A TRIP DOWN THE MEMORY LANE

Am I the chosen one? Is it me? Do I deserve it? Questions arise and I don't have an answer to any. It all started 2 years ago when I was in school. I always had a feeling that something was going on, something that could change our ways of living. It was the 10 June 2021 when I saw my best friend, Pranav. Pranav and I have been best friends for as long as I can recall, he's like a friendly kid next door. Pranav started talking about his day at school as we walked back home together. "We were having a discussion today in class and guess what, Prakash sir asked me about you." That took me by surprise, Prakash sir doesn't teach my class, why would he ask about me? Pranav sensed my feelings and said, "Prakash sir was asking if you still played guitar and if you were up to take part in the school orchestra." I sighed with relief.

I was raised by my aunt and uncle, my parents left me right after I was born, and my aunt Sunaina treated me like her own child, made me learn the guitar and never made me feel incomplete. My uncle, Neil, on the other hand, was a monster. He would treat me as a punching bag, and would often abuse my aunt. When I entered the house, my uncle was sitting in his armchair and having a drink while watching a cricket match. I went to my aunt who was all bruised up, it was all the physical abuse that she had to face. She smiled, gave me lunch, and helped me with my homework. My uncle looked at all this and increased the volume and I requested him to decrease it but he did not. Instead, he abused me and called me an orphan. That was the first time I felt angry and I could feel something on my back, my body started to warm up and I was sweating. I couldn't understand what was going on, so I went and stood under a shower which made me feel better.

The next day while walking to school I told Pranav about all this, and he was a little shocked, I could feel like he was hiding something but I didn't know what it was when suddenly I heard a voice from behind, it was our neighbour Mr. Kapoor who informed me that he heard some loud noises from our house. We rushed back and I could see my aunt on the floor bleeding and my uncle having a knife in his hand. He murdered the only woman who took care of me all through my life. I felt enraged and that's when something came out of my back, it was huge, it was wings. My nails grew and with that, I started hitting my uncle, and by the time Pranav came in, he was dead.

I killed my uncle, Pranav saw me like that, he immediately asked me to follow him, and he told me that he knew what was happening. I couldn't understand what was happening, yet I followed him to some house in the woods. He rang the bell and told me to calm down, he consoled me and told me that it wasn't my fault. Finally, the door opened and I was shocked to see Prakash sir standing at the door.

Prakash sir took us in and he saw my wings, he asked me to calm down and asked Pranav to tell him what happened. While they talked about the incident, I felt something cool on my back, the wings were going back in and my nails went back to normal. Prakash sir looked at me and said "Finally Atishay is ready."

Three hours had passed, and Prakash sir was waiting for someone to come. Tears rolled down my eyes as I just lost the only person I called my family. I couldn't understand what was wrong with me and that is when Pranav came and started to console me. "Am I a killer? Please tell me this is all a horrible nightmare." Before Pranav could say anything the bell rang, I was scared, it could have been the police. It wasn't Prakash sir who greeted him and then told him about me, "That's Atishay, the gifted child." The mysterious person walked in and met me with a smile. I was shocked to see that person, he had wings bigger than mine, and he seemed to enjoy it. He took the three of us and drove outside the city.

It was by dawn when we reached the destination, I still didn't know what was going on but was too scared to ask questions. We reached a park that was just a park for me, but I could see Pranav and Prakash sir bowing down to the park as if pleading for it. After a few minutes, they stood up and asked me to follow them. The park which was empty at first was now filled with people and tents, it was ten times the size of the original park. Everybody had one thing in common, they had wings.

We reached the tallest building in the park, where we met another person, an old person who had four hands. He came up to me and said "Atishay, my name is Pawan, and I am the head of the Mystical Society. Now you might be wondering how you landed here. It's very simple, few people like us are born with special powers, some call it God's gift and they call us magicians, we like to call ourselves God's favourites."

"But I don't know magic, nor do I have any special powers. I'm just a normal kid who just lost his aunt, and I just want to go back." I started crying and ran outside. That is when I crossed someone, it was a girl, who was as pretty as a sunflower. I couldn't stop staring at her, I could think of my life with her. "She's out of your league buddy" whispered Pranav, who was with Prakash Sir and Pawan. Pawan escorted me back to his office, and told me everything about the place, "This park is 1500 years old, and I've been heading this place ever since this place was built, you have powers, son. You just have to learn how to control it and use it to help people. YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE" he whispered. I still couldn't understand why I was chosen, for what I was chosen, am I really magical? Am I God's favourite?

With so many questions in my head, I left the office and came outside. Pranav decided to give me a tour of the camp, the camp was huge with several big houses. It was as if a whole town was built in a small park. He showed me my room and told me not to leave the room until he came to get me. I entered a dark room with a window allowing the sunlight to enter, the room was a mess. But I did not care, I could not understand why I was here.