It was supposed to be an ordinary day. Rain poured
relentlessly against the classroom roof, drowning everything
in a dull, restless noise. There was noise everywhere, but
somewhere in this noise was something unexpected going
on that was beyond anyone's understanding.
Amidst the chaos, Toma remained lost in his own world,
isolated from the confusion of this world, looking out of the
window at the grey pavements that dominated the city
landscape, which he seemed to hate somewhat since that
accident took place.
That's when one of his friends called him, pulling him out of
his imaginative world.
"Hey Toma, are you coming to the party tomorrow?"
"Maybe..."
"Hey dude, don't be so shy. Everyone's coming. You should
come too. Enjoy your life. This is the time to do so. Forget about your past."
"I'll try to come. Tomorrow I'm a little bit busy."
"I know that you are lying, bro. You have to come tomorrow.
I'll email you the venue and timing. Don't be late. I'll be
waiting for you."
"Okay, then. I'll come, but I won't stay for a long time."
Just then, the bell rang, and everyone started to pack their
bags to go to their respective clubs or classes. That day,
Toma had no extra classes, so he packed his bag and went
straight to his apartment.
That day, the sky carried a strange mystery. But to everyone
else except Toma, this day seemed just as normal as it could
be.
But the beginning of something new was way closer than
Toma had expected. Toma looked above and noticed
something unusual in the sky.
The sky was glowing with a pure violet hue, as if someone
had spread lavender flowers in the whole sky. Toma was
unable to believe his eyes. That's when something even
extraordinary caught his eye.
There was a crack-like structure forming in the sky as if God
himself had opened a door to a new dimension.
The air felt heavier than before, as if he had experienced this
somewhere before. He just couldn't remember where he had
felt this sensation before. It was just like some lost
memories were coming back to his mind, but his mind was
rejecting those memories and didn't want to recall that time
again, but on the other side, he wanted to know what was
going on.
He rushed towards his apartment to make sure his only
companion was all right. On the way, he noticed that all the
animals were acting weird. The dogs were howling as if
someone were trying to pluck away happiness from their
lives. They were howling from the top of their lungs. Cats
fought viciously, tearing through each other like it was their
final day alive.
But all the people seemed completely fine. Everyone was
chatting to their friends or family and were living the times
of their lives happily. He noticed a little boy whose balloon
flew in the air and got stuck in a tree. He was crying hard,
then his father came and helped him get his balloon back
from the 'evil tree'.
On his way home he also noticed a very strange
phenomenon happening in nature. Almost all the trees and
plants were dried out, and there was literally no water in
them. The leaves of the trees turned brown. It was even
stranger because the season of spring had just started, so it
was odd that the plants were acting this way.
The tangerine tree he used to admire on his way home every
day was also dried out, and there was no fruit on it. The
previous day the tree was healthy and green with loads of
tangerines, but that day everything in nature seemed to fade
out.
On reaching his apartment, he saw his pet dog and his only
companion, Bruno, acting weird. Usually whenever Toma
came back from school, he used to greet him and wait at the
front door for his arrival, but that day, he was hiding under
the table as if he was afraid of something. He usually didn't
care about anything except when Bruno didn't greet him.
When Toma went near him, he leapt into his master's arms
as if he had been oppressed this whole time. Toma gave
Bruno a warm hug and gave him some snacks. He could feel
the tension of something going on near him, and the
tenseness was increasing every second.
He liked his apartment, but the greedy owner wanted more
rent than he could afford, so he decided to leave.
His apartment was enough for him and his pet dog. It had
two rooms, a fairly large kitchen for a single person living by
itself and a small balcony from which one could see what
was going on in the compound of their building. Next to the
kitchen was a bathroom with a hand shower and a bathtub
attached to a toilet.
In the school, he was just a mediocre student who had a few
friends and always got average grades. He never struggled to
stand out because he never wanted to do so. He liked being
alone since that one tragedy took place, and that changed his
life.
He had no parents, as they sent him to an orphanage at the
age of 3. He didn't even remember what they look like. At
age 11, uninterested in being adopted and with no one
willing to adopt him, he ran away from the orphanage to live
alone. He had no friends, no relatives, no guardians, no one
he liked, nor anyone who liked him.
Something that happened on a particular night was a
mystery to Toma, as he was unable to remember what
happened that night. No matter how much he tried, it just
never came to his mind.
Toma broke the silence and started to cook the only food
that comforted him at these lonely times, Aglio e Olio. He
just loved that pasta so much that he could eat it for a whole
week without getting bored.
Just as he was going to eat his meal, his eyes fell on a picture
of him and his best friend. In the picture, both of them held
gold medals and laughed, free from any worry about the
future. He looked at the picture and the gold medal that sat
beside it and became quiet. Silence hurt him more than any
spear could.
The moment he hit the mattress, that familiar, unsettling
sensation crept back into his chest–a quiet warning that
whatever was coming next was far from normal.
He stood up from his bed and walked to his living room and
grabbed a box. The box held a wide variety of items. From
beneath the disordered pile of memories, he pulled out a
bracelet with emerald beads and silver chain and wore it on
his wrist.
With a certain unease, he again lay on his bed, and soon he
was pulled into a world of imagination, the only world he
liked being in.
The next morning, he woke up and drank a cup of coffee and
wished Bruno a good morning, which didn't turn out
that way. The moment he looked at the clock, he realised he
was already late for the train and it would leave in a few
minutes. His apartment was quite far from the station, and
the bus was also late.
