I was born in the Western Kingdom, into a sweet, ordinary family. Dad worked in a manufacturing company, mom worked as a nurse in a small hospital. When I was little, they used to take me to parks, movies, restaurants, anywhere fun. Weekends meant leaving the house behind and spending our days together. And every birthday, we took a big trip, a whole week away from home.
We were a lovely family.
I still remember my friends telling me, 'Mary, give me your parents and I will give you mine.' I was good in studies too, always scoring pretty well in my exams. Whenever I came home with a good score, mom and dad would light up and take me out for a treat.
…But things changed as I grew.
When I was twelve, dad got promoted and began working even on weekends. At thirteen, mom got a position at a larger hospital and became just as busy. Weekends slipped by without us even noticing. My birthday trips shrank from a week to three days, then to nothing at all.
The treats stopped.
And before we knew it, we had moved from our small house into a big two storied one when I was fourteen. The house was spacious, too spacious, and somehow each of us having our own room pushed us farther apart. The distance grew until they even forgot my fifteenth birthday. I spent that entire day alone, sitting by the entrance waiting for them. Mom said I fell asleep by the door before they returned.
The next morning, I did not complain or cry. I simply stayed quiet.
Days passed, then weeks, and eventually they stopped coming to school on the days parents were required to attend. Before I realized it, a whole year had gone by and there was only one month left until my sixteenth birthday. I did not want it to be like the fifteenth. So one evening I argued with them, cried a lot too. I did not expect it to move them, yet the next day both of them took leave from work and spent the whole day with me.
We played, went to the movies, talked for hours, ate at home, slept together. It felt so good to be a family again. I think they had been feeling the same loneliness I had. They looked refreshed, like they had finally breathed after holding their breath for too long. Dad insisted we plan something for the weekend, and the three of us planned a long vacation for my birthday.
I do not remember every detail now, only the gist. A seven-day car trip to the park called Rainbow Park in the Noida Kingdom.
Three days before my birthday, as planned, we drove toward Noida for two days straight. On the third day, right after crossing the border, we saw a couple standing beside a broken down car on the roadside. Their problem was obvious, but we kept driving; the man even raised his hand asking for a lift, and dad pretended not to see. But a few meters later, we noticed the woman holding a baby.
Mom and I immediately pressured dad to stop.
The baby was adorable. I kept sneaking glances while mom took him into her arms. I was scared to hold him, so I only brushed my fingers against his cheek, and he giggled the moment I touched him.
After a while his mother urged me to hold him. I refused again and again, terrified I would drop him. But eventually she coaxed me into stretching out my arms, and mom gently placed him in them.
He was so light, so tiny, so warm that fear made me close my eyes. But then his little hands pressed softly against my eyelids, as if he wanted me to look at him. So I opened my eyes.
He stared at me with those beautiful bright eyes. When he felt me looking back, he took his hands away and began rubbing my cheeks with his tiny fingers. His touch tickled. I chuckled, and when he saw that, he giggled even more. The more I laughed, the more he giggled, and soon I caught his fingers playfully between my lips, trying to make a scary face. He burst into a wide, delighted laugh, and without even realizing it, I laughed along with him.
I ended up playing with him the entire time, while mom chatted with his mother and dad talked with his father. I barely heard their conversation, but I did catch a few things. He was one year old. His name was Jackson. They were returning to their home village after a long time.
While I was trying to listen more, he fell asleep. His mother reached out to take him, but he grabbed my finger and refused to let go. Each time she gently tried to unfasten his grip, he only tightened it. So she let him sleep on my lap.
Some time later, while he was still asleep, we dropped them at a junction they had mentioned. Then we continued our journey. But our trip did not last much longer.
Rain started pouring, and the radio announced a huge cyclone in the Noida Kingdom. By order of the king, all tourist locations were closed for two days. Dad immediately stopped the car. Everything we had planned to visit was on that list.
