...

While thoughts such as these coursed through Meera's head, she was unaware of three shrouded figures looking at her through her open window. Zhi, the Reader of Minds, pointed its fingers at her, nodded and flew towards her bed. The other two spirits followed.

The walls did not stop them, they were beyond the laws and problems of our realm. Tau, the spirit of Time, bent low beside her bed to have a good look at Meera's wrinkled face, caressing her snow white hair. Many of those wrinkles had been chiseled onto her once youthful face by the very hand stroking her head.

Eta, the Space ghost, held Zhi's hand... visualizing the places coursing through Meera's head. Tau stood beside them, the three held hands, they knew what they were to do. This was one of the few duties of theirs which they actually liked.

Meera was woken up by a thud, someone had slammed the door shut on their way in. But this wasn't the door her daughter had closed a while ago, while wishing her a good night. It wasn't even night, early morning sunrays entered the room through the windows... but her room didn't have windows that faced east or west. She rubbed her eyes and sat up on her bed... her hands didn't seem like hers... they were smooth, young... then she noticed she wasn't on the bed she had slept in. The two braided 'someone' who had slammed the door earlier looked at Meera as she was surprised by one thing and then the next. This surprised the 'someone.'

Meera looked at her... she couldn't believe her eyes even more. This was impossible... it was Tara... looking at her with a look of surprise turning into worry. Meera suddenly broke into tears. "You okay?", Tara asked. Meera didn't have the words to express what she was feeling. She wiped some tears off her eyes and leapt at Tara, embraced her, in a hug , a little too fervent,  a little too tight. 

Tara was in shock, she'd just returned from the washroom back to her hostel room. What had happened to her roommate all of a sudden, she couldn't have imagined. What happened next was even more unimaginable.

As Tara blinked, she suddenly felt the clothes getting heavier, the slight morning breeze brushing against her cheeks suddenly grew colder. Meera felt the same happen with her too, she tried to wipe her tears on her sleeve but the thin cotton tshirt she had on a moment ago was now a warm and bulky fur coat. The girls looked each other in the eye.  Tara was bewildered, she wasn't sure if she was awake or dreaming. Meera was confused too but felt too happy to care if it was a dream.

Then something caught their eyes... it was the sky... streaks of glorious green lit the sky up in a heart warming blaze. They turned back to look at each other... they couldn't believe their eyes... They stood there, their almost unblinking eyes looking at the magnificent sky and then at each other, and then again at the sky. Then they grew a little tired and sat down, they were sitting on a cliffside.  A beautiful lake down the cliff was reflecting the brilliant green hues. They should've been worried perhaps, they should've been curious about the sorcery that had brought them there... but all they felt was calm breeze and the warmth of the person beside them, who meant so much to them.

Then began a slow long and silly conversation, recalling the stupid things they'd done together, laughing about those things for no one knows how long. Meera was overly appreciative of her friend, which kind of bugged Tara, but she was having the time of her life too.

They talked for long, they had no clue of the amount on time they spent on the cliff-side. Then suddenly, Meera like the sky was growing darker... she felt the end drawing nearer. She held her friend in a final embrace, it was all peaceful...

Meera, now an old woman once again, found herself sitting on her bed. Somehow, she knew it wasn't a dream she'd seen... she rubbed her eyes, put her glasses back on. Three hooded figures stood in a corner of her room, their skeletal fingers visible at the end of their long flowing sleeves. Her eyes flooded with tears of gratitude... she just knew it was them, who'd let her live through her wish. As she said thank you, the figured slowly faded into the darkness of the night.

She sat there for a while, then slowly put herself back in bed and pulled the blankets back on. She lay there sleepless for a very long time, smiling... still thinking of the cliffside under the green sky and over the lake. She fell asleep, still smiling... her friend's warmth still making her heart rejoice.

The next morning, her daughter yelled in terror, as she lay lifeless, still smiling with all her wishes fulfilled.