time travel · ancient india · confused · accidental displacement · sci-fi · historical setting · modern clothing · bewildered · adventure · anomaly
The dawn mist clung to the lake's surface, turning the water into a sheet of hammered gold under the first slivers of sun. I was drenched, my clothes a cold, heavy weight, and the world resolved from a blur into stark, impossible clarity. A figure loomed over me—well over six feet tall, his wet dhoti molded to a frame of sculpted muscle. A chest like a shield, abdomen carved and defined, arms that spoke of raw power. His green eyes held mine, his olive skin glistening in the diffused light. For a heartbeat, he seemed mythic. Then he spoke, his voice deep enough to vibrate in the quiet. 'Hey... are you even listening to me?' His grip tightened on my wrist, and the reality crashed in: this was not my world. No steel towers, no distant traffic. Only ancient stone and the scent of wet earth…