It was certain he was going to miss the train. If he missed
this train, he will be, no doubt, late for the club meeting.
He gave Bruno some food and rushed out of the apartment
without having any breakfast, but when he reached the
station, the train had already left, so he texted his club
members about the delay and had breakfast at the station.
He got on the train to reach the station. The silence was an
awkward one. Stepping off the train, he made a dash for the
meeting venue.
When he reached the meeting, the meeting had already
started. Toma was part of the nature club in the school, and
that day's meeting was in order to protect the environment
from deforestation and the potential harms it can cause to
our surroundings.
The weird act of the plants from the previous day was still in
his mind, but he didn't speak about that fact. He thought
everyone would think that he was going crazy.
After a so-called boring meeting, Toma was exhausted. He
was too tired to do anything, yet he decided to head for the
party his friend was talking about because he promised his
friend that he would come there.
So he walked down the road and headed for the party. On
the way there, he saw an old lady laying on the footpath; he
hurried there to help her.
"Ma'am, are you all right? Is there anything I can help you
with?"
"Yes, my dear child. I was walking to pick up my grandson
from his school when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my
chest."
"Ma'am, I have some paracetamol with me. If you want, I
can give you a tablet to ease the pain for now, but I would
recommend you go to the hospital and get some medicine."
"You are so sweet, my child. Thank you so much for your
help."
The old lady took medicine from Toma and ate it. Then she
looked at Toma that made him feel uncomfortable. Just
when he was about to walk away, the old lady stopped him.
"I would like to tell you something, but I want you to keep it
to yourself. I don't usually tell about it to everyone because
no one believes me–."
"What is it, ma'am?"
"My dear, I am a seer, and I can see your future. I want to let
you know that something had already begun in your life.
The rift is always there and is watching you."
"Can you also see that? The crack in the sky? Nature is
acting weird to all of this, or is it just me who is
overthinking?"
"Yes, I can also see that crack. That is something only some
people can see. I have seen a lot of people who are not even
able to see the violet sky, but there were only a handful of
people that I have met in my life who are able to see that."
"What is it? Do you know what is going on? Is the world
going to end? What do you know about that?"
"I know nothing about that. I do know that some people like
this exist who can see the mysterious crack because I have
read some articles about that but to no avail... In my whole
life, I was able to achieve nothing related to this. I would like
you to forget about this topic–. But it certainly is true
something is simmering in your life."
Saying so, the old lady walked down the street, and before
Toma could interpret anything or ask her what the rift was,
she was gone. The tension in the air made Toma sick of
whatever was going on in his life.
Trying to forget about everything that happened to him by
far, he crossed the road and took a taxi to the venue of the
party. Reaching there, he was greeted by his 'friends.' He ate
food and enjoyed it with others but still somewhat seemed
off.
The day was unusual, and even when everything seemed to
be normal for everyone, it still wasn't. The loud music and
bright lights were making his mind go numb, and he
couldn't stand even a minute there. So he took his bag and
left the party.
He was thinking way too much about everything that had
happened so far. To get some relief from this hectic
schedule, he decided to go to the gardens nearby his school.
The tranquil view of trees around a central pond, looking
like a gem, always gave him mental peace.
He was about to cross the street to catch the bus on the
other side when something enormous–like an elephant–
started running at him. It wasn't too big, though. It was a
truck that wasn't honking and was moving at full speed. It
lacked brakes as well. The truck's lights were off, and the
driver was operating it recklessly. He realised it was too late
the instant he turned his head sideways.
Everything suddenly turned black, and he could see nothing.
It felt like something was pulling him inside a void.
An empty void with no beginning or end.
He could feel his breath; it meant that he was alive, but he
didn't know what was going on.
Darkness swallowed everything.
He was falling... or maybe rising.
Nothing made sense- not the darkness, not the falling. He
tried his utmost to wake up if it were a dream but he
couldn't wake up.
His eyes suddenly fell on his body and he saw his body
started to shrink.
Then he felt it-
Something pulling his soul apart.
He was desperately trying his best to keep his soul to
himself.
Then he saw light like two shining hands coming towards
him as if they were trying to help him and he tried his
utmost to rush towards those hands.
But the darkness was plucking his soul away from him. The
darkness on his body felt cold and depressing. The shining
hands were like a hope for him.
And the next moment he opened his eyes, he was under an
odd tree. The tree's branches were spreading like a monster
waiting for the right moment to come and lurk on Toma but
the very next moment the tree felt like as if it was trying to
hug him.
Toma had never seen something like that in his life. He
looked at his body and it was completely fine. But somehow
he was badly injured. As he tried to sit straight up, he was
pinned down by someone.
He turned to his side and noticed an elf that was holding a
dagger in one hand and with the other pinned him down.
"What are your plans, human? Are you here to kill us?", said
the elf with sharp eyes and a killing intent.
Toma was confused and couldn't understand anything what
was going on. She looked straight at him and asked him
again.
"Speak fast. Are you here to kill us just like those other
corrupted 'heroes'?"
"No, I'm not a hero and I am not here to kill you. Where am
I right now?"
"You don't even know where you are. Stop fooling with me. I
know your motives and those creepy high-ranked-
government-dogs motives?"
"What are you talking about? Who are you? Why are you
trying to kill me? I don't even know who you are. Where am
I? And why would I try to kill you?"
The long-eared creature realising that he was not a threat to
them, released him but knocked him out unconscious. Toma
lay motionless and the elf carried him up to somewhere.