Prologue
"Where are you going?"
The moment he saw her, he knew who she was and lit up to see a known face in this strange place after what seemed like forever. Nevertheless, she didn’t share the same enthusiasm and just wanted to leave.
"The light, don't you see it?" She pointed her finger at a distance, eyes transfixed on something that only she could see.
Squinting his eyes, he tried to see if he missed something, but all he could see was a huge glaringly white tunnel that seemed to emit light from everywhere, not just the direction she pointed.
Dragging her steps, she continued walking,putting his efforts to convince her otherwise in vain. After pondering about how they were marooned in this strange ethereal place, he had finally remembered where they were here and most importantly, why. However, what he couldn’t comprehend was why she could see something that he couldn’t. When realization dawned on him, he was petrified and wanted to stop her before it was too late. Was it too late already??
"Megha, stop!" After all that they went through, he wasn’t willing to let her give up now. "Sometimes when I really focus, I can hear my worried mother speaking to me and asking me to wake up. I am pretty sure your parents must be worried too. Don’t you want to explain what exactly happened to you?"
Stopping on her tracks, she looked at him, brimmed with tears. "I am so scared," She rested her head on his chest and burst into tears.
Unsure how to console her, he just stood there petting her head awkwardly and waited until she was done crying. In between her sobs, she mentioned it was easier to just go away, instead of staying back and deal with everything.
"It’s okay. You are only fourteen years old. I am two years older than you and I am scared too.”
"What are you? My guardian angel?" She half cried and half laughed as she took a step back and wiped her tears with her shoulders. He knew exactly why she meant that based on earlier events.
"Is that what they call cool guys these days? If so, then yes.” Grinning, he maneuvered her away from where she wanted to go earlier. “I cant wait to get away from this place, and probably get married as soon as possible and live a full life with my wife.”
"But, you are only sixteen!" She looked at him like he had gone bonkers. If only she knew how crazy he was about his girlfriend.
"So I am old enough to be your guardian angel, but too young to think about my life?" She smiled at him and started walking, and they didn’t speak for a few minutes.
“Do you think we’ll remember all this when we, you know?” She looked at him hopefully. “I really want to thank you.”
“I hope so.” He didn’t know if they could.
“I hope so too.”
