It was a rainy night. Even though it was a full moon, it wasn"t visible. So, there was no light coming down from the sky. There was no light that could illuminate that darkness. There was no escape from that darkness.Police Officer: "It"s not safe to be here, kid."
The officer said as he moved closer to the boy. He looked to be around 7-8 years old and was sitting on a bench alone in that rain.
Police Officer: "What"s wrong? Are you lost?"
The officer asked in a voice that should be comforting for the boy to hear, a tone of voice that he should feel comfortable listening to. Furthermore, the officer bent one knee to look at him in the eye.
Boy: "I … I am … not lost. But …"
The boy pursed his lips as if to indicate that he wouldn"t say anything more.
Police Officer: "I-I see. Then, are you waiting for someone?"
Boy: "I … don"t know."
The boy said. The officer didn"t understand what had happened and so all he could do was to offer him a hand.
Police Officer: "Come on, come with me. It"s dangerous to be here."
Boy: "It … is?"
Police Officer: "Yes, this rain is not good for you. And it seems like lightning can strike too. Although that"s not likely, better safe than sorry, am I right?"
The boy looked at the officer blankly. The officer started to take the boy"s hand as the boy didn"t do anything to resist.
Police Officer: "Don"t worry, you"ll be fine. I"ll listen to whatever your problem is and will do my best in solving it for you. So, come now."
The boy didn"t resist. In fact, he didn"t make any movements at all. He just kept staring blankly at the officer. The officer understood (or at least a.s.sumed) that the boy was going through something really troubling. He had no idea what it could be but he understood that he couldn"t leave him all alone in the rain.
Police Officer: "So, what is your name?"
The officer asked in a soft, gentle voice. That voice was meant to comfort the boy. But instead, it shocked him. It reminded him of a different voice, a voice that was in no way comforting, but in every way – eerie.
Police Officer: "What"s wrong? Tell me your name."
Boy: "I …"
The boy struggled to say anything. Half of his mind was occupied by the thoughts of the incident that had led to him ending up there. He just couldn"t focus.
Boy: "My name … is …"
And all of a sudden, tears started flowing down his cheeks.
Police Officer: "Uh!"
The officer was left bereft of words as he saw that. "Just what in the world happened to this kid?" he wondered.
They continued walking. In a short time of about two minutes, they were at the police station. While the officer took the child into the station by hand, other officers enquired about him and they all got worried when they heard what had happened.
Cases of kidnapping, murder as well as child torture was nothing very new to the place they worked in. One or two of them popped up every two months. However, that doesn"t make it any less horrifying.
Police Officer: "Hey, could you go and sit over there while I take care of something?"
The officer asked of the boy as he pointed at a bench within the station. The boy looked at the officer with the same blank expression and nodded.
Police Officer: "Okay, don"t go anywhere. I"ll be back in a second."
The boy nodded yet again and started walking towards the bench the officer pointed at. His tears, by that point, had dried off.
Police Officer: "Hey, you …"
He trailed off as he checked the boy"s forehead, before going, to make sure he doesn"t have a fever.
He didn"t have a fever. The officer felt relieved.
Police Officer: "Okay, that"s good. Now, I"ll be …"
He said as he started to leave but stopped mid-sentence. He stopped because he got a good view of his eyes for the first time.
Police Officer: "Y-You"re … blind?"
The officer said as he saw those eyes with no light in them.
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The boy wasn"t born blind. He was born with a rather good pair of eyes. But he lost the sight he was born with. Furthermore, he didn"t lose them because of some natural loss of sight or overexertion of them. His sight was taken from him. It happened in the morning prior to that night – before the rain started.
"Hey child, can you hear me?"
He heard a voice. It was a rather pleasant voice. But he didn"t know whose it was, who it was addressing and where it came from. The boy looked around but couldn"t find the one who said that.
"Ah, so you can hear me. That"s delightful."
Hearing the voice showing glee, the boy felt uncomfortable. He was standing in a public park filled with people on all sides. So even though he continued to look, he couldn"t find the one who said it.
"You don"t need to look around to find me, child. I"m right here."
He heard that voice. It seemed like the voice was addressing him. But if so, whose is it? What is the speaker trying to say?
"You won"t find me even if you keep looking around, child. If you really want to find me, look within your heart."
The boy gasped at those words. For an eight-year-old like him, those words didn"t sound all that creepy; but they still gave him a bad feeling.