We sat in the car, unsure what to do. After a long discussion, we decided to visit the couple's village instead, maybe stay there for a day or two. Mom would never have agreed if the woman had not mentioned a magical festival happening that night. None of us knew what 'magical' meant, but we were curious. So dad turned the car around and drove back to the junction.
From there we followed the route the couple described. We got lost in the woods, rain hammering the car roof, but after an hour of struggling we reached a village entrance. An arch stood over the road with the words, 'Welcome to Vager'. It was the village name the couple had told us, so we were sure we had found the right place.
Relieved, dad drove through the arch. But after a short distance he stopped abruptly.
Mom and I looked at him in confusion, but he gestured for us to look outside. And when we did, we finally understood what the woman meant by 'magical'.
Not a single raindrop fell on or around the car. The ground beneath us was dry, as if it had never rained there at all.
But that was not the strangest part.
When I stood beneath the arch and stretched out both my arms, one reaching outside the village and the other inside, the arm outside became drenched and freezing, while the arm inside felt warm and refreshing. From where I stood, the village glowed under a clear sunset sky, untouched by the storm raging just beyond the border.
And somehow the village itself felt warm and welcoming, nothing like the stormy cold outside its borders.
After my little experiment beneath the arch, dad drove farther in and parked at the roadside, since the rest of the way was packed with festival stalls and crowds. We stepped out and walked into the village, and the deeper we went, the more surreal everything felt.
Stalls lined both sides of the street. Some sold books on ancient myths, others sold paintings of magical creatures. I do not remember every painting, but three remained vivid in my mind.One showed a beautiful creature that looked like a blue horse with a peacock's tail, the word 'Porsy' written beneath it.
Another was a magnificent bird with a long neck and a long tail, covered entirely in red and orange flames. It looked less like a bird surrounded by fire and more like fire that had chosen to take the shape of a bird. Its name, 'Phoenix', glowed underneath.
The third was not of a creature at all, but a gigantic coliseum overflowing with cheering crowds while two lions fought at the center of the stage.
Once I turned back to the street, i could see Animals wandering freely through the streets alongside people, not just cats or dogs, but deer, foxes, cheetahs, bears, tigers, even lions. One lion in particular caught my attention, a huge creature walking slowly in front of us. It moved like a king of beasts, so regal that every animal, even the other lions, scurried aside. The villagers too stepped back immediately, creating a clear path for it.
It was not only its presence that was strange. Its eyes glowed blue, and near the base of its tail was a symbol shining with the same blue light."
"Wait," Mary said, interrupting herself. She pulled a notebook and pen from her bag and quickly sketched something. When she finished, she turned the page toward Isha.
A leaf with a plus cut into it.
After Isha studied the drawing, Mary resumed her story. "The lion looked at mom and dad as it passed us, then turned down a street and vanished from sight. I kept thinking about it, but soon my attention was snatched away by other surreal things that began appearing as the sun disappeared and darkness washed over the village.
"The leaves of the trees lining the road began glowing softly, lighting the path. Red flames floated in the air above the streets, drifting like lanterns without strings. In the stalls, strange items shimmered. There was a skin cream and a toothpaste that made your face and teeth glow like a bulb. There was a little paper bird that, when touched by a child, would flap up into the air and return gently to the vendor's hand. Everything felt enchanted.
After a long walk, at the far end of the village, we arrived at a massive colosseum. Above it hung the two moons, the huge white Luna on the top right and the smaller red Sona on the top left. It looked like a palace crafted by the Great King himself, bathed in Luna's white glow with a brush of red from Sona. The moons looked like ornaments resting upon its roof.
We stood there for a while, staring at the scene. When I turned, I noticed several couples behind us, marveling at the same sight.
We kept wandering for another hour, mesmerized by everything, and completely forgot to look for a place to stay. By the time we made our way back to the car, it was past eleven. Mom and dad told me to wait inside while they went back to search for a hotel. I fell asleep in the seat.