November 28, 2114 , Kaalgunj 8:00 am
POV: Vedhika (Age 11)
I hate mornings. Except when Anna wakes me up.
"Vedhu... You're going to miss it." His voice is soft but smug.
I open one eye. He's already dressed, holding a paper cone of fried chana from the market.
"You bought chana without me?" I scowl and throw my pillow at him.
He laughs and ducks. "I said you'd miss it."
I rush out of bed. The sunlight hits my face as I throw the curtains open. Our small flat smells like sandalwood and old books. Appa's incense. Amma's morning tea is still on the stove.
They're not in the room. Maybe they've gone to the temple. Maybe they're arguing again. Doesn't matter.
Right now, it's just me and Anna.
(Kaalgunj 9:27 am)
We walk to the street together. He buys me a mango candy even though I promised not to ask for anything today. I lick it quietly and smile when he's not looking.
There are people everywhere. A fruit seller yells, "Last day for guavas!"
Kids from school wave at us. I wave back. A woman hands me a bangle. "For luck," she says. I thank her with both hands like Appa taught me.
Everything is loud, messy, beautiful.
This city may be poor. But it feels alive.
(Kaalgunj 9:32 am)
Anna tells me how one day he'll join the military and protect cities like ours. I hate it when he talks like that. Like he's already planning to leave.
"What if I join too?" I say, pretending to punch his shoulder.
He ruffles my hair. "You? You'd start crying the moment someone yells at you."
"I wouldn't!" I push him, and we both laugh.
I like walking with him. I like how the world feels safe when he's next to me.
(Kaalgunj 9:35 am)
Then... something weird happens.
The street falls quiet. Like someone turned the volume off.
Pigeons fly up suddenly. A gust of wind pushes my hair into my eyes.
I grab Anna's hand. He's looking at the sky.
"What is that?" I ask.
He doesn't answer.
There's a humming sound. Deep. Like the earth is growling.
Then—
A boom.
I don't understand.
One second, there's a tea stall.
The next second, it's gone. Blown into fire and pieces.
I see people screaming. Running.
A little boy drops his balloon and stares at the smoke swallowing his father.
I can't hear anything properly anymore. The ground shakes. People fall. Screams turn into static.
My legs are frozen.
Anna grabs me. We run.
We run and run and the smoke follows. And behind it... things.
I don't know what they are.
Anna pushes me behind a wall. "Don't move," he says.
"Where's Amma? Where's Appa?" I ask.
He doesn't answer.
He steps away from the wall. The air around him turns red.
That's the last time I see him.
I'm crawling through glass and dust.
I can't see properly. I can't hear.
I curl up under a broken table. Everything smells like metal and burning.
I hold my knees. My hands are shaking. I try not to breathe loud.
"Why is this happening?"
"Why do we have to die?"
"We didn't do anything…"
Kaalgunj 9:42 am
Time feels... strange.
The air is too heavy. It presses against my ears.
I crawl from one broken wall to another. There are shadows moving far away. Not human shadows. Not like Anna.
My slippers are gone. My feet are bleeding.
A woman screams. A silence. Then nothing.
The smoke burns my nose. I think of Amma's warm rasam. The smell of it. I want to throw up.
Where are they?
Where is Anna?
Where is anyone?
---kaalgunj 9:45 am
I see a little girl near the temple gate. Her leg is trapped under stone. She's crying.
I take a step toward her.
Then I see it — a shape crawling along the wall. Too fast. Too wrong. Like a shadow that doesn't belong.
Its eyes glow like wet coals.
The girl stops crying.
She starts floating. Like her body is being lifted by something unseen.
Then—
Flames.
She disappears. Like paper in fire.
I want to scream. But nothing comes out.
---kaalgunj 9:49 am
I run again. My arms shake. I fall into a pile of bricks.
There's a dog howling, but it stops halfway through. Like someone pressed pause.
My hands are black with soot. My legs tremble every time I try to stand.
Where are the police?
The army?
The Swar soldiers?
This city is full of heroes in stories.
So where are they?
I cover my ears and press my back to a wall.
I want Appa to yell at me for forgetting to do homework.
I want Amma to hug me and say "you dream too much."
I want Anna to call me a crybaby.
---kaalgunj 9:52 am
Something walks past me. Tall. Thin. Humming a language I don't understand.
It doesn't look at me.
But behind it—
Three more. Then five.
And all around them… bodies.
Burned. Broken. Blackened.
A man's body twitches on the ground. He's still alive. He reaches for help. They step on his arm like he's nothing.
And walk on.
I cover my mouth. I bite down on my own hand.
Don't scream.
Don't move.
Don't die.
---kaalgunj 9:53 am
Something is happening in my chest.
A heat that wasn't there before. Not from the fires. Not from outside.
It's rising up my throat. Like my heart is trying to scream instead of beat.
I see flashes.
Anna's hand.
A bangle falling.
Chana scattered on stone.
It hurts. My chest hurts.
The air around me begins to shimmer. Like heat waves.
---kaalgunj 9:54 am
I stand up. I don't remember how.
I see another shadow heading toward the remains of the market. Where I last saw Anna.
Something inside me cracks.
And suddenly—
The world around me burns.
But not the real one. Not exactly.
The fire is in their eyes.
I don't know how I'm doing it. But I see them stop — hesitate — clutch their heads.
Screams. The monsters scream.
They see something. I don't know what.
But it hurts them.
---kaalhunj 9:56 am
My legs give out.
My hands feel like they're on fire.
The last thing I see is the sky. A sky full of ash.
My body falls. Everything goes dark.
----------- End of chapter 2
© 2025 Parth Bhelekar. All rights reserved.
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