The horizon is always a promise. How far do you know the sky, the world 🌎? There are lands hidden, even feared to name.
Akash did not wake up screaming.
(That itself felt strange.)
He opened his eyes slowly, as if afraid the world might change again if he opened too fast. The ceiling was familiar. The morning light fell at the same angle like it always did. Outside, someone laughed. Someone argued. Life continued—too normally.
But something inside Akash was no longer aligned with it.
He sat up.
His chest felt heavy—not pain, not fear. A feeling he had never carried before, yet somehow recognized that his destroyed village can't be a dream.
From the other room came voices.
"Is he awake?"
"Let him rest."
"The fever messed with his head."
Akash stood and walked to the doorway.
There, on the floor, sat Vidya.
Not chained. Not guarded....Just… sitting.
Her hands rested on her knees. Her eyes stared at nothing. When she noticed Akash, she did not flinch. She did not smile. She did not accuse.
That hurt more.
"You remember me," Akash said quietly.
Vidya looked at him for a long moment.
"I don't know how," she replied. "But yes."
Akash spoke softly, not meeting her eyes.
Akash:"I know your pain… at least I think I do.
I've lived with that suffering too—
maybe not in this world, maybe not in this time,
but somewhere… I have."
Vidya smiled faintly. Not warmth—weariness.
Vidya:"Understanding me?" ☺️
"How can you understand?"
She turned her face away. A small, broken sound escaped her throat.
Vidya:"Your village is alive.
Your home still stands.
Everything around you is… intact."
She paused, wiped her eyes, then spoke again—calm, but hollow.
Vidya:"And even if you truly understand…"
"Understanding doesn't mean my suffering will reduce."
Silence followed.
Not the kind that waits for answers—
the kind of silence that accepts there are none.Akash and Vidya were still standing there when a voice came from the inner room.
"Akash."His mother.
She stood at the doorway, her face calm—but tired in a way Akash had never noticed before. Her eyes moved from Akash to Vidya, paused for a second, then softened.
"Come here," she said.
Both of them stepped closer.
Akash's mother spoke slowly, as if choosing each word with care.
"From today," she said, looking at Akash,
"treat Vidya as your big sister."
Akash froze.😲
Vidya lifted her head in shock.🤯
His mother continued, her voice steady.
"Your father knows what the battlefield does to people.He knows what suffering looks like—even if he hides it behind anger."
She took a breath.😮💨
"He brought her here to protect her.
And he had to be harsh… because everyone of our religion hates theirs."
Her eyes lowered for a moment.😞
"If he hadn't acted that way," she said quietly,
"this house itself might have burst with rage."
She looked directly at Akash now.
"You can live as you please," she added.
"But understand this—sometimes people choose cruelty not because they believe in it,
but because they are afraid of what happens if they don't."
Silence filled the room again.
Not forgiveness.
Not justification.
Just a truth that sat uncomfortably between all of them.
Vidya said nothing.
Akash said nothing.
And somewhere deep inside Akash, a question formed—
not about right or wrong,
but about how easily morality bends when survival demands it.Akash walked beside Vidya as they stepped out into the village.
He spoke without looking at her.
Akash:
"Maybe… there is someone who can tell why it happened to you."
"I'm sorry."
Akash was too much hesitating even now he is feeling uneasy to talk with her , he doesn't know if she too much talking, in his mind the words where achoing :
"And even if you truly understand…"
"Understanding doesn't mean my suffering will reduce."
Vidya glanced at him. She did not reply.
The apology did not soften anything, but it also did not insult her.
It simply existed.
They walked on.
Akash listened.
Two men near a well were talking.
"Good thing it ended quickly."
"Yes, otherwise they would have done worse to us."
"They deserved it."
None of them looked angry.
None of them sounded cruel.
They spoke the way people speak about weather—unavoidable, settled.
A woman passing by lowered her voice.
"Slaves will be cheaper now."
"Don't say that loudly."
"Why? It's the truth."
Akash noticed something strange.
No one celebrated.
No one mourned.
They had adjusted.
He looked at Vidya. She was staring at the ground, walking carefully, as if the earth itself might accuse her.
Akash thought—not only emotionally, but also structurally.
If what happened with me the event follow laws too right 🤔…
Then someone must have decided this was necessary.
He stopped.
Akash (quietly):
"I want to speak to the king."
Vidya finally reacted.
"The king doesn't speak to boys," 😒she said.
"I'll ask," Akash replied.
"Understanding the event may help us how it happened, and that's usually starts by asking."
They turned toward the inner part of the village.
On the way, Akash saw his father.
He was repairing a broken fence—alone.
His hands moved slowly, carefully.
When a younger soldier approached, his father shook his head and gestured him away.
Akash noticed something he hadn't before.
His father fixed what was broken, not what was visible.
And he did it without an audience.
For the first time since waking up, Akash felt something ease inside him—not hope, not forgiveness—but might be morally his mind was telling him , it was morality that should exist in every one of us.
Just the quiet realization that people were more than their worst actions.
He took a step forward.
Toward questions.
Not answers.Akash stopped near the banyan tree where a few elders sat.
They were speaking in low voices, careful ones. They were talking not about the war or something related it , they were talking about grains 🌾.
Akash waited, thought asking them might be helpful,then asked,
Akash:
"Uncle do you know something… about the man who warned the king."
The elders exchanged a look.
One of them leaned back.
"You mean the stranger."
Akash nodded.
Akash:
"Where did he come from?"
No one answered immediately.
"He didn't," one elder said finally.
"He appeared."
Another added,
"He didn't ask for reward.
He didn't stay for praise."
Akash listened closely.
Akash:"Did he say anything else?"
The first elder frowned.
"He asked the king strange questions.
About borders.
About what a nation survives as."
A pause.
"And before leaving," the elder said,
"he asked about a boy."
Akash's breath caught.
Akash:
"What did he say?"
The elder shook his head.
"He only said—
'If he asks about me, tell him not to hurry.'"
Akash stepped back slowly.does he really talking about me!?
The elders returned to their grains talk.
As he walked away, Akash realized something unsettling:
The man was not said not to go after him for what he did,
but for what he refused to explaining things that quickly, must for that said not to hurry.He looked toward the road that led deeper into the village.
Toward questions.
Not answers.
And somewhere beyond the horizon—
the universe remained silent.
!!! Sorry I messed it up I will not interfere more so the things would not be more complex!!.
Akash and also vidya heard it . Both of them shocked!