Morning light filtered through the narrow window as Pranati moved about her small kitchen, tying her hair into a loose braid. The room smelled of fresh spices—coriander, cumin, a hint of garlic sizzling softly in oil. This was her comfort zone. Predictable. Safe.
She checked the list pinned to the wall with a magnet.
Pranati Kaur Home Delivery — PKHD
Breakfast orders: ✔
Lunch prep: in progress
A small smile touched her lips. The name still felt unreal sometimes—her own business, built slowly, order by order, from this very kitchen.
Her phone buzzed on the counter.
"Siya," Pranati said, balancing the phone between her shoulder and ear as she stirred the pan. "You're up early for someone who parties till midnight."
Siya's laugh crackled through the speaker. "Some of us have lives, Madam Entrepreneur. What are you making today?"
"Paneer for one client, dal-chawal for another," Pranati replied. "And dreams… terrible ones, free of cost."
"Oh no," Siya groaned theatrically. "Not again. What kind this time?"
Pranati exhaled, her movements slowing. "You know how girls our age dream about nonsense," she said casually, though her voice dipped. "Hot men. Fairy-tale weddings. Marrying into some rich, loving family where problems dissolve with money."
"And you?" Siya prompted.
"And I," Pranati said dryly, "wake up gasping for breath."
She turned off the stove and leaned against the counter.
"Sometimes I dream I'm on a bed… floating in the middle of the sea," she continued. "No land in sight. The water is calm, but I know something is below me. Watching."
Siya didn't interrupt.
"Other nights," Pranati went on, "I'm running through a jungle. I can hear my own heartbeat louder than my footsteps. Something is chasing me, but I never see it."
She laughed softly, without humor. "And sometimes… I'm standing in the middle of corpses. Blood everywhere. And the strangest part?" She paused. "I'm not scared in that one."
There was a brief silence on the line.
Siya finally said, half-joking, half-curious, "You sure you're not some kind of seer? Or a dreamer? Maybe you see past lives or future lives or something."
Pranati snorted. "If I were a seer, shouldn't I at least see something useful?"
"Like?"
"Like my PKHD becoming a massive food chain," she said, glancing at the modest kitchen around her. "Branches all over India. Or my prince charming finally showing up. Or even a glimpse of a bright, happy future."
She picked up the lunch boxes, packing them neatly. "But no. My subconscious has decided my genre is horror."
Siya laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe your life is just… dramatic."
"Then I'd like to change the channel," Pranati muttered.
She smiled faintly and said, "Alright, I really need to get back to work. Talk later, okay?"
"Bye, drama queen," Siya teased.
"Bye," Pranati replied, shaking her head with a soft smile.
She set the phone down on the counter, the kitchen falling quiet again—warm, ordinary, unchanged.
Unseen, the morning sun glinted faintly against her upper arm beneath the fabric of her sleeve—warm for just a second… then still.
Miles away, in the quiet of her room, Siya moved to the window and pushed it open, letting in the cool morning breeze. Her eyes fell on a black cobra, sleek and glistening in the faint sunlight, emerging from the shadows like a silent sentinel.
"Pranati has started dreaming," Siya whispered, her voice low and mysterious. "That means… he is soon going to enter her life."
The cobra slithered up her arm, coiling around it with deliberate grace. Siya's fingers tightened lightly around its smooth scales. The snake wasn't just any creature—it was a messenger, carrying the weight of secrets, the herald of destiny.
After a heartbeat, the serpent slid away, silent and purposeful, gliding into the garden and vanishing among the shadows, as if it had a mission to deliver.
Siya watched it disappear, her expression unreadable, a quiet smile tugging at her lips. The world outside remained unaware, but unseen threads were already moving. Fate, carried by a black messenger, had begun its work.