Kalpak wrapped all three items in a black piece of cloth, placed them in the drawer, and decided to clear his mind. He went to meet his friend Amay.
The café buzzed with quiet conversations and the clinking of cups. Kalpak and Amay sat across from each other at a corner table, the air heavy with unspoken tension. They hadn't spoken for the past ten minutes, Amay glaring at Kalpak with a mix of anger and confusion.
"What's the matter? Why are you staring at me like that?" Kalpak finally broke the silence, his brow furrowed.
"I'm wondering what made you come to see someone like me," Amay replied sharply.
Kalpak raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're a big man now. You've become rich and successful. Why would you bother with someone like me?"
"Stop taunting me, bro. I've been busy with my studies, college, and other stuff," Kalpak said defensively.
"Mofo, you couldn't even call me once. Not only that, but you also didn't pick up my calls. How was I supposed to know if you were alive or not? Dickhead..." Amay retorted angrily.
Kalpak and Amay continued to chat for three hours, catching up on everything they had missed. When Kalpak returned home, he ate dinner. Before going to sleep, he set his alarm and checked the date: August 8, 2020.
Kalpak found himself standing in the middle of a huge, black room filled with cold water up to his ankles. The room was filled with white smoke, and he was wearing a white shirt and black jeans.
He looked around curiously, but there was nothing in sight—only empty black space and white smoke. He had no idea where he was. Suddenly, he noticed the figure of a man shrouded in thick white smoke, approaching him. At the same time, he began hearing a beeping sound.
Completely confused, terrified, and panicked, Kalpak trembled and sweated profusely. The figure kept coming closer, and the beeping sound grew louder and more intense. As the figure approached faster, the noise became unbearably loud, hurting Kalpak's ears.
In a state of panic, Kalpak shouted and woke up, drenched in sweat with his hands shaking and trembling. He realized it was just a dream. He stopped the alarm and checked the time: 8:10 AM and the date: August 13, 2020.
Kalpak, still bewildered, whispered to himself, "What was that? I've never had a dream like this before."
It had been four days since he received the third marble.
He got up from his bed and suddenly noticed that his pants were soaked at the bottom, but he ignored it and went to take a shower. While showering, he thought about the dream he had recently. After half an hour, Kalpak noticed that his legs were submerged in water. Looking down, he saw that the entire bathroom was flooded. He wondered what had happened and why the water wasn't draining. He noticed something blocking the drain.
As he went to check, he suddenly noticed a light coming from the sink. He panicked. Pulling out the obstruction, he discovered a glowing orange marble. The instant he saw the marble, he screamed, :Mummyyyyyyyyaaaa!"
Kalpak's mother heard his scream and rushed to his room, asking him what had happened.
"Kalpak, what happened?" she asked, concern etched on her face.
"Nothing, just a small incident," Kalpak replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Then why did you scream like that?" his mother pressed.
"It was just a cockroach, nothing serious," Kalpak lied, attempting to mask his fear.
"Since when did you start getting scared of cockroaches?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"From today. Can you please leave now? I'm not dressed," Kalpak said, trying to deflect her questions.
His mother muttered under her breath, "Kids these days... I thought I gave birth to a brave man, but I don't know how I ended up with a woman..."
"How do I explain, mother..." Kalpak whispered to himself.
After his mother left the room, Kalpak sighed in relief. He went to his drawer, pulled out the remaining three marbles wrapped in black cloth, and placed them on his desk.
As he unwrapped the cloth, the marbles gleamed under the dim light, their significance weighing heavily on his mind.
After an hour of meticulous research, Kalpak concluded that the appearance of the four marbles was not a coincidence; it was premeditated. He discovered a pattern in the arrival of the marbles. The first marble appeared on August 1, 2020. The interval between each subsequent marble corresponded to its sequence number. For instance, the second marble arrived after two days, on August 4, accounting for the gaps on August 2 and 3. Similarly, the third marble arrived on August 8, and the fourth on August 13.
Based on this pattern, he predicted that the next marble would appear on August 19.
It had been five days since he received the fourth marble.
In his dream, Kalpak had another unsettling dream. He found himself standing in the middle of a vast, dark room filled with cold water up to his ankles. The room was enveloped in white smoke. He wore a white shirt and black jeans. This time, he noticed a change in the figure that had previously been shrouded in thick white smoke. Now, he could see the lower half of a man's body, clad in black shoes and black pants. For a brief moment, he glimpsed red eyes on the figure, which was steadily approaching him.
Kalpak's heart pounded as he tried to make sense of the dream. The figure's red eyes bore into him, filled with an eerie intensity. As the figure drew closer, the room's temperature seemed to drop even further, sending chills down his spine.
Kalpak woke up in a panic, sweat dripping down his face. "It's been a while since I had this dream, and it's different from before," he whispered to himself.
Suddenly, Kalpak realized it might be August 19th. He quickly checked his phone; the date and time displayed as August 18th, Tuesday, 8:10 AM. Completely confused, he thought, My prediction was completely wrong.
He recalled having a similar dream when he received the fourth marble but dismissed it as a coincidence. Setting aside his confusion, Kalpak prepared to go to college, where he had to assist his friends in managing an upcoming event.
Later that day, as Kalpak was returning from college late at night, a sudden downpour began. He stopped his bike and sought shelter at a street bus stop, completely drenched. About 100 meters away, to his left, was a 'chaai taaparee' (tea stall). The tea seller called out to Kalpak, "Would you like some tea?"
Kalpak, shivering slightly, replied, "Sure, uncle!"
Five minutes later, the tea seller instructed his idle worker to deliver the tea to Kalpak at the bus stop. An unknown person, noticing this, offered to deliver the tea as he was headed in that direction. The tea seller agreed and handed him a cup of hot tea.
Kalpak noticed a man in a black raincoat with his face covered by a black mask approaching. The unknown person handed Kalpak a cup of tea and a black cotton cloth pouch before leaving without a word. Kalpak shouted after him, "What is this?" but received no reply.
Panicked and confused, Kalpak set the cup of tea aside and examined the pouch. As he opened it, a huge amount of orange light emanated from inside. Trembling and sweating, Kalpak retrieved a marble from the pouch. He was bewildered, wondering how he could have received the marble when he wasn't supposed to get one that day. Checking his phone again, he confirmed it was still August 18th, Tuesday.
Kalpak hurriedly went online to verify the date and time, discovering that it was actually August 19th, 2020, Wednesday, 8:10 PM. Shocked, he instantly realized that his friends had deceived him by altering the date and time on his phone to trick him into paying for lunch, making him appear foolish.
Kalpak put the marble in his bag, ignored the tea, and rode his bike home through the heavy rain, mumbling to himself like a madman. Upon reaching his house, he ran to his room, completely soaked. His mother shouted at him to change his clothes, but he ignored her, slammed the door shut, and entered.
His prediction was right...