"Brahmastra"
My attendant had left, so I was alone in my cabin. It was a mess. My clothes were all over the floor with blood all over them. She had been gone for a long time to get that medicine. She had distracted me from the pain, but now it was coming back. I really needed that medicine. My head was killing me. I grabbed my sunglasses to look at my head in the reflection. "Damn." It didn't look good. The gash looked pretty deep. Hitting me that hard couldn't have been necessary. The train was still stopped. I could hear some of the train passengers walking across the top of the train. People were everywhere. The police were looking for the guy who had killed the woman and bailed from the train. I guess the chief steward filled them in for me, because they never questioned me, which was really weird.
I picked myself up. I was so stiff from lying on the floor. When I stood up, a shot of pain hit my head and I lost my balance. I grabbed the edge of my open window and looked out. A man was standing there taking a piss in front of god and everyone. Figures. He wouldn't have gotten any privacy if he walked a hundred feet to a bush. It was weird to see that many people in what should have been a pretty remote area. The police were by the river looking for the guy. Then I heard a scream. It was coming from the back of the train. I stumbled to the aisle outside of my cabin and looked to the back. It was the man. I couldn't believe it. He had grabbed my girl - my beautiful stewardess. He was using her as a human shield from the police. I didn't know what I was going to do to help her, but I was going to do something. I grabbed the wall and picked up speed as I stumbled down the aisle. My girl and I made eye contact. She looked terrified. I took one more step and fell. Nothing but black again.
*****
I'm floating in the sky. I'm falling. The ground is getting close and I'm picking up speed. I close my eyes and brace for impact, then my body stops ten feet from the ground. There's a big demon grabbing my train attendant. He is very ugly. He has ten heads and a whole bunch of arms. My girl and I make eye contact. She looks terrified. She's screaming but I can't hear anything. The demon picks her up along with the ground underneath her and he flies away. Now I'm standing over a dying man and the sound is back. He is some kind of warrior. He tried to stop the demon and now he's on his last breath. He's fading. "In which direction did they go?" I say. He dies before he can answer.
*****
I woke up on the floor again. I must have fainted for just a moment. I could still hear the attendant screaming. Everyone was standing around the end of the train. The police were pointing their guns. I made my way to the back and pushed through the crowd. I felt weird. I couldn't feel my head anymore. I felt... strong. The crowd parted as I made my way through. They were staring, but I wasn't looking at the crowd anymore. I could only see the man who had taken my girl. My hair was standing on end. The police were yelling at him. I could understand their language. "Step away! We will shoot you!" one said. I made my way to the front of the crowd. The man held a knife to her neck. Blood dripped on her collar. The police. The man. The girl. Were they all afraid of me? That's how it looked. I prayed. I had no I idea what I was saying. Then I felt myself rising from the ground. Then I blacked out.
*****
I'm standing in royal robes in the middle of a grand coronation. I'm being worshiped. Then I shoot up through the ceiling.
*****
I woke up standing. No one else was standing; they were bowing down before me. The man was bleeding on the ground. He had a hole through his chest and it was on fire. The attendant was on her knees shaking beside him. Everyone else was... worshiping me? I could hear some of them whispering. "Vishnu." "It's Vishnu." I was so confused.
"What's happening?" I said. "Who is Vishnu?"
Author's Note: So here is the end. I got here a little bit easier than I thought I would. "Rama" has become Rama, even though he really doesn't understand it, and he has saved his "Sita" without her really understanding it. They both will have a lot to figure out. I got to the end I wanted, though. Waris Karan is the next avatar of Vishnu. Just like the other avatars before him, he doesn't remember who he is. Coming to India woke up his dormant self. I tried to add a little more weird things to the dreams. I've actually had a dream were I fall to the ground and stop short of the ground. I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, but it just gave a our hero a vantage point to watch the action. I feel like I needed a lot more time and words to really develop everything that I wanted, but all in all, I'm happy with the way everything turned out, even though all of the plot points don't line up perfectly. I wasn't really looking for literal or perfect correlation. I didn't feel like everything had to happen the same way. They just needed to be eerily close.
Bibliography: Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.
Image Information: Ravana from True Religion Debate