Aarav's dreams that night were unlike anything he had ever experienced. He floated in complete silence, suspended in a tunnel of swirling lights. Strange symbols circled around him, glowing in neon blues and violets. Whispers echoed from every direction—some soft and calming, others urgent, hurried. He couldn't understand the words, yet somehow they made sense, like forgotten memories resurfacing.
Then suddenly, a white flash—blinding, all-consuming.
Aarav's eyes snapped open. His heart was racing.
He was in his room.
Same blue walls. Same posters. Same pile of books next to his bed.
But something felt… different.
He sat up and scanned the space around him. Everything looked normal, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted. The morning sunlight peeking through the curtain had a strange silver tint. The hum of the ceiling fan sounded just a little deeper. His senses felt sharper, like the volume of the world had been turned up a notch.
He heard his mom calling from the kitchen. "Aarav! Come on, beta. You'll be late for school!"
"Coming!" he shouted back, rubbing his eyes.
He moved through his morning routine like always, but the odd feeling stayed with him. When he walked into the kitchen, he noticed his mother was wearing a saree he didn't remember. The design was peculiar—intricate stars and geometric shapes that seemed to shimmer in the light.
"Nice saree," he said.
She smiled. "You've seen this one a hundred times."
Have I? Aarav thought.
Breakfast tasted the same, but he could name every spice used just by smell. The dosa was crisp, and he could almost feel each layer of it with his tongue. It was like his senses had been dialed to maximum clarity.
On the way to school, he sat by the window on the bus as usual. But even the trees outside looked a little taller. The same kids laughed, ran, and teased each other—but the voices sounded clearer, more distinct. A dog that always barked at their bus didn't bark today. The driver took a different turn, yet no one else seemed surprised.
Meera turned to him from two seats ahead.
"Hey Aarav, you okay? You look like you saw a ghost."
He shook himself out of his thoughts. "I'm okay," he replied, forcing a smile.
She gave him a thumbs-up and turned back.
At school, everything appeared normal on the surface. But the differences grew more obvious the longer he stayed. His class teacher, Mrs. Nisha, who never wore glasses, now had a pair resting on her nose. The school bell rang two minutes earlier. The alphabet chart in the hallway had changed slightly—the letter Z now had a zebra that looked more like a robot.
Nobody else noticed.
Aarav's head spun. Am I dreaming? he wondered.
During lunch, he sat under his usual neem tree. He opened his bag and pulled out the strange cube—the final gift from last night. It was still glowing faintly, like a sleeping star.
He touched it.
Instantly, it warmed in his palm. Lines of light spread across its surface, forming an infinity symbol that floated above it. Words appeared in the air: "Axis-7: Entry Confirmed. Powers Initializing."
His breath caught in his throat.
Axis-7? Powers?
Was he in a different world?
His mind reeled with the possibility. Everything made sense now. The slight changes. The silence. The cube.
He wasn't in his original world anymore.
But he hadn't meant to cross into another universe.
"What's happening to me?" he whispered.
Just then, his pen rolled off his lap and onto the ground. He bent to pick it up—only to feel a strange pull in his chest.
Before his hand could reach it, the pen flew up into his palm.
He stared at it in shock.
He hadn't moved. The pen had come to him.
He tried again. Focused on his water bottle a few inches away. Raised his hand.
The bottle wobbled, then tipped over.
What the... he thought.
It was real.
He didn't just switch universes—something inside him was changing.
Powers. Real ones.
He ran a few more tests in secret: during PE, he jumped for the basketball hoop and touched it with ease. In the science lab, the magnetic iron filings began to shift when he came close. He even caused a flickering tube light to burst just by staring at it too long.
He was no longer the quiet kid watching heroes in comics. He was becoming one.
But it wasn't all fun.
That night, after dinner, he sat on his bed, staring at the cube again.
"Why me?" he whispered. "Why did I come here? Why now?"
The cube responded by flashing a pattern—red, blue, red—then dimmed.
More questions. No answers.
He lay back, his mind swirling with possibilities. Maybe this world needed him. Maybe the cube had chosen him for a reason.
Whatever the case, Aarav knew one thing for sure.
Nothing was ever going to be the same again.