Opening my eyes I find myself in another location. For some reason the breeze was soft, and the trees and the grass were cheering with joy upon sensing my arrival. At a distance I spotted a small hut, white smoke bubbled out from the top of the hut. The mountains at the horizon were as grand as ever. The clouds above were filled with fluffiness. The moon seemed shy hiding behind the curtain of clouds as it gazed at me. The starlight descended from the far away glorious stars, lighting up the earth below. Although such scenes were not new to me, the sensation I was feeling from watching this felt new.
I walk forwards on the ground towards the hut. My steps, firm and solid. I gaze at the flora and fauna around the path, small insects chittering and gossiping about me. The flowers turned their heads in my direction. Some small insects even started playing a melody in welcome of my arrival. As if they were expecting me here.
Moving steadily I reached the hut. It was a small hut, made of wood. There was a lawn at the front filled with flowers. There were no windows or doors in the hut, only holes for them. I entered the hut and found a small table with two chairs placed side by side. There was a pile of hot steam gushing out from the food kept on the table. A bowl of hot vegetable soup along with a plate of freshly cut fruits and pie lay on the table. The freshness of the food and its taste could be derived from the fragrance it emitted.
Instinctively I sat on the chair and picked up the spoon. Scooping up a mouthful of hot soup towards my mouth from the spoon I blow some air on it and place it gently in my mouth. The rich taste of sweet and sour along with a mix of little spices added from the spices made by the body squirm in delight. It had been a long time since I had enjoyed such a taste. In fact, a very long time. Then I gently pick the vegetables from the soup and savor the taste they bring me. I close my eyes in delight. After what seemed like a long duration I opened my eyes. The aftertaste from the soup and veggies still lingered on my tongue.
"Hmm, you seem to be enjoying yourself."
A voice drifted from behind me. I ignored the voice as I knew it was not for me. My gaze moved from the soup towards the next item, the pie.
"Ahh, no my friend. You cannot eat that pie. You haven't earned that right to eat it yet."
The voice sounded again, this time clearly directed toward me.
Puzzled, I turned my head towards the source of the voice and was caught in surprise.
In front of me stood a person with the exact same face and features as me. A glint of surprise and doubt flashed past my eyes.
"Hmm, let's see. Since we both are still here that means, the Universe still does not recognize your existence. But the fact that you could enjoy those dishes means that the path should still be similar. Can you speak?"
The voice asked. Although I could understand what the other me said, I moved my head horizontally indicating my answer to his question.
"I see then you must have arrived from a long-forgotten past of mine."
The other me walked towards me and took the plate with the pie and sat diagonally beside me.
"Apart from this, you can have the rest. This is something special and you do not have the right to eat it yet."
I nod and savor the taste of the fruits and the soup as the sound of gulping and chewing reverberated in the room. The other person stared at me with a smile on his face. Suddenly--
-Dong-
-Dong-
A gong sounded from the clock on the wall.
"Hmm, there is not much time left." He said and left. I was heavily invested in savoring the taste of the soup. The novel sensation that was transmitted from my mouth totally took me by surprise.
"It's time to go, my friendโฆ"
The person urged me. I stood up and walked towards the door. Placing my left hand on the handle of the door, I gently open it. Just as it opened a little. The person called me.
"Traveler, catch this." The other person had returned and he just threw something at me. I grab that something and gaze at him.
It was the very first time that a living being had addressed me. Come to think of it, everything that had happened here was for the first time.
As if catching the confusion on my face. The other person smiled and said.
"Go through that, you will know more about yourself. This time, please don't repeat the same mistakes I did."
I subconsciously nod and open the door, moving inside.
This time, it was quick. Or maybe it wasn't. There was a lot going on in my mind. My mind, which had stopped thinking way back, was somehow having many thoughts.
But one thing was certain. This time I could sense it. Something was different. It was difficult to walk.
๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ: ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ.
The warm thought returned.
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ: ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ.
The cold thought was still the same.
Suddenly I realize an object in my hand. I gaze at it and find that it was the thing that the other person threw toward me. I remembered he said to go through it if I wanted to know about myself.
I bring that object close to me. It was a book, covered in crimson leather, with golden engravings and characters, tied with a golden ribbon on the top.
๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ: ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด?
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ: ๐๐ด ๐ช๐ตโฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
The thoughts clash in my head, basking my mind, in warmness and coldness at the same time.
I turn the crimson leather cover and look at the front page.
Suddenly as if aware of my presence, characters start to appear on the page.
๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ต. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐งโฆ
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ: ๐ ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐งโฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆโฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ.
This time although the thoughts were present, the warmth and coldness were absent.
For some reason, I was unable to properly understand these thoughts. Ignoring this, I gaze at the characters. This time a new thought. Something I had never had before was summoned into my mind.
[๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐บ? ๐๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ? ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.]
๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข: ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.
The thought was a bit clear, unlike the previous one.