The first thing I heard when I woke up was the sound of waves. Soft and endless, like a heartbeat coming from the earth itself.
When I opened my eyes, the sunlight was so bright that it almost blinded me. For a moment, I thought I was home, lying on the veranda after a nap. But then the smell of salt, flowers, and something wild filled my nose, and I realised—I was nowhere near home.
I sat up slowly. My clothes were torn and stained with sand and mud. My hands and knees were bruised, but I didn't feel much pain. What I felt was confusion. Everything around me looked strange—too bright, too clean, too alive.
The beach stretched far in both directions, its sand shining like powdered silver. The sea was clear and calm, not like the noisy waves I had seen near Mumbai once with my parents. This water was still, like a mirror. When I looked into it, I saw not just my face but faint sparkles around me—almost like stars floating on the surface.
I turned around. Behind me was a dense forest rising into misty hills. The trees were taller than any I had ever seen, their trunks so wide that ten people together couldn't hug one. Leaves glowed faintly in shades of green, and strange flowers hung from branches that shimmered like glass. Butterflies as big as my palms fluttered between them, wings glowing like molten gold.
It was beautiful. Terrifying, but beautiful.
I tried to call out. "Mama?!" My voice echoed through the trees and came back faint and lonely. "Papa? Dadu?" Nothing answered—only the sound of birds that didn't sound like birds, singing soft, twisting notes that felt almost like words.
Then I heard steps behind me. Instinctively, I turned.
There they were again—the twenty people I had seen before.
They stood on the ridge just above the beach, their silhouettes sharp against the sunlight. None of them spoke at first. Their clothes fluttered lightly in the wind—robes made of silk and cloths that glimmered faintly like the sky at dawn. Some wore long cloaks, some carried staffs, and some simply watched me with calm faces.
I froze, unsure whether to run or kneel.
Then one of them stepped forward—the same old man who had spoken to me before. He wasn't tall, yet he felt like he filled the world. His hair was silver-white, tied loosely behind him, and his eyes were deep blue, reflecting the sky.
"You are awake," he said in a slow, kind voice.
I stood there silent, clutching my sketchbook to my chest as if it could protect me. "Wh-where am I?"
The old man smiled faintly. "A place between worlds," he said. "You may call it the Island of Origins."
That name made no sense to me, but somehow it sounded right—as if I had heard it before somewhere deep in a dream.
Another figure, a woman in red robes, came closer. "This land cannot be found by ships or maps," she said. "It appears only to those chosen by fate."
"Chosen…" I repeated softly. My voice trembled. "And me? Why am I here?"
The old man looked at me for a long time, the sea wind rustling through his robe. "Because you were meant to be," he said quietly.
He pointed toward my neck. "The mark of Seven Stars guided you. It tore you from one world and delivered you to another—for here is where your journey begins."
I didn't know what to say. I wanted to scream, to cry, to wake up and run into my mother's arms. But at the same time, something in my chest began to stir—a warmth I had never felt before.
The others surrounded me in a loose circle. Their presence was strange but peaceful, like standing inside the silence of a temple. All twenty pairs of eyes watched me—not as if I was a child, but as if I was something important, something they had been waiting for.
The woman in red touched the ground with her palm, and suddenly, golden light spread out like water, forming patterns—circles, stars, and lines that connected to the forest. The symbols glowed faintly and then disappeared into the sand.
"This is a realm where life and energy breathe as one," she said softly. "Here, rivers have souls, mountains have hearts, and the stars speak to those who listen."
Her words sent chills through me. "So this… isn't Earth?" I asked in a whisper.
"Not the Earth you know," the old man replied. "It lies beyond your reality, yet it pulses beneath it. This place has existed since before time had a name."
He looked up at the sky, where seven stars faintly glimmered in daylight. "And now it awakens again."
I followed his gaze. The stars… I had seen them in my dreams and drawn them forever. They looked almost alive now, glowing faintly even against the sun.
"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly.
One of them—a tall man with dark eyes—smiled. "We want nothing from you, little one. We want to give."
"Give what?"
"Everything we know," said the old man. "Every skill, every secret, every art of mind and body. You will learn from all twenty of us. You will become the heir of the island itself."
I took a small step back. "But I'm just a boy," I whispered. "I can't even wake up without my mother's help. I don't understand any of this."
The old man walked closer and bent down to meet my eyes. "The seed of a great tree looks small at first," he said gently, "but inside it lies a forest."
There was kindness in his words—enough that I didn't feel as scared.
He extended his hand. "Come, Mukul Sharma. This is not the end of your story. It is only the beginning."
I hesitated, then slowly placed my small hand in his. His touch was warm, full of calm energy. I didn't know who these people were, or why fate brought me here, but I could feel something real—something that told me my life had changed forever.
Behind us, the waves rose higher, sparkling under the sunlight. The forest hummed as if whispering secrets. And far in the sky, the seven stars burnt brighter, faint trails of light connecting them like threads of destiny.
The old man turned toward the forest and spoke softly. "Welcome home, child of the Seven Stars."
And as I stepped with him onto the soft green path that led into the heart of the island, I felt it—the world shifting around me, the air alive with ancient power.
I was no longer lost.
I had crossed into a world beyond the normal one, where destiny waited, glowing like a promise written in the stars.