Boy: "W-Who … are you?"
"Shouldn"t it be obvious, child? Who else could you find when you look within your heart? Who else could I be?"
Who else could he find when he looked within his heart? There was only one answer that anyone could come up with.
"I"m G.o.d."
Boy: "W-W-What!?"
"Is it really that surprising? I think you should have heard that the G.o.d lives within a person"s heart, within their soul. I am the one they talk about."
There was no way the boy could just readily accept that as if it"s nothing. He may have been a child, but he was not so ignorant of reality that he could just believe someone who calls themselves a "G.o.d". So,
Boy: "Y-You … don"t lie to me. You can"t be G.o.d. I can"t just believe you if you call yourself a G.o.d."
"No, no, child. You are wrong. I am not a G.o.d."
The voice said very calmly,
"I am the G.o.d."
The voice continued before the boy could think anything.
"If you want me to confirm it to you, then come."
The boy was doubtful. He was suspicious. He had always been told to not a.s.sociate with strangers. And this was a stranger who didn"t even show his face. He couldn"t do just as the voice told him to. And yet,
Boy: "W-Where?"
He could not help himself. The boy asked where he needed to come because he just couldn"t control his curious mind.
"Come to the shrine nearest to this park. You know which one I am talking about, don"t you, child?"
He nodded. There was only one shrine that can be called near to the park. Every other was at least 10 kilometers away. So that one shrine can only be what that voice asked him to come to. And the boy, knowing he shouldn"t, started to head there. It was as if his legs moved without even his consent.
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Boy: "This must be the place, right?"
He asked himself as he stepped foot in the shrine. There weren"t many people in the shrine. In fact, the only ones there were the people who lived at the shrine and a couple of people who had come to pray.
Monk: "Have you come to pray, boy?"
Boy: "U-uh, I …"
"Go on. Say you have come to pray. It is not really untrue, you know."
The boy felt the urge to ask "How?" but he controlled himself and nodded to give the monk the answer to his question.
Monk: "I see. Come here."
The monk walked ahead as he asked the boy to follow and he did. The boy followed him and entered the tomb. He was barefoot as he was walking in the shrine he had never been before. Needless to say, he was pretty nervous.
Monk: "Don"t be afraid. Come here."
The monk motioned the boy to come to a place he was already headed towards. As he reached that place, the monk pointed at a statue. It was a statue of the G.o.d the monks prayed to.
Monk: "See. He is the G.o.d known as Ozyllus."
The boy felt a s.h.i.+ver run down his spine as he heard that name,
Monk: "He is, in fact, the only true G.o.d."
The monk said. The boy heard.
Monk: "He is the one who brought prosperity to the world when it was being ravaged by the demon known as Abyss."
The monk continued to say. The boy continued to hear.
Monk: "He defeated that demon and brought an end to the war."
The monk kept singing praises. The boy kept listening blankly.
Monk: "Mankind has now strayed from the path he opened up for us – the path of peace that would lead to salvation. But if you pray to him, you can still find that path, and you can still find salvation."
Boy: "S-Salvation?"
The eight-year-old boy didn"t completely know what that word meant. But he did understand that it was something good, something that a lot of people would want to find.
Ozyllus: "See. Now do you believe me?"
The voice suddenly spoke.
Ozyllus: "That statue, in front of you, is a statue of me. The monk just told you about me too. That saves me some trouble."
The voice continued leaving no time for the boy to process everything that was being told to him.
Monk: "So boy, join your hand together in order to pray. Like this."
The monk said as he joined his hands. The boy had no choice but to follow suit. That"s when,
"I hate YOU!!!"
A voice came. It was a much different voice than what the boy was hearing in his head again and again. It was the voice of a girl.
Monk: "Uh, I suppose she is in a bad mood. That was to be expected though."
The monk said as he heard that voice as well.
Monk: "Don"t worry, boy. It"s just a girl who lives here. We are going somewhere but not taking her so she"s angry."
Boy: "I-I see."
Ozyllus: "My, my. That girl he just mentioned is an Aural. I thought this shrine only had casual believers but I suppose that"s not true."
The voice told him as he heard the girl running away angrily. Shouts of "Sneha, come back" or "Don"t be such a brat, Sneha" could be heard.
Hearing them, the monk sighed confirming his guess.
Monk: "Don"t mind them, boy. Come now, where were we?"
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