Chapter 1
The Spirit of Lily Pad
Written by Jade S. Sarkar
Part 1 – The Strange Dream
Once, I had a dream unlike any other.
In the dream, my parents left me in a place I had never seen before. I didn't know where I was or what I should do.
The place was enormous far,larger than anything I had ever seen,A tall iron fence streched across the land separating me from an endless ocean ,i called out my parents again and again but only silence answered with every passing hour I felt smaller and more alone as though the world itself forgotten me.
As night fell, a terrible storm swept across the sea. Strong winds roared, lightning flashed across the sky, and giant waves crashed against the fence.
Then I noticed something unusual.
Far away in the middle of the ocean, a faint light glowed through the darkness.
Curious, I climbed over the fence and jumped.
I expected to fall into the deep ocean.
Instead, I landed safely on a floating piece of land.
It drifted peacefully across the waves as though it were alive.
The floating land held only one tree. The wind blew so fiercely that I held onto the tree tightly, afraid I would be swept into the sea.
Then I realized something impossible.
This floating land had its own spirit.
It was protected by a gentle guardian goddess, who welcomed me as if she had been waiting for my arrival.
She said "that every soul that reaches lily pad arrives for a reason".
Part 2 – Lily Pad
By morning, the storm had carried us far into the open ocean. Wherever I looked, there was nothing but water stretching to the horizon.
Soon, I discovered another mystery.
The spirit and the guardian goddess appeared only at night. When daylight arrived, they vanished without a trace.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months.
Together, we drifted across the endless sea.
One day, I decided to give the floating land a name.
Lily Pad.
There were no lily flowers growing there. Somehow, the name simply felt right.
Life on Lily pad felt different from the world I had always known there were no loud voices, no worries , no rush.
Every morning the waves gently carried the island across the endless ocean , at night the stars seemed close enough to touch and the spirit would tell me stories about the sea while the guardian goddess watched over us in silence for the first time in my life, I felt completely at peace
There was no fear, no pressure, and no sadness. We spent our time talking, laughing, and watching the stars. Before long, the spirit became my closest friend, and I wished those peaceful days would never end.
One quiet evening, I fell asleep beneath the lonely tree.
When I opened my eyes...
I was back in my own bed.
Everything had disappeared.
It had all been a dream.
Or so I believed.
Even today, I remember every detail of Lily Pad. Deep within my heart, I cannot believe it was only a dream.
Sometimes, I still wonder...
Is Lily Pad still drifting somewhere across the endless ocean, waiting for another lost soul to find it?
