Once again, the story starts with a boy, Elias. He is here, in this village, after so many years— so many years. What was the age when he left this village? Yeah, 12. Now he is 27.

Fifteen years... fifteen years have passed, yet he feels nothing new. It's 6:30 pm. Everything is the same: the people in the village, the roads, that forest... he still feels goosebumps when seeing that horrible forest. He could feel some of the villagers watching that forest, and a hint of pain was clearly visible in their lives.

People said it was difficult to read their eyes because they became empty, but I always believed it was difficult to read their eyes because there were too many things to see, to feel, to tell, to ask, to listen, to speak, to digest, to understand, to clarify, to confirm, to reveal, to hide... there are no words for the explanation, but infinite feelings to justify. Those old men and women aged while finding the truth. The wrinkles, the white hairs, the scars on their faces, the permanent bruises on their hands each and every detail on them had another story. They were either the listener or the talker who had no one to talk to or listen to.

Elias was just looking at each scar, every bruise, every experience, every wrinkle that held another story. They were hopeless because they had no one. They lost their lives their wives, sons, mothers, fathers, daughters, brothers, sisters, grandfathers, grandmothers, grandsons, granddaughters, husbands. He was just looking at them. He knew he was one of them. That night... that night changed everything. He wished he never met that girl. He wished he had listened to his mother. He wished he had rejected the bet from his friends. He wished..

"You are here?" someone asked him that question.

"Who are you?" he asked, full of confusion.

It was a little girl, hardly nine years old.

"I have heard about you. They all know about you," she said, pointing towards the old men and women. She continued,

"They always talk about how you survived, how drenched in

blood you were, how you saved yourself. You know, every child, every woman, every older man or woman tells your life as a tale that has a moral: never give up. They always tell your story as if it is something to be proud of. They always tell us to not give up, to face danger, to risk our lives. Your story sure is a tale, but the way they tell it, like you are God's favorite, like you always behaved well in your life, ate your vegetables, and didn't argue. I thought it was fake. But now, look at me talking with you when no one else knows you are here."

He was looking at her, shocked, then gave her a warm smile.

"You know, if I had a chance to go back, I would never do the same. It was a choice. It was the only option. I survived because of luck, because of God, not because I'm brave or something. If I tell you honestly, then I'm a coward..." He stopped.

But why? Was he now insecure about his past? Was he regretting surviving? Did she make him uncomfortable? The answer was none. Then what was it that made him stop?

"Is he... is he scared? Or does he hate me now for reminding him of his past? No, that can't happen. He was already seeing things. He remembered everything... what happened to him?" she thought. But then he suddenly spoke.

"Do you want to know my side of the story?"

She was happy, smiling. The wide, cute smile on her face reached her eyes. She was excited

—she was the first one to be excited to hear his story and the first one to hear his side of the story. But suddenly, her smile dropped when she noticed his sad face.

Upon seeing this, he chuckled and said,

"Don't worry. I'm not sad, and you are not making

me sad. I will tell you the story."

He lightly smiled. She didn't notice, and her smile returned, even wider than before, almost closing her eyes.

"So, what happened was... it was almost 15 years ago when I was 12."

She interrupted, "It was 15 years ago...?"

He nodded.

"And you remember everything?"

He nodded again and said, "Each and every single detail. Now, if you allow me to continue...

She realized and lowered her head in embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sorry." I He lightly smiled. His smile was almost invisible. Only if she hadn't lowered her head, she would have noticed it. Then he continued.

"It was around 6:30 in the evening. I was playing with my friends. We were playing kho-kho-you probably haven't heard of it. Those who played this game died. We were all laughing, playing, living our lives when someone suddenly said she saw someone in that forest. It was Rina who said it. I still remember her gummy smile when she said that, but it disappeared when Deare said it must be a ghost. He loved to scare everyone. Then he bet me that whoever goes into that forest and comes out alive will win and get his pen.

His most favorite thing among us was that pen. His older brother got it for him from the U.S.

It was very beautiful. It had a feather on top, a sharp tip, smooth writing. I always wanted that Pen.

It was storming heavily that day. The thunder was loud. I was scared of it, and she knew that.

She was shouting. I thought she was shouting my name, asking me to come back, but she said, 'Don't stay outside too late. Come home quickly, okay?' She smiled, her warm smile.

The warm lights falling on her... she was an angel. Do you know why she said that? Because she knew I needed time. This made me angrier. How could she predict my every move, read my every thought, know what I needed at that moment?

I ran into that forest. And do you know what I said when I was running? 'If you can't give me that pen, then I will win this bet and get that pen.'"

He sighed. "I wish I could stop myself from doing that. I was running and running... until the rain stopped, and I stopped crying.

