Chapter 1
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Manoj who lived near the Atlantic Ocean. He loved fishing and was very good at it. Whenever he caught fish, he gave them to the fishermen and poor people because he was allergic to meat and could not eat fish himself.
One day, while sitting alone in the garden, Manoj thought, “I should start fishing every day.” So, he picked up his fishing rod and went to the ocean. But that day, he couldn’t find any fishermen around. Feeling lonely, he decided to fish alone.
Hours passed, but not a single fish was caught. He began to feel very sad. After sitting quietly for a few minutes, he suddenly heard an old, gentle voice calling his name:
“Manoj, don’t be sad. Sit there for a while…”
The wind blew softly, and the sound seemed to come from the ocean itself.
When Manoj looked around, he couldn’t see anyone. The wind blew harder, and sand began swirling around him. After a while, when the sand finally settled, he slowly opened his eyes—and to his surprise, he saw a woman’s figure standing near the shore. As the wind calmed, her face became clearer. It was his mother.
Manoj froze, unable to believe his eyes. He wanted to run to her, to hug her—but before he could take a step, she suddenly disappeared into the air. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he sat there, crying quietly.
After some time, he wiped his eyes and cast his fishing line again. Just then, he caught a unique fish—it shimmered golden under the moonlight and had tiny wings like those of an angel. Amazed, he took out his phone, clicked a picture, and stared at it in wonder. Before he could do anything else, the fish suddenly flew out of his hands and dived back into the water, disappearing beneath the waves. For the first time, Manoj went home empty-handed.
That night, lying in bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about his mother. Memories filled his heart. He remembered that he had been an orphan since he was eight—his parents had died long ago, and his grandmother had raised him with love. But she too had passed away when he was fifteen, leaving behind the small house where he still lived.
Around 12 a.m., Manoj suddenly woke up. Out of curiosity, he checked his phone and saw the photo of the golden fish. The fish looked mysterious—its eyes seemed to glow faintly even in the picture. He tried searching for it on Google, but there was no information about such a fish anywhere. That made him even more curious.
The next morning, Manoj told his four friends about his plan. They all bought swimming suits and went to the shore together. But when it came time to dive, his friends grew scared and stayed behind. Manoj, however, was determined. He dived alone into the deep ocean.
He swam deeper and deeper, until the sunlight could no longer reach him. Everything turned dark. He switched on his torch and kept going. After a while, he saw something glowing faintly in the distance—it was a cave.
He swam into the cave and was surprised to find strange golden fish circling around something. Their wings shimmered as they guarded an object that emitted a bright light. Manoj carefully moved the fish aside and reached for the glowing object.
It was a book. When he opened it, his eyes widened—it was filled with pictures of him, his mother, and his father. It looked just like a family album. Confused but curious, he took the book and swam back out of the cave.
But when he reached the surface, everything was different. The ocean looked unfamiliar, and the small houses on the shore had turned into tall buildings. The world looked far more advanced, almost like the future.
Shocked, Manoj rushed to his old home—but his house was covered with algae and vines, like it hadn’t been touched in decades. His garden was gone, replaced by a wild forest.
He ran to his friend’s house and knocked on the door. When the door opened, he was stunned. His friends were now old, with gray hair and children of their own. They stared at him in disbelief and said, “Manoj… it can’t be you. You died years ago. We found your body near the ocean.”
Manoj’s heart pounded. He followed them to a nearby place—and there, he saw a grave with his name on it. It was his own. He stood frozen, unable to speak, realizing that somehow, when he had dived into the ocean, time had moved forward, and the world had changed forever.
After seeing his own grave, Manoj stepped back, trembling. He put his hand into his pocket—and there, he found the same glowing book he had taken from under the ocean.
Curious and afraid, he opened it. As he turned the pages, his eyes widened in horror. The book showed everything that had happened—each moment painted in moving, living pictures. He saw himself diving into the deep ocean, finding the cave, and touching the book. Then he saw the scene of his own body, lying still under the water. His friends were crying, taking his body out, and burying it. Everything that had happened was recorded in that book, as if it knew his entire life.
Shocked and speechless, Manoj slowly turned to the last page. There, he read the final line written in glowing letters:
“He will die because of lack of oxygen — his breath will fade as his fate ends.”
His hands began to shake. He felt weak, his chest tightening as if the words were coming true. Panicking, he threw the book into the fire and watched it burn. The golden light disappeared into smoke.
A few moments later, Manoj fell to the ground. His breathing grew slower and slower — until he stopped. It was as if his life truly belonged to that book, and when it burned, so did his destiny.
