Indhra and Kyra both looked at the scenery of a barren wasteland. A land wasted by war.
A memory passed through his mind as he remembered the clear view of the sunset. In his mind, the wasteland was a lake, a lake big enough to have the most marine life in Luvinia.
Kyra looked at his arm moving up, his finger pointed at the river, with clear anguish felt by every motion.
" A lake!" He slowly muttered, audible only to himself.
His words widened her vision. The slow, calm voice, it was soothing yet terrifying for a child like her.
" Many years ago! This was a lake!"
A huge blast surrounded Indhra. He saw people running away. People's limbs were tearing off from their bodies. Boulders were pounding them to pulp into an unrecognisable form. But they continued to walk forward in the form of blood to survive even after death.
Some died, some survived from the shattered glass. The burden of seeing your loved ones die, one that people take for granted, just became real.
" War!" Veins popped, disgust formed.
" Death!" All the blood gushed at him like an intense breeze on a windy day.
What is he hiding? A question appeared in Kyra's mind.
" I will!" Indhra screamed to nobody as the world became real.
The barren wasteland looked very clear to him now.
" I WILL BRING PEACE TO THIS WORLD!" Words that no one took seriously at the time.
Kyra could feel the determination scorching his body, but how long could she see her father being this angry? She had no other option but to lighten the mood somehow.
" School's near!" She chuckled at him, totally unserious of whatever he had said. This wasn't a joke, but an alarm to wake her dad up from his paradise.
Embarrassment caught him immediately. What the heck did I just say? His inner voice cracked with shame.
" Huhh!" He sighed to brush it off. He rubbed his hand behind his head as he spoke," Sorry to keep you waiting like this!" Sweat drenched his face.
She blushed, realising how cute her father could be.
LNS or Luvinia National School is one of the largest yet cheapest national schools in Luvinia, handled directly by the communist government.
Indhra turned back and headed up the stairs.
He reached for his car before entering, a car filled with immense memories.
Kyra sat next to him, in the passenger seat, while throwing her bag behind. A green one with the LNS logo on top of it. Everyone needed to wear the same type of uniform and a similar type of backpack. Looking back at it, now I may realise how much the government had the authority over us.
Kyra had a ponytail, which was also compulsory for all the girls in this school. Although many may look at it like a problem, including me. But, to many in Luvinia, this had become so normal to an extent that people started to follow these rules like a religion.
Indhra started the car, pressed the clutch, changed the gear and then calmly pressed the accelerator.
During his driving test, he pressed the accelerator with such force that he crashed into a tree. Since then, he has always taken care of his accelerator as if it were his delicate, loving pet.
Indhra was in the outskirts of Luvinia, or to be precise, the outer wall of Luvinia. However, the school was on the inner wall.
Let me tell you some things about Luvinia. It majorly occupied the southern part of Japan, while Tokyo remained the capital. Now you may wonder why I said, 'majorly'. The reason is pretty straightforward, not for Kyra, though. Luvinia has other colonies in Europe, but the biggest colony is still Japan.
The Luvinia is then divided by three walls. Major chunks of Tokyo were in the central region, where Nobles and Royals thrived. The second wall, where the middle-class people lived, included Indhra and his family. I till date wonder why Indhra chose to live in the Middle-class region, while being super rich and popular.
Half an hour later, both of them arrived closer to the castle. He drove through the roads, still remembering the embarrassing words. The area where he was driving was a commercial district. In fact, this area was close to Indhra's cafe.
Kyra looked at the shops and the atmosphere of this empire. The air was brown, the land looked dry, as if rain were just a concept of fancy books.
The question was killing her from the inside out the whole way. She didn't hold back!
" How did the lake become what it is right now?" She asked while looking out of the window.
Kyra glanced at the pomegranate being sold in one of the fruit shops. It was half open, the seeds shining. The dust covered it, the brown air contaminated it.
" War!" Kyra, with a straight face, turned right to look at the huge castle in the front mirror.
" War?" The only part moved by these words was her eyes.
" Sorry! World War!" He moved his hands from the steering wheel momentarily to make the conversation more fun," Well, atleast that is what is remained in the history books, I don't know anything else." A tiny drop of sweat dripped.
" That's weird." Kyra smirked," Why, though? Didn't grandfather know about the war? He was a witness, am I right?"
She tried her best to remember which war Indhra was talking about. Kyra was dumb. Not like 'stupid' kind of dumb, but a dumbass in history.
Kyra noticed disgust emerging in his eyes.
He sighed," Yes! In fact, he was a soldier who witnessed the warfields with his bare eyes. But for some unknown reason, the memories of war faded away from his mind; he couldn't explain anything to me." It looked like Indhra was trying his best to hide something. Kyra couldn't decipher it. She didn't trust him one bit.
" Don't believe me!?" Indhra noted her face," Well, I remember that he had told me about an incident, but that memory has also faded away from my mind!" He forced a smile to lighten the mood, but Kyra was smart enough.
She chuckled," You don't have to lie to make me happy, you know that, right?" She took a Luvinia symbol-encrypted tetrapack from her bag, removed the straw, and inserted it into the hole on the top of the pack.
Indhra chuckled," But I am telling the truth!" The smile grew as he saw Kyra's adorable face. Kids grow up so fast! He thought, almost hurt at how fast time moves.
Kyra began to look out of the window of the car to see the buildings and the people living in this country.
She gave pity looking at the shop in front of her eyes. A cannibal shop, a shop selling human meat. The only reason for her pity was her privilege of being rich enough. She felt guilty, as if she was stealing their food.
Were they following cannibalism by their choice? The answer can be seen by their looks. Disgust. They hated themselves, but had no other option.
What would be the condition of the outer wall? She wondered. If the middle class is this horrid, then how bad will be the poor?
Indhra couldn't bear the disgust in his daughter's eyes. He had to do something. Something to let her forgive herself.
" Kyra!" He called her. She gave a sound of 'yes' as she drank orange juice from the tetrapack.
" You have a crush on Aldred? Don't you?"
Kyra got a mini heart attack, spilling the juice right from her mouth on the window. How? How does he...HOW THE F**K DOES HE KNOW!?