Lost cliffs

The bus was filled with the sounds of children.

Laughter rising from the back seats mixed with the songs being sung by those in the front, while the teacher’s occasional warnings disappeared back into the noise just seconds later.

— Everyone, stay in your seats! Fasten your seatbelts!

No one listened to her.

Aletheia had joined in with the others. Despite being five years old, she did not know the lyrics to the song very well. Still, she sang along with her friends, laughing with them whenever she got the words wrong.

When she looked out the window, the city had long since disappeared behind them.

They had been on the road for two hours.

The purpose of the trip was to visit one of the important temples of their faith.

The village where the temple was located was not very far from the city, but it could not exactly be called close either.

Throughout the journey, the teacher had spoken to them about the importance of their faith and had reminded them several times that today was a special day for them.

Aletheia did not really understand why.

To her, this trip simply meant leaving her room and seeing somewhere new.

And she was quite happy about that.

At last, the bus began to slow down.

The children’s voices gradually grew quieter as well.

Aletheia looked out the window.

The village they had arrived in did not look very different from where she lived. The same kinds of houses, similar roads, small shops...

But in the center of the village stood one structure that was different from all the others.

The temple.

The building was larger, wider, and brightly illuminated.

The bus came to a stop.

— Alright, children! Everyone get off one at a time. Form lines of two!

After getting off the bus, the children lined up under the supervision of their teachers.

A short while later, they entered through the temple’s enormous doors.

Aletheia’s eyes were dazzled by the light.

The inside was much larger than it had appeared from the outside.

There were shimmering decorations on the walls, tall windows, and soft streams of light descending from the ceiling.

At the far end of the hall stood a massive statue representing the sacred figure of their faith.

Most of the children looked around in awe.

The teacher clapped her hands together.

— Children! You have ten minutes of free time, as long as you do not leave the temple. You may look around. After that, we will gather here again for worship.

The children immediately scattered.

Aletheia was about to follow her friends when her teacher gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

Then she leaned closer to her ear.

— Aletheia, sweetheart... I’m going to take you somewhere more special. Some of your friends will be coming with us too.

Aletheia’s eyes lit up.

A special place.

Filled with curiosity and the excitement of feeling important, she followed her teacher.

Four of her friends were with her.

The five children followed their teacher toward a quieter part of the temple.

After a while, they arrived at a small, plain room.

The children stepped inside.

But the excitement on their faces quickly disappeared.

The room was ordinary.

A table.

A few chairs.

A bookshelf.

Several religious symbols on the walls.

That was all.

The children looked at one another in disappointment.

— Is this the special place? one of them whispered.

The teacher did not answer.

She stopped in front of the bookshelf.

Then she grabbed one of the books on the shelf.

Click.

The children’s eyes widened.

The bookshelf slowly slid to the side.

A dark passageway appeared behind it.

The children froze where they stood.

The teacher turned toward them and smiled.

— Don’t be afraid.

Her voice was still calm.

— This is a very beautiful place. A secret section prepared for special children like you.

Aletheia looked at the dark passageway.

For a moment, she hesitated.

Then she took her teacher’s hand.

The others followed behind them.

At the end of the passage, a small cabin resembling an elevator was waiting for them.

The doors closed.

The cabin began to descend.

As they passed each level, the light grew dimmer.

Aletheia’s heart began to beat a little faster.

Then...

Ding.

The doors opened.

Before them stretched a long, brightly lit corridor.

The children began walking behind their teacher.

At the end of the corridor stood a large door.

As they approached, voices began to drift from inside.

Children’s voices.

Laughter.

Conversations.

The soft sounds of toys.

The door opened.

Aletheia stepped inside.

There were around twenty children.

Some were playing.

Some were sitting on the floor.

Others were reading books.

A few simply stood there, doing nothing.

At first, Aletheia felt relieved.

The place was much more normal than she had expected.

But then she noticed that some of the children were staring at them.

Their looks were strange.

As if they wanted to say something...

But could not.

Aletheia tried to smile at them.

One of the children immediately looked away.

At that moment, movement on the other side of the room caught her attention.

A group of children had gathered around a middle-aged man.

The man was smiling as he handed out small pieces of candy.

Seeing the happiness on the children’s faces eased Aletheia’s fear a little.

The man noticed them.

He walked toward the children.

He was smiling.

— Welcome.

Then he looked at Aletheia.

For a moment, he paused.

As if he had seen her before.

But only for a moment.

Then he held out one of the candies toward her.

— You’re the ones I’ve been waiting for.

Aletheia did not understand.

The man continued to smile.

— Come on. Take one each.

All five children reached out their hands at the same time.

Aletheia took her candy too.

She unwrapped it.

The candy left a sweet taste in her mouth.

The children continued talking.

But a few minutes later, Aletheia’s eyes began to feel heavy.

The sounds around her were growing distant.

Even standing became difficult.

The last thing she saw...

Was one of the children who had been staring at her when they first entered the room.

The child was still looking at her.

But this time, there was fear on their face.

Aletheia blinked slowly.

The child’s lips moved.

As if they were trying to say something.

But Aletheia could not hear them.

Her eyes closed.

And before she fell into darkness, the last thing she saw...

Was that child’s eyes.