Then I suddenly realized I was lost. I was again feeling like crying. On the other hand, my mom began to worry when she could not find me. She started banging on people's doors, asking if I was there". He started crying, his voice not coming out of his mouth, yet he was trying to speak. His pain, his secrets things he had held for 15 years-were being expressed

Then he pointed towards an old man and said, "My mother banged on his door. He was the minister at that time, but that bastard didn't even open the door. He was watching all of that from his room's window." He started sobbing.

Then she suddenly spoke, crying, "That's my dad."

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Wren, she was like a sunshine character in the novels she was always smiling enjoying playing, everyone her friends her family, even strangers melted by her smile which didn't last long as at the age of 5,she faced an life ending accident, a car accident due to brake failure, fortunately she survived but as we say past is past, sometimes it haunts till death, and sometimes it gives hope to live, in her case the past haunted her, it haunted her so much that she grew a trauma in herself of vehicles which didn't last long as her parents everyone forced her to travel in them. Two years later, her life was in danger again; the same thing happened - another car brake failure. And then she argued from her parents everyone and she stopped traveling by car and preferred walking. Everything was going good but then exactly 8 years later, on New Year's Day, she was crossing the road when a truck came to hit her. She felt that fear again that trauma grew even deeper It felt like someone was trying their best to kill her, but God didn't want her dead, or perhaps someone was trying to save her, just like when she was 5 years old in that car accident when she was unconscious. Someone picked her up and took her to the hospital, paying all the bills as well.

Two years later, when the accident happened again, she was found in the hospital, fully healed, with a lot of money in her bank account. And, eight years later, when a truck was about to crash into her, someone came and took her hand, running as fast as they could to save her. But before she could thank them, they disappeared. She didn't know what was happening to her.

Let's get back to today's date. It's been 8 years since nothing has happened to her, and she now also travels in cars and buses. However, there is still a small empty space in her heart that craves the person who saved her and the person who is trying to kill her. Today, January 1, 1967, she is coming home after doing her part-time job. She has no idea what is going to happen to her; she is carefree, with no one to care about her, and she is in pain. Her life has been fully destroyed; she is in depression, with no friends, and is a nerd in school - not by choice, but due to her situation. There is nothing she can do about it. But today, something is different. She is once again feeling relief, like she is new in this world, unaware of the negative thoughts or comments coming towards her. It's like she is free from every bond, from her work, studies, and everything. It's like she is starting a new life, and that feeling is making her happy, finally, after all these years. It feels like the accident that happened 13 years ago was a curse that has vanished today, like the one who gave her the curse has vanished, and then she took a deep breathe and declared a new start of life.

There was a 19-year-old girl named Ella who lived in the middle of a forest. The forest was usually quiet, but today it was eerily silent, with no noise, not even from the animals. This had been happening for the past few days. As usual, Ella was walking home from university, as buses didn't travel to her house. Her parents had passed away when she was young, which had traumatized her badly.

As she walked, she noticed that it had been two hours, and she was still on her way home.

Normally, it took her 20-30 minutes to reach home, but today she was still walking, feeling panicked, scared, and confused. She thought maybe she had taken the wrong route, so to confirm, she threw a notebook on the road and started walking. To her surprise, she ended up back at the exact same place. She had been thinking about this for long enough to confirm that she was stuck in a loop. But who could have done this to her, and how could she escape?

Ella wandered through the forest, hoping to find someone who could help her break the loop.

Unfortunately, no one came to the forest, and it was even quieter than before, as if there were no animals present. She was alone, with no food or enough water to survive. She was very tired and glad that she had bought a water bottle that day. She tried her best to conserve the water, as it was very limited compared to the journey she had to undertake.

As she walked, she suddenly heard a voice and sound coming from deep within the forest.

With nowhere else to go, she followed the voice, full of hope that she would find a way out.

But suddenly, the sky changed color, the wind pressure increased, and she could see dust in the wind, signaling an impending rainstorm. Oh no, what would she do? She had no extra clothes or umbrella, but she was happy that she had enough water for survival Ella ran as fast as she could to find cover, and soon she was back on the road. She still had a little hope in the corner of her heart and continued walking, trying her best not to fall as her legs were dying. It had been hours since she was lost in the forest, but now she could see a light in the distance. She ran towards it, not thinking about anything but the hope of escaping.

She ran as fast as she could, hoping to see her grandparents again.

But on her way, she lost consciousness. When she regained it, she was lying on her bed, and she screamed. Her grandparents came and asked her what happened. She asked how she got there, and they looked at each other, saying that she had come home from university as usual.

Ella was shocked but happy that it was just a dream. But was it really just a dream?