The sun was rising above the hills east of the temple. The first light rays touched the top of the temple building and dispersed, bringing a faint light to the temple. A young boy was sweeping the floors of the temple. He had sweat clinging to his eyebrows.
It was summer time and the air was humid and the weather hot. As the sun had just risen, the rooster cried loudly, waking the rest of the temple up. There were very few people on the temple grounds but this changed. It became bustling. The boy stopped sweeping and went to the residential area of the temple to get ready.
He entered a small hut and put the broom on one side of the hut and then grabbed a towel. He then went to the common bathing area to freshen up. Once he finished bathing, he donned some clothes and went to the temple school. He sat down in front of the tree where lessons were normally taught and waited for the teacher.
The teacher arrived shortly after. He was a middle aged priest named Sahith. He saw the boy to be the only child who had arrived.
"Netan," Sahith called the boy. "Acharya garu wishes to see you."
Netan stood up and proceeded to Acharya's office. Acharya was the only person in the entire person who had an office. There was no need for another office. Netan went into the office and saw Acharya sitting with another person.
"Netan, come and sit," Acharya beckoned to Netan. Netan obliged and sat in one of the chairs.
"Netan is a very talented boy. He is only turning 12 in the winter but he has already learnt all the holy scripts and texts," Acharya told the person next to him. This person was an old lady with white hair. She was wearing a red sari*.
[* Sari is a traditional Hindu outfit for females]
Acharya then turned to Netan. "Netan, this is Madam Laya. She is the director of a high school nearby. She is willing to take you as a student free of cost, but you must maintain high grades there. You will study there for 5 years, but you will still stay here. You will travel there everyday. Are you okay with that?" Acharya asked Netan.
Netan nodded.
"You do not worry about the grades. You will have a great time at my school," Madam Laya said.
Netan nodded again. He did not say anything though.
"Do not mind his silence. He is a boy of very few words. He is very shy," Acharya clarified to Madam Laya. Madam Laya looked at Netan again who shirked away.
"It's okay. My school will change him. He will make many friends. You do not worry Acharya garu," Madam Laya said. "You will start in a month when summer ends," She told to Netan.
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4 years later
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Netan was sitting in a white room. There were 25 desks lined neatly in rows of 5. He was sitting in the front row. In the front of the room was a bigger desk behind which was a black board. A teacher was teaching the entire class but Netan seemed like he was in a trance. The teacher however did not pay any heed to the seeming inattentiveness of Netan.
"Does anyone know how to derive this equation?" The teacher asked the entire class. "I taught the initial concept yesterday. If any of you did the homework then you would have encountered a simpler version of this problem."
Some of the students opened their books trying to work out the problem while many gave up instantly. They hadn't bothered to do the homework and didn't expect to know the answer. Netan sat staring at the board in a similar trance as before.
"Sami? Do you want to try this?" The teacher asked. Sami stood up unwillingly. She was one of the toppers in the class but she was unaware of how to solve this problem. Sami took a chalk from the teachers hand and stood at the black board. After a few minutes of no progress the teacher looked at Netan.
"Netan?"
Netan looked at the teacher. He stood up and walked towards Sami. He took the chalk from her and looked at the board. He then went on to write the solution to the equation along with the steps to solve it neatly. After he finished he went back to his place and continued to be in a trance. The class resumed as if this was a common sight.
It was a common sight. Netan never talked but he always solved all the problems properly. They were all in the same class for almost four years and they were used to this by now. Every one copies the problem and proceeded with the class.
The period ended and the school day finished. The students got into various groups ready to go out after school. Netan was the only person who was packing his bag and going alone.
"Do you want to come with us Netan?" Someone asked him, but it was a formality at that point. Netan shook his head and left the classroom by himself. Netan left the school and walked towards the temple. He had some money with him for transportation but he chose to save it and walk. The temple was thirty minutes away by walk which wasn't unwalkable.
Netan walked the first ten minutes in silence without any disturbance. His walks would normally be very quiet. But this time Netan heard a very strange growling sound. It wasn't a dog - stray dogs were common place in cities. Netan stopped and looked around. He then smelt something very unpleasant. It smelled like something that had been dead for a week. Netan heard something behind him and turned around.
Behind him was a 7 foot tall being. It wasn't a human. It had an extra pair of arms and was coloured black from head to toe. It looked beastly. It looked at Netan and grinned savagely.
"BOO!"