"… Okay. Let's say what you are saying is true, then, where is this little brother of yours? Why is he not with you in the forest?"
Hearing this question, I don't know what should I tell him.
That my brother died in a landslide, or maybe he was saved by some unreal giant.
"I don't know…" I gave him the only reply I could think of.
"What do you mean by 'I don't know'?" From his tone, it seems that he is just an inch away from snapping at me.
"I really don't know…," I swallowed hard, "At one moment, we were at the mountain, teasing each other, and in another moment, everything started falling, rocks, trees. The ground started shaking."
My eyes closed, remembering how close I was to death.
"Hehe… boy, either you are messing with me or you don't love your life very much." His voice carrying a cold tone.
"What do you mean, sir?" I know, asking a question at this moment will really put my life in danger, but I am really confused right now.
"What I mean is that not a single landslide happened around this area this week. Boy, that's enough, stop this drama, and tell me who sent you here? And what is your goal?" His voice reverted to his commanding tone.
"Sir, I really don't know what you are speaking about. I had already told you that my brother and I had come here just to visit the nearby area of the Gangotri Dham; we didn't even know that this place is restricted."
I spoke calmly. Even I am surprised by how calm I am in this situation.
"Alright, if you want to continue this drama, then tell me why I am sensing a strong presence of 'prana' from your body?"
"…" before I can say something.
"Not again. I am hoping you will not act like you don't know what I am speaking about, because I can clearly sense it, your 'prana' is literally radiating out of your body like you have just woken up… from your… 'Pariama' stage…"
I just watched him speak about things/ using terms that I don't even know about.
But when he was talking about 'prana' or 'Pariama', his expression changed from strict and commanding to one of shock, as if he had realised something, something unexpected.
Without giving me a chance to open my mouth, he asks another question, and this time it was me who got shocked by it.
"Boy, tell me the date of the day you and your brother went to the mountains."
I don't know from where, but I got this feeling, that whatever weird things that are happening to me or around me, this person sitting in front of me knows something about it.
GULP
"Sir, we reached Uttarakhand on August 1st," I replied honestly.
"August 1st, huh," after repeating the date, he went silent. I just watched him, hoping that I could get answers to some of my questions.
"And the day of the landslide?" he sure seems to be fixed on the dates now.
"3rd August… It was also the day when my brother went missing." My voice is cracking slightly.
The captain's eyes didn't move, but I could feel his attention sharpen like a blade.
I continued, my hands trembling slightly on the table.
"I looked for him! I looked for him everywhere I could, but he seemed to have vanished into thin air."
The captain leaned back slowly, studying me. His expression now calm – too calm, nothing like before.
"Sir, please tell me if you know something," I pleaded. "I don't even know how I survived that landslide, or for how long I was unconscious, buried in snow-
"You can go back to your tent to relax," instead of answering me, he told me to go back.
"Relax…" I snapped, my voice raised slightly, "Relax, you are telling me to relax, how the hell am I going to relax when I didn't even know what is happening around me.
I woke up buried in snow, in a place completely different from what I remembered. In fact, everything was different.
My surroundings changed, the inn at which I checked in transformed into ruins, my appearance changed, my brother is missing, and you are telling me to relax."
For a second, the tent went silent. He doesn't speak a single word, as if he had decided to end this interrogation here.
Frustated by my helplessness, I couldn't stop myself from saying,
"You should have left me to die in the jungle." He seems to be surprised by my words.
Seeing that he has no intention to reply, I stand up to leave the tent.
Just as I was going to leave, he spoke, "This world is no longer the same world that you remembered." his words seemed to be echoed in the silence of the tent.
I sit back, listening to him seriously.
"I must warn you that whatever I'm going to tell you is beyond the realm of ordinary."
A.N. - SATYA, means 'Truth'.
'prana' is a word used for life essence.
'pariama' is a word for evolution.