CoviDreams - Dr. Deviyani Singh They quarantined my body but they couldn't confine my mind’s eye. Every night I soar into outer-space with the stars. Run rings around Jupiter and play catch with comrade Mars. Stern Saturn chided me while Venus winked. Neptune and Pluto watched from afar. I smiled back; they were gone in a blink. Mercury was temperamental and Uranus unpredictable. I played hopscotch with the constellations; took a big leap on the Great Bear. Tried on Orion's belt, it didn't fit. The Comets exploded with mirth at my expanding lock-down girth. Then I rode around the galactic carousel of the Milky Way on mighty Pegasus. An astronaut floated by; his white spacesuit reminded me of the PPEs in hospitals. Frightened, I plummeted through the Firmament into Earth's Oceans. Letting the Great Barrier Reef soothe my grief. The kaleidoscopic corals lit up my monochromatic life. Psychedelic fish darted out of their marine homes; no aquarantine here. I watched scores of Oliver Ridley turtles migrating on the ocean currents like the mélange of migrant labourers trudging miles without rest. Unlike the turtles they didn't have the empty beaches of Puri to nest. There appeared a diver; his breath rasping in and out of his aqua lungs like the ventilators of dying Covid patients. I felt I was drowning, thrashed to the surface gasping for air. Only to remember even air was unsafe. I headed for the Poles and swam beneath the ice caps; skated with penguins and polar bears; they had not yet met Mr. Covid and had no fears. I held on to a shark's fin and surfed on the waves. Whales followed me with their tiny eyes; their sonar songs soothed my senses. Surfacing and spouting air in a big whoosh like the patients who were able to breathe at last. Their tail fins landed with loud claps flat on the water as if applauding the doctors and patients on recovery. I flew to the mighty Himalayas and perched myself atop Everest, enjoying the sights. I saw a long line of climbers waiting to summit. Their laboured breathing from oxygen cylinders jolted me back to the scenes of overcrowded covid tents in Italy. I grabbed a pair of skis, and zigzagged at breakneck speed till I reached the powder slopes; leaving a mist of snow in my wake. Then I plunged into a mountain stream. The crystal clear water gurgled over boulders. I lay back arms folded, feeling like a river fairy cascading with the current. I squealed in childish delight as the roller coaster rapids tossed me around. The river tumbled into the salty sea. The warm sun vaporised the droplets and I drifted in pristine white clouds. They turned dark and heavy, drenching the Earth in torrential rain, which alas could not cleanse the virus. I woke to a loud clap of thunder. Purple lightning flashed across the peach palette of dawn. The dream had ended but the nightmare of dark dreary days had begun again. #lockdow #COVID
