Dec 24–31, 2016
"Winter Lights"
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Scene One – The First Snow
December's chill swept across the estate like a silver veil. Snow dusted the pine trees, blanketed the orchards, and softened the outlines of the modern steel-and-glass structures hidden in the valley.
MC stood by the window of his study, watching his parents laugh as they tried to light a small bonfire in the courtyard. His father stubbornly refused help, while his mother teased him with mock scolding. The warmth of their voices seeped through the frosty air.
For a moment, MC simply stood there, unmoving — this, he thought, was the kind of peace he had never known in his past life.
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Scene Two – Celebration Preparations
Inside, preparations were underway for a small year-end celebration. The dining hall glowed with golden light, decorated not with opulence, but with warmth: strings of marigold and pine branches, copper diyas flickering, and the faint aroma of cardamom tea filling the air.
Ananya had taken the role of helper almost naturally, arranging flowers with MC's mother, laughing when petals slipped through her fingers. His mother watched her carefully, the way one might watch a possible future daughter-in-law without saying a word.
> Mother (teasing gently): "You work like you've been here for years, Ananya."
Ananya (smiling shyly): "It feels… strangely familiar here."
MC overheard from the doorway, a faint smile ghosting his lips before he walked away.
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Scene Three – Around the Bonfire
As night fell, the family gathered outside around the bonfire. Snow crunched under their boots, sparks flew upward like fireflies, and laughter carried into the cold air.
MC's father passed around roasted peanuts, while Ananya served steaming cups of spiced milk. For once, discussions weren't about technology, tunnels, or grand projects. They talked about childhood mischief, village fairs, and the winter of '92 when the pipes froze solid.
Ananya listened intently, soaking in the simplicity. She glanced at MC occasionally, trying to imagine him not as the visionary surrounded by machines, but as a boy sitting right here years ago.
> Ananya (softly, when their eyes met): "It must feel good… to have all this, and them with you."
MC (after a pause): "It feels like something I should never lose again."
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Scene Four – A Quiet Walk
Later, when the bonfire died down and his parents retired inside, MC and Ananya lingered. Snowflakes drifted gently, the estate silent except for the crunch of their footsteps along the path toward the greenhouse.
> Ananya: "You're always thinking so far ahead. Tonight… just stay here, in the present."
Her words carried no demand, only kindness. He looked at her, really looked, and for the first time in two lifetimes, allowed himself to simply be present.
They stood at the pond's edge, its surface glazed with thin ice. Reflections of the moon shimmered on the water. Neither spoke for a long while.
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Scene Five – Midnight Reflection
Near midnight, after Ananya returned to her quarters, MC climbed to the rooftop terrace alone. The valley stretched before him — forests, snow, and far in the distance, the faint lights of towns he would one day connect with tunnels and roads.
The servers beneath the estate hummed, TBM machines in hidden yards rested, and satellites relayed silent data. All his empire-in-progress slumbered for one night.
He breathed deeply, the cold air stinging his lungs.
> MC (thinking): "2016 ends. I have parents beside me, allies around me, and a future finally within reach. Next year, the world will change faster than it has in centuries. But tonight… tonight, I let myself be human."
He closed his eyes and, for once, allowed peace to settle without guilt.
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