"Why are you here?!" — Asha spun around — but there was no one. The world twisted and shimmered like a heatwave, and suddenly — a hand, cold and big, covered her eyes.
She gasped, tried to fight back — but her body wouldn't listen.
Her heart burned as if set on fire, yet her skin grew colder with each second, until she could no longer feel any pain. Her thoughts blurred, her vision fractured. She realised it.
"This is it. I'm dying, hel....." she said slowly and softly. Her voice was too weak to speak louder. Even if she wants to, there is no point in calling for help!
Her vision was lost already. And now slowly, she began to close her eyes...
Moment After she closed her eyes, Flashes of her life flickered before her eyes — just like a torn film unraveling. The loneliness. The silence. The glares and whispers. Her story was mostly sorrow, with a few forgotten joys buried deep. She even forgot when she smiled last.
Then came one memory. A memory from few days ago.
In the extreme heat, she was at the riverbank, her dress soaked, scrubbing dishes long after the others had eaten. She worked the whole day without eating. Elders told her that if she wants to eat and live here, she has to work wholeheartedly. Because she didn't eat anything and was working from morning, she was so exhausted and tired; her stomach was hurting and demanding to eat something, but she didn't finish her work. She was not allowed to eat anything if she complained about anything; she would get more work from elders. Slowly, her body became numb. Her hands were out of strength; she was sweating so much. Because of her soaked dress, she was struggling to stand properly and continue working, and suddenly, one of the wooden plates she was washing slipped from her hand and vanished into the rushing water.
She panicked. And rushed into the water, she tried her best to find the plate before anyone else found out about this. If anyone finds out this she will face harsh punishment. But at last she failed to find the plate. But still, she didn't give up, and again went to find the plate, before she found the plate...
A kid had seen everything from the window; the kid rushed to the elders and immediately told them about what he had seen. Within minutes, the elders captured her like a prisoner and punished her like she had done something very wrong! The punishment was to cut down a special tree called (Dregcad) from the mountains, come down with the tree, sell the tree in the village market, and hand down all the profits to elders.
So she went to the mountain with bare feet and an unsharpened axe. After walking the whole day, she finally reached the mountains. But because the tree was special, that tree can't be found randomly in the mountains. But she remembered that when she was walking towards the mountain, she saw some royal woodcutters coming back from the mountain with that special tree(Dregcad). They were discussing the location where the (Dregcad) tree grows. She remembered everything and went to that location. When she reached that location in the mountain, it was already midnight. The trees were in front of her, but her body crumbled; her legs were out of energy to even stand, her whole body was in deep pain, she was too exhausted; her stomach was seeking for some food, and the next moment, she collapsed to the ground. She was about to faint. Suddenly, a big mango-type fruit, but in purple color, fell on the ground in front of her face. Without any thought, she grabbed the fruit and began to eat that. After eating the fruit, she felt a burst of energy inside her body. Within seconds, her body healed. It felt like magic. But she didn't think much about this. She stood and started cutting a small but good-condition tree branch.
She walked again and Before sunrise, she brought the (Dregcad)tree branch to the market, thinking the punishment was about to end soon. But the moment she reached the market, everyone began to panic and started saying every harsh word possible. No one was looking at her condition. Everyone started throwing stones at her as if she were a criminal. She covered her face. Many stones hit her in many places, and she began to bleed heavily, but she didn't run away because her feet were not in good condition to run. So she tolerated and started begging them to stop. She moved slowly to get away from them. She was devastated and in deep shock, for the first time in her life. She cried! She never imagined this. Those harsh words never left her.
She failed to sell the (Dregcad)tree branch and somehow returned to the house, thinking that they will forgive her, but instead, the elders slapped her many times and told her she is the worst child in the world, she deserves hell!, and then they burned her clothes, and because she failed, the elders ordered her to always stay outside the house and work whole day more than before to eat!
And now, here — at the edge of life — she whispered to herself, Maybe they were right.
The world faded to black.
When light returned…
She was no longer lying on the ground. She was floating. Weightless. Silent. Alone. The air was icy, but not painful — a vast space of darkness stretched endlessly around her, like the universe itself had exhaled and forgotten her.
She opened her eyes slowly, but there was no ground, no sky — only darkness and emptiness.
And then… from behind her. She felt warmth. She turned slowly. Golden particles of light drifted toward her like stardust, softly humming as they moved. The cold began to fade.
" Is this... death? Is this Hell? " She wondered
But the lights were too bright. They pulsed brighter, and Asha winced — shielding her face — bracing herself for judgment, or flames, or oblivion.
And then…
Her bare feet touched something soft. She gasped and opened her eyes slowly and saw Grass. She was standing. Breathing. Alive. But the world around her had changed completely. The storm was gone. The river. The screaming wind. Now she stood in a lush, vibrant land bathed in twilight. The air was warm and fragrant — like dreams and memory woven into the wind. World towered around her, but they were unlike anything she'd ever seen…
The sky was full of massive clouds. The cloud shapes were weird: floating islands, rivers falling from massive trees, and plants. Their leaves are a shimmer of blue and gold. And on each branch, with Dozens of kinds — apples, mangos, berries, things she didn't even recognize — all growing on a single tree, side by side, like peace made real.
She stood silent, breathless. She was totally out of her words.
She took a deep breath and stepped forward. She was scared, but still she stepped forward because she wanted to know if this place was Hell or not.
She remembers someone covering her eyes and said something.
" Who covered my eyes? And why? Who was that person?" She was thinking. But she didn't have any answers to any of her questions.
Only more questions came.
The more she tried to understand this world, the more the world refused to let her.
It was as if knowledge itself was gone at this point.
And out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her shoulder tightly and …
To Be Continued