The night before the Durgastami, I
pulled out the box Burimaa left for me.
"Mami?" I glanced at Mami's half-sleeping form from the corner of my eyes. "Did you believe Burimaa? When she told about another world?"
"Hmm?" she groaned from her sleep. "Don't know. Maybe it exits..."
"I hope it exists," I mumbled, tracing the pendent. "I hope there's a place out there where I could fit in,"
"Your mother also used to say that you are always looking for something," Mami told me. "Is that what you were looking for?"
"I don't know. It's just-" I took a deep breath and closed the box. "Maybe I'm looking for a place to fit in,"
"Shubho? It's already late," Mami said from the bed. "You have to be ready for tomorrow,"
"Mami?" I asked her again. "If I go to the other world as Burimaa came here, are you going to miss me?"
"Why are you asking those silly questions dear?" Mami asked. "There's no other world,"
I didn't.
The pendent or Amulet, whatever it was, calling to me. As though there's someone out there, calling me. I tore my eyes away from it and closed the box.
The next day, I took time to get ready. I wore a red saree with a golden boundary. Wore my favourite golden jhumka, and a small black bindi on my forehead. I even wore the kajal. After all, it was Durgrastmi today.
It was at the very end that I remembered about Burimaa's pendant. In the daylight, without a lamp reflecting on my thoughts. I was a little scared to open the box. And in my clumsiness, I knocked it off the table.
"Shit, shit shit!" I swore as I bent down to collect the box, hoping that the amulet wasn't broken down in my clumsiness.
It was then that I noticed something. There was a secret compartment in the box.
"What is that," I mumbled to myself as I opened that part. A little piece of paper. I carefully spread the writing to find some chants on it.
With the pendant in one hand and the paper in the other, I stared at the chants. I never saw any script like that.
As I read the paper, abruptly the room started to shift. At first, I thought it was an earthquake, I looked around, as fear consumed me. I gripped the amulet tighter and ran for the door. However, I couldn't move. My feet gave away and I fell and fell until I hit the ground hard. And passed out.
🧭🧭🧭
Cold. So fucking cold, like the air was licking my skin with icy abandon.
I reached for my blanket, but no matter how far I stretched, I couldn't grab hold of it. My head was killing me, and without opening my eyes, I dropped my hand. My left hand was gripping something forcefully.
That's when I realized something was very wrong. My arm touched a hard surface, biting my skin worse than the air. Where was I? Wasn't I asleep? Where was my warm bed?
My eyelids flew open, and my breath caught as if I'd been plunged into an icy lake. Once my vision got used to the dim, grey light, I whimpered in pure terror.
"Bondu Mami?" I called out. My memory of getting ready for Durgastami, the box, Burimaa's Pendent. . all came back.
I lay on a stone floor, its iced surface clinging to my skin. The metallic taste of enchantments lingered in my mouth, and my legs were so cold, they felt like they didn't belong to me.
"Maa?" the word came out of my mouth, although I knew she couldn't hear. "Baba? Where am I?"
The numbing chill seeped through my skin, taking the warmth from my bones. I sat up, my joints creaking, and hugged my knees as my teeth chattered. I was still in my red saree, the soft material of its delicate fabric failed to warm me up.
"Is someone else here?"
The silence following my cry was thick and overbearing.
"Where am I?"
Panic rose again, tightening my chest, I forced myself to slow down my breathing. If I wanted to survive this, I needed to calm the fuck down and think.
When I could breathe without hyperventilating, I called out, "Hello? Anyone out there?"
The only answer to my cries was silence. Groaning like an old woman, I struggled to my feet, regretting it the moment I straightened up. My whole body hurt. Yet I limped my way through the thick unknown forest.
After a lot of walking, I came to a halt.
The traces of humans were visible from there and the forest disappeared, revealing surroundings that were lush, beautiful, and...foreign. I turned in circles, desperately searching for anything familiar. . .