What if your dreams were glimpses into alternate realities?

By Yashila Vikas

Edited by Vasvi Singhal

Have you ever woken up from a dream so vivid that it felt real? What if it was a doorway—a glimpse of an alternate reality, of another “you”? A life that feels familiar yet foreign. What would you see in that life?

Imagine this. Every night you go to sleep, you step into another version of yourself. Maybe in that reality, you're leading the life you always wanted- a higher position at work, a fulfilling relationship, the comforting company of a lost loved one. Or perhaps things aren't so perfect. Maybe you're paralyzed with embarrassment because you actually forgot to wear pants when you went to school, or you're falling off a building, or maybe you're still stuck in the same place you were years ago and you can do nothing but wonder, where all the time went?

A gift or a curse? Would knowing about these alternate realities inspire you to reach out for more, or would they haunt you with what life could have been? Perhaps they'd serve as lessons that fuel you to learn from your mistakes and reshape your reality. Or, they might end up being your obsession that makes you yearn for sleep, eager to escape reality and reside in a world where things turned out differently. Would you still want to live this life? Or would you become a prisoner to these dreams, constantly comparing your waking life to a world that doesn't exist to you. Would you lose yourself in the comparison with what other versions of “you” have created?

The choice lies in your hands- to seize life on your own terms, or to drift away into further realms where you live life untouched by your will. Each night, when the sleep calls, it will bring those glimpses again- of joy, of fear, of longing, of endless possibilities. But as you lie awake, you will have to decide.

Will you close your eyes and chase distant dreams or will you wake up with dawn to the only life you truly have, and mould it such that it leaves no room for haunting questions?