"Morning, Shiv!"
A voice rang out, cheerful and easy. A dark-brown-skinned boy with an athletic build strolled up, greeting Shiv with a practiced wave.
But Shiv didn't hear him.
Lost in his own brooding session, his thoughts wrapped in multiple layers, too thick for sound to break through. His friend tried again—"Shiv!"
Still nothing.
The words wouldn't travel through his ears.
Not in anger but in quiet annoyance, Arjun stepped closer. He gently tapped Shiv's shoulder.
The sudden touch made Shiv jolt upright on his desk.
Arjun too flinched seeing Shiv jump.
"You freaked me out, gym pervert!" Shiv complained, still half-startled.
"I could say the same, skeleton," Arjun replied coldly.
The tension broke into small soft chuckles. Both laughed, settling into their chairs as the class buzzed around them in a familiar chaos of chatter and last-minute homework.
"So," Shiv said, sipping a chocolate drink 'borrowed' from the store, "how was your vacation? Learned something new?"
"Judo," Arjun replied, shrugging. "And you?"
"Forty-five pixel games. Completed."
Shiv said it with regal pride.
"You completed forty-five in fifty days?!" Arjun gasped.
Arjun clapped dramatically. "Freaking hell dude!! A legendary gamer, indeed."
"So... which one was the best game?" Arjun leaned in, curiosity soaking through his expression.
THUMP!
The classroom door slammed against the wall. An athletic teen boy came rushing in, nearly crashing into the front desk.
Right behind him—gasping, puffing, struggling to keep pace—was the fatty class monitor, Vineet.
Vineet looked like he'd just finished a marathon while carrying an entire vending machine on his back.
"Arjun! Shiv! Vineet wheezed. Catch Aditya. He stole my umbrella!"
Shiv didn't bother much, slouched in his chair. Meanwhile, Arjun dashed like a lion chasing down prey. They both leapt over desks, dodging people, and still the victory held by the prodigy of bone breaker– Arjun.
And there he was—Aditya—dramatically falling on one knee, holding the umbrella out like a knight presenting Excalibur.
Shiv stood ahead, arms crossed, unmoved by the theatrics. He couldn't let down the warrior's pride, his regal pride.
"Oh mighty Lord of Pixelated Worlds! Here, take the legendary sword of myth," Aditya proclaimed, offering the umbrella.
Before Shiv could pick it up, Vineet snatched it away and muttered under his breath, doubting yet again if his friends were mentally stable.
"Why did you bring an umbrella today?" Arjun asked.
"It's not mine. This umbrella belongs to Anvi. Section D," Vineet answered.
At that very instant, a single thought flashed across the brains of all three boys.
Anvi. A girl. Vineet borrowed from a girl.
Shiv, Arjun, and Aditya all let out the most crooked smiles their faces could afford, raising eyebrows in perfect sync.
"Our brother Vineet is getting married." They thought.
Vineet couldn't really comprehend what their face meant. Their calm faces embroidered with the crooked smiles of hell lords sent a shiver down his spine.
"Stop it. You all will make girls cry!"
— Drrrrrring! —
The school bell rang.The first class had already begun, but Shiv hadn't moved from his thoughts.
His teacher asked him to read a chapter, but the words… they never quite reached him. His benchmate kicked him in the leg to wake him up.
Things only got worse when he pulled out the wrong book—the Science one in Hindi class—and started reading from it.
He realized his mistake faster than anyone else… but it was already too late.
Unfortunately, his teacher was short-tempered. She asked if he'd brought the book, completed his holiday homework, or if his father was at home. He just kept replying with empty "no"s.
"Tell him to talk to me this evening," she commanded.
"No, ma'am," he replied again, lost in thought.
The teacher, astonished, shot a death glare at him—one of those glares that could boil water. He immediately apologized, though it wasn't exactly sincere. She decided to talk to his father that very evening. Shiv, meanwhile, hadn't even fully processed what she said.
"Are you that much interested in my old man?" he mumbled under his breath.
But his benchmate Ankush laughed loud enough for the teacher to hear. Ankush, being the total jerk he was, gave her the reason she needed.
Shiv was made to stand outside, rubbing the two fresh slaps on his face and mumbling to
himself.
(Bell rings)
She gave him one last glare—sharp enough to slice silence— a glare of warning.
"I am so dead meat," Shiv thought to himself.
He walked into the classroom, shoulders sagging, while his friends were still laughing at him.
"That was the best reply to that perverted teacher!" Aditya laughed, complimenting Shiv.
Shiv didn't return Aditya's energy. After all, he was the one who got punished. And now Swati was angry at him. She was like a big sister to all four of them. Her friends—Sweta and Varsha—were the same.
Atharv, who didn't belong to their group, had made fun of him. If Shiv's friends had been teasing, it wouldn't have hurt. But coming from an outsider, the words stung like an insult, not a joke.
Nobody laughed at what Atharv said. Instead, they ignored him. Yet again, Atharv struck back. His friend Ayush came in laughing.
Shiv had enough. He had been tolerating it since the beginning, but now he finally broke his silence.
"Step off! Son of bitches!" Shiv snapped, filled with disgust.
It wasn't much of an insult, but it came from the usually quiet and unspoken child. So it caused a huge stir.
Atharv launched a punch to get his respect back—but it didn't land. Arjun had blocked it. With one swift motion, Arjun clutched Atharv's arm and kicked him in the knee, dropping him to the floor.
Embarrassed in front of the entire class, Atharv started a fight with Arjun. Ayush and Harsh joined in, but they couldn't do a thing against him. Aditya didn't even need to step in—Arjun took care of them all alone.
"Weren't you a bit harsh on them? You're a martial arts expert and a sportsperson. And you left them bleeding," Shiv said quietly.
"Yeah! Don't worry about them. You too should learn martial arts and join me in the gym daily," Arjun grinned.
"I don't need it. I won't be going to war," Shiv replied firmly.
But soon enough, a teacher was called to handle the mess. All four of them got a solid scolding, but somehow, Arjun escaped punishment. The teacher relied on statements from the class monitors—Vineet and Sweta—and, luckily for us, from our brotherhood too. We were saved.
As for the other three, their parents were summoned to school. And just like that, the heavy morning faded away.
The bell of freedom had rung. All the slaves and prisoners were released from their shells. But not Shiv.
His punishment had been extended, due to his honesty.
The only option left: to kneel down and beg for forgiveness from the teacher.
He knocked on the door of the staff room. No one replied.
The gate creaked open. It made a screeching sound as it opened — no one was inside.
Main office. Male and female teachers, staff all over. Empty.
Shiv walked through the silent hall as his heartbeats went on rampage.
Out of fear, he got out of school.
He spotted an empty chair at the main gate — usually owned by the fat samosa-eating guard.
"It's weird... Where did everyone go?" Shiv dreadfully thought.
But the front road of the school was lively with people. It gave him an ease of relief. Yet... certainly less busy than usual.
Every single day, people have been decreasing dramatically.
Shiv never got a call from his teacher. He didn't even see her in school, though schools were declared closed by the central government.
This time, another troublesome anomaly had struck the world.
A question with no answer.
A disease with no cure.
An occurrence with no reason.
The world has again locked itself in its cage.