In life, when we reflect, we realize what we've lost. But there's no point dwelling on it, so Rupali carried on with her mundane life.

One night, as she lay in bed after completing her daily routine, she felt a peculiar restlessness. Memories of her childhood stories, past mistakes, and the city where she had spent years of her life flooded her mind.

A storm of emotions swirled in her heart. She couldn't quite comprehend what she was feeling—her entire body felt uneasy, and tears streamed down her face.

Suddenly, her heart began to race like a speeding train. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and she felt as though she was losing control. Scenes from her life unfolded before her eyes like a film: her birth, her first word—"Maa," her first step, making friends, discovering the world, her father abandoning their family for someone else, watching her mother crumble and then rebuild herself, Rupali stepping up to care for her siblings, her first day at school, the nerve-wracking 10th-grade exams, moving to another city for further studies, arriving in her dream city with new aspirations, watching those dreams shatter, struggling to fight back, and eventually resigning herself to defeat.

Through her tears, a faint smile appeared on her face—a smile she had never worn before. If anyone had been there to witness her life, they would never have guessed the storms she had endured. All that remained now was peace—a beautiful, quiet peace.

---

"Rupali! Oh, Rupali! Wake up! Why are you sleeping like Kumbhakarna?"

Rupali was sound asleep when she heard her friend Priya calling out to her. Covering her ears with her pillow, she yelled back,

"What do you want, Priya? You've been tormenting me my whole life. At least let me rest in peace in hell. Have you followed me here too?"

Priya was momentarily stunned but then burst into anger.

"Oh, as if I wanted to wake you up! If I didn't have to go to tuition with you, I wouldn't have bothered. And you must have committed some serious sins in life—that's why you're imagining yourself in hell after death, not heaven!"

"Listen," Priya continued, "don't test my patience. Our math class starts at 6 a.m. If you don't get up in five minutes, I'll drench you right here in bed. I'm counting: one, two, three, four—"

Rupali, still irritated, muttered in her sleep,

"Do whatever you want. I'm not getting up."

"Five!" Priya finished her countdown and splashed a full mug of water on Rupali.

Rupali shrieked,

"What on earth! Now I can't even die in peace?"

She slowly opened her eyes to see Priya standing there, looking much younger and strangely more radiant than she remembered.

"Wait... how are you 16 years old again? Weren't you 29 last week? And what's with this glow? But hold on, what are you doing here? Weren't you living in Punjab with your husband and children? Wait… am I dead? Did you save me, or—how on earth are you here?"

Rupali kept mumbling incoherently and suddenly burst into tears.

"Don't tell me you died too! Wow, this is amazing! At least we'll have fun together in hell!"

Hearing Rupali's nonsense, Priya lost her temper and shouted,

"May your enemies die, not me! How dare you imagine me dead at 16? I'm going to take a shower. You have five minutes to get ready, or I'm leaving without you."

Priya's voice jolted Rupali fully awake. She sat up and looked around her surroundings—a small room painted in a fresh green shade. There were four beds neatly arranged, suggesting four people shared the room. On the bedside table, familiar utensils and books caught her attention. To her left were four wardrobes where everyone's clothes were stored.

A large window at the front of the room offered a view of nearby houses and terraces. On two of the beds, two girls were still fast asleep. As Rupali squinted to get a better look, she recognized them.

"Pari Di? Nita Di?" she whispered. Everything about the room felt oddly familiar, as if she had stepped into a forgotten chapter of her life. It felt both comforting and unsettling—like rediscovering something precious that had been lost for years.

But another thought troubled her. How could she see so clearly? She had worn glasses with a -5.25 prescription for years, and yet here she was, seeing everything in perfect clarity without them!

"Could it be…?" Rupali gasped. "This is my eyesight from when I was 16!"

Instead of appreciating her sharp vision, she dismissed it absentmindedly. And just like that, her "hawk eyes" turned into "fly eyes," blurring everything.

Everything around her seemed to indicate one thing—something had changed. Or rather, something was about to change. She had returned to the point where her mistakes had begun. Perhaps now she could rewrite her story.

But was it even possible? Questions flooded her mind. How could such an extraordinary event happen to someone like her? She hadn't even won a one-rupee lottery ticket in her life. And now, her luck had taken her 13 years into the past?

"This must be a dream," she thought. "Fine then. If this is a dream, I'll live it to the fullest. I'll right every wrong and erase all my regrets."

Tears streamed down her face, but her lips curled into a smile. She turned to the window and watched the sun rising outside.

"Maybe this really is my new dawn."