Chapter 1
Chapter One
The Yellow Journal
Babil was only two years old when his mother died in a car crash. Since then, he had lived with his father and his grandmother—whom he loved more than anything in the world. They had a small house on the outskirts of the city, far from the hustle and bustle of city life. Their quiet neighborhood had few houses and plenty of trees. The air often smelled faintly of jasmine and old rainwater. There was the school where Babil studied, a local department store they occasionally visited, a peaceful park, and a gardening club where his grandmother held a membership.
Each morning, he woke early, finished his homework before dinner, and helped Grandma in the kitchen. Babil wanted to become a chef when he grew up. This was top secret and only Grandma knew about it. He also liked gardening, and he and Grandma had grown many plants together, including jade plants, roses, daisies, and sunflowers. Babil didn’t have any friends; he was a boy who preferred cartoons, fairy tales, cooking, and watering plants with Grandma.
Babil’s father was a pianist with a local band. Every Sunday, their living room turned into a concert hall. Sunlight peeked through lace curtains as Babil climbed onto the piano bench beside his father. With careful fingers, Babil pressed the ivory keys, following his father’s gentle melodies. Then they sang together, their voices mingling in the warm afternoon light. Meanwhile, Grandma made fresh rotis, mixed vegetable curry, and hot Kashmiri chai that filled the house with cozy scents.
It was the 20th of August when Babil turned ten. Rain tapped against the windows all morning, turning the garden into a field of silver droplets. At dinner, his father surprised him with a glossy chocolate cake, its frosting gleaming under the glow of candlelight. Grandma gave him a tight hug and handed him a bright yellow journal with blank pages. “Maybe this will help you share those things that you don’t tell anyone,” she said with a sparkle of hope in her eyes.
When Babil opened the journal, he found Grandma’s neat note:
Life is akin to a flower; it buds, it blooms, it wilts. A fragrance, however, remains as a memory distinct for every soul that lived and every flower that bloomed.
He traced each word with his fingertip, feeling the ridges of the ink beneath his skin.
Inspired by those rhythmic words, Babil’s father touched the piano keys again, turning Grandma’s words into a gentle melody. The music wrapped around Babil like a warm blanket. He closed his eyes and pictured filling every page with stories and noting Grandma’s cooking recipes. That rainy Sunday became the happiest birthday he had ever known.
Chapter Two
Death Knocks the Door
Monday morning arrived under a heavy, gray sky. At breakfast, the empty chair beside his father felt like a silent question—where was Grandma’s warm smile? The house felt too big and too quiet, every corner whispering tales of the death that occurred early in the morning. Grandma did not wake up; she passed away in her sleep. Babil’s father shook with grief as he tried to soothe his weeping child.
By midmorning, the house began to fill. Neighbors brought fruits and homemade dishes for the grief-stricken family. Aunt Noor arrived with her son, and Grandma’s friends from the garden club pressed bouquets into Babil’s hands. Each ring of the doorbell brought another gentle face offering hugs. His close relatives arranged the funeral, and soon Grandma’s body was taken away.
Words of sympathy did little to calm Babil. His gaze drifted to the yellow journal on the table, its pages still blank and waiting. That afternoon, his fingers trembled as he opened the cover. In the very first line, he wrote a single word in shaky letters:
death
Night fell, and Babil’s eyelids finally closed. He tumbled into a dream more real than reality. He stood in a valley painted with a lavender sky. Around him were flowers that glowed like lanterns and rose as tall as streetlights. Multi-colored jewels hung from the trees and glistened with a unique sparkle. A clear stream ran through the field of green grass and scented blooms, its water shimmering under the beautiful sky.
At the far edge of the water stood Grandma, her smile as bright as the blooms around her.
“What is this place?” Babil whispered, his voice small but curious.
“This is life,” Grandma replied, stepping toward him on the soft grass. Her dress floated like petals in the breeze.
“But you died,” he said, tears catching in his throat.
Grandma reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. “Love never dies, Babil,” she said softly. “You loved me, and that love lives on in your heart and nourishes your soul. Death is just a shadow—an illusion. I am part of your soul, and the soul is immortal; so is love, and so am I.”
She knelt beside a blossom and let its petals drift into the stream. “Remember what I wrote in your journal: flowers wilt, and new ones replace them. Our love stays, even as new people come into your life. After your mother passed away, I loved you. Soon, someone new will love you too—maybe a friend at school or someone in your future family. And if you ever can’t find love, give it away: share a smile, say a kind word, lend a hand. You’ll never feel alone.”
The dream valley shimmered around him until the lantern-flowers faded away. When Babil woke at dawn, a single tear glistened on his pillow—and somewhere inside him, a tiny spark of hope began to glow.
