D E L H I
A girl is crying messily while sitting on the ground. In front of her stood her father with disappointed face beside him to his left stood her mother with sad expression and to his right stood her elder sister with a face that expresses she has gone through this emotion and now she was trying to manage the situation unfolding in front of her.
"Didn't you tell us that you did well in your exams?.... Then what is this sharvina? Her father asked
"But I did papa I tried my best.... Really!!" sharvina said
"sharvina... didn't I tell you to study harder didn't i? if I said something to you then maybe it's for a reason, don't you think?" said her elder sister
"I did di believe me!! But I didn't think it would turn out like this" said sharvina
"I told you thousand times to study this will not come twice in life but still you didn't listen to my one word" said her mom
Sharvina continues to cry ....
"It's your routine sharvina.... Every time you come to home with a bad score you cry and after a few days you again become how you are, like nothing happened" said her father.
Sharvina looked down, hiccupping.
"Enough now….. I will let you study because I don't want you to be someone who doesn't even graduate but I will not spend any more money on you" said her father and walked away from the dining area.
The sister sat and spoke of ranks and pride, of first divisions lost beneath the tide.
But Sharvina heard not a single word they said, as her father’s sentence echoed in her head.A hollow tolling, heavy and severe, the only sound that she was left to hear. The sound of her father’s heavy footsteps fading down the hallway felt like a final sentence. The dining area, usually a place of shared meals and idle chatter, now felt cavernous and cold. Sharvina remained on the floor, her knees pulled to her chest, the linoleum cold against her skin.
Her mother lingered for a moment, her hands hovering as if to reach out, but the weight of her own disappointment seemed to anchor them at her sides. With a heavy sigh that sounded like a weary prayer, she turned and followed her husband, leaving the room in a thick, suffocating silence.
Only "Di," her elder sister, remained. She didn't offer a hand to help Sharvina up. Instead, she leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed tightly.
"You really messed up this time, Sharvina," her sister said quietly. The sharp edge of her earlier scolding had softened into something closer to pity.
"I tried, Di... I really did," Sharvina whispered, her voice raw.
"Trying isn't enough when you're lying to yourself about the results," her sister replied. "Papa isn't just angry about the money. He’s angry because he feels like he’s losing the daughter he thought he knew. He thinks your tears are just a shield to avoid changing."
Sharvina looked up, her eyes red and swollen. "What am I supposed to do? He said he won't spend another rupee."
"He said he wouldn't spend more money, not that he wouldn't let you work," her sister pointed out, a small, practical glint in her eyes. "If you want to stay in school, you’re going to have to prove that this 'routine' of yours is finally over. You need to stop crying and start planning."
Her sister turned to leave but paused at the threshold. "Clean yourself up. Staying on the floor won't pay for next semester's books."
Left alone in the dim light of the dining room, Sharvina wiped her face with the back of her hand. For the first time in years, the tears didn't feel like a relief; they felt like a burden. She slowly stood up, her legs shaky, and looked at the crumpled exam report still lying on the table—the paper that had just changed the course of her life.
Rising from the floor with a hollow gaze, she retreated into her room. Grabbing her bag, she slipped away, a ghost in her own home.
As she passed through the dining area, her mother and sister’s questions hung in the air—gentle anchors she was already drifting away from. "Science tuition," she whispered, her voice a fragile bridge to a destination she had no intention of reaching.
Then, she was gone. But outside, the silence was no sanctuary; it was a heavy, suffocating shroud that pressed against her until the quiet itself became too loud to bear.
She drifted onto the asphalt, her mind a million miles away. She was oblivious to the world around her—and the roar of an engine at full throttle bearing down on her.
Suddenly, a blur of motion. A boy, his face obscured by a black mask, lunged forward. He seized her, wrenching her back just as the car screamed past. The force of the save sent her world spinning, finally shattering the fog in her head.
SHARVINA
My thoughts had been a tangled mess until that violent tug snapped me back to reality. I looked up, breathless, and realized I was staring at my savior. He wore a black mask, but the mystery of his identity was the last thing on my mind. His lips were moving, frantic and sharp, but for a moment, the world remained silent. Then, he gripped my shoulders and shook me. The sound rushed back in like a tidal wave.
"Are you insane? You were seconds away from death! Look at me—what were you thinking? Answer me!" he demanded, his voice laced with fury.
I looked at him, my own voice sounding distant and hollow. "Thank you for saving me. If there is ever a way to repay the debt, I will. Thank you."
He froze, staring at me as if I were a puzzle he couldn't solve. Perhaps it was my coldness, or the strange void in my tone, but his expression shifted. Before I could pull away, his fingers clamped around my wrist like a vice. He didn't ask; he simply dragged me toward the shadows.
And then, I saw it. My heart skipped. How had I never seen this place before? It felt impossible—a surreal sanctuary hidden in plain sight.
A pond, cradled by a dock at its heart, lay veiled in a tapestry of Papyrus and pickerel plant. Cardinal flowers bloomed like embers amidst the drifting hyacinth and lilies, while the water remained so crystalline that the dance of the fish was laid bare to the eye.
T H I R D P E R S O N
She drank in the view, unaware that another gaze was drinking in her own. He watched the silent alchemy of her face—how the shadows of pain gave way to the spark of shock, then softened into happiness, and finally settled into the quietude of peace.
With a low cough, he broke the silence, drawing her eyes to his.
The realization that she was not alone struck her like a sudden chill. Sharvina’s eyes widened and she faltered back, the old instinct of fear rising within her.
Reading the flicker of doubt in her stance, the boy offered a smile as warm as sunlight. "Peace," he said softly, "is all I intended. I saw your heart was heavy, and I brought you here only to let it rest. Please, do not fear my purpose."
Beneath the canopy's gentle shade, where blossoms softly fall, Sharvina breathed a heavy sigh, releasing sorrow’s thrall. With eyes upturned and trembling smile, she whispered through her tears,"You saved my life and found me peace, and calmed my deepest fears. How can I pay this debt I owe?" she asked with heart so light, But if the stars allow the chance, I’ll make the wrong things right."
He offered then a steady hand, a harbor in the gale, "Aadyant," he spoke, his simple name a promise in the veil.
TO BE CONTINUED...........
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