Chapter 1
I’ve been to many places.
Not just traveled but lived. Unpacked luggage, went to schools, found socities, learned new streets, made friends, then abandoned them all. People always say that change is a positive thing. That it defines you as who you are. Maybe so. But nobody ever has a lot to say about the little bits of you that are left behind every time you move. The versions of yourself you grow out of.
One place, though, wasn't like the others. It was unique. Maybe it was the time. Maybe I was the right age to soak it all up without question. But that place. that one is part of me.
I still recall the morning light in that society the manner in which it passed through the trees and lit up the shattered footpaths. I recall playing until evening cricket, football, occasionally even games we invented on the spot. My friends there were not only schoolmates. They were my community. We laughed unfiltered, fought unselfishly, and created memories without realizing we were creating them.
School was fun too. I honestly don't even remember how I made it through everything sports, homework, competitions. I was good at sport not that I tried to be. Things just came easy. Teachers liked me. I liked myself.
And then, once again, life changed.
We packed up the memories and left. Another new place. Another new beginning. I told myself it was fine , I'd done it before. And I did settle in. I worked hard, did well, did everything that was asked of me. But that feeling, that one wonderful feeling never returned. It was like hearing a favorite song and then losing the tape.
We relocated once more after that. And the change struck again harder this time. A new school, a new town, a larger world and I didn't feel so confident about myself anymore. My grades fell. My energy fell. I established new friends, met decent people, even enjoyed the school. but something within had been altered. The part of me that I used to know so intimately had fallen silent.
And yet, in the quiet, something lingers. Some nights, when all slows down no phone, no homework, no chatter I sense it. A whisper. Not a voice, not a memory, just. a sensation. Of belonging. Of warmth. Of being enough.
I don't always sob. Sometimes I smile. Sometimes I just lie there and allow the memories to flicker like a movie that only I can watch.
Maybe peace doesn't come with all the bonanza or comfort. It is maybe hidden somewhere in the soft, forgotten moments. The familiar corner of a street. The memory of laughter. A part of you that still exists somewhere you once called home.
And perhaps, even after years and miles, it still talks to you reminding you of who you once were, and who you may still be.
