Jeevan opened his eyes. He was in his bedroom, at home. I am finally home. Jeevan thought and ran to hug his beloved elder brother and sister. But what the heck, they were nowhere to be found! Was this a prank or the bitter reality?
"Bro! Sis! I am home! Where are you? If this is a joke it's really not funny! I am terrified! Come out! Oh please! Just come out!" He yelled.
No matter who much he yelled neither Jaivik nor Janhavi came out. He was longing to hear their worried questions. He just wished they would come and welcome him. But no, it seemed as.. if... his fate was playing dirty!
"An empty house is not what I call home!"
A bright glow came from the diary of the sorrowful boy. He opened it with a ray of hope in his eyes. It read
'Dear Jeevan
Don't be down in the dumps! I am here to assist you. In order to find your brother and sister, you need to find the permanent door. You were so lost in despair that you didn't even notice that the time is still stopped. You have to find the permanent door of your world, operate it and then find your brother and sister in the worlds in which they are right now. You can do it.'
"Find the permanent door of my world, makes sense." Said Jeevan as if talking to the diary but suddenly a horrified look came at his face. "But what if the permanent door is in another country or continent, I don't have a passport. Wait, the time is stopped so I don't need any. But if the time is stopped I can't hope for a flight. And then traveling to even another state on foot seems impossible! What am I supposed to do."
Jeevan looked at his diary with a questioning look. Once again he found more written on his diary.
It said-
'Don't worry it's there in your locality just think of the place where you feel the most protected. And that's it the place you will find your way to Jaivik and Janhavi. I hope you'll do it."
The place where I feel the most protected? Where would that be? It's certainly not home, it feels just so empty! Well it can't be school as I am really scared there of the bullies and all. Maybe I should think, where would I go if the most scary thing was hunting me. The most scary thing be? Vampires! Well, it's different with vampires as, if they were behind me I would hide in a cave. Forget most scary let's just take a normal situation. So if bullies are behind me I would go to the faculty room. Stop it. I should think for a place special to me. Where I forged memories. Maybe I should go out.
So Jeevan went out. A place special to me. I guess
it should be related to the people special to me. That would be my brother, my sister, my cousins... my cousins, duh. It should be their home. I always feel protected there.
Jeevan ran to his cousins' house. Opened the door and he knew where he would find the door. It was in the basement! Back when he was young about three. His uncle and aunt had bought that house which used to belong to a young family. When they bought it the basement key got lost. They could have obviously made a new one but they didn't ever felt the need of doing so. Why would they, it was never needed. The five of them were very little. Jeevan was three, Jaivik was four, Janhavi was five and Sanjay and Gopal were twelve. The three little ones found the place very mysterious and never missed even a slightest opportunity to peep in. As they were young they thought about the place having treasure hidden by some king or a place where celestial creatures reside and what not. Whenever Jeevan was told a story about a mysterious room hidden in a place having anything interesting, he always imagined himself as the protagonist and that place as the sight of the adventure. The three told their older brothers about their theories. But Sanjay and Gopal were grown up and they found it funny. Those two had a distinct way of enjoying their cousins innocence and they smiled, okay not smile but in a half laughing type manner admitted to them that all of those things were possible and sometimes, Gopal even told them about new possibilities. As the phenomenon of growing up takes, they realised how childish they were and how Sanjay and Gopal enjoyed their naive thoughts. And so they no longer had curiosity to know about that unseen place thus they never talked about the basement about which they were keen to know in their early childhood, they never ever thought of that part of the house about which they earlier talked about for hours and hours, which seemed so fascinating to them. But now having entering that house with such a strange reason, Jeevan immediately remembered it and how it was imagined to be the most puzzling thing earlier. Well, at last he entered in their. Perhaps not having any treasure but the place was certainly baffling. He went to the basement and now what he was supposed to do? I don't have the keys! Should I look for them? But I don't think I will find them. Perhaps it might not be even locked. As Jeevan guessed, it wasn't locked. He entered in the empty room. And in front of him it stood, the very thing which would help him meet his beloved brother and sister. He went towards it and started operating it as his instincts told him to press a button which had many colurful sparkling dots on it. It looked as if someone had spilled glitter on it. He knew a time like this was the best time to believe in his instincts. And he pressed it, soon a portal appeared with a flash of light. Jeevan jumped into it.
As soon as he opened his eyes he was standing at a familiar and yet a little unfamiliar land. He looked here and and there and was confused. Had he been here or not? Would he find either Jaivik or Janhavi here. He stood there for some time but then a known voice ripped away his doubts.
"Jeevan! Is that you?" It said
Jeevan turned and taken by surprise he stood there. As soon as he got back his senses. He ran and hugged the person in front of him. It was Kartavya!