"Forbidden Alleys" by Garima Lamsal

As the icy cold blizzard hit Christopher in his face, he grabbed a branch nearby. It reminded him of the book he held for the first time in the library.

Christopher had wandered further into the dark forbidden alleys of the New York Public Library. Such a dusty place looks like no one even found this place to clean it. Why would they even have such numbers of old books, he remarked as he saw a book called the “Sudha

Nitopayati-The Eternal Plant” covered in dust. It was covered in dust, however not torn as it had a hard cover that was carved like ceilings of a temple. It felt like wood. Although the book was in Sanskrit, he didn't have much problem as he used to read Sanskrit story books with his grandmother. He opened and started reading it. Amazing how this book describes these plant’s medicinal purposes and chemical constituents. Weird I have never seen these plants even on Google. He felt a rush of excitement to complete this book to know everything about the plant. He was reading it in haste like a fish struggling to get into the water when taken out. He felt like the missing purpose of his life was back. I will find this plant even if I have to find my way to the Inner Earth.

Now he was struggling to breathe in this trek as the blizzard was getting stronger. As he looked a little further up he saw a light coming through a cave. He struggled his way up the cave. All these years of New York winters should have prepared me for this but here I am struggling like a tortoise. He entered the cave and surprisingly it was much warmer, as if someone put a heater in there. He was hungry from all that upward climbing. He was craving some hot dumplings as he remembered his grandmother bringing a steaming plate to him.

“You know humans have long since aimed for immortality,” he remembered grandma saying.

“Is it wrong though Maa?”

“ No, my loved one, however playing god would disrupt our nature.”

“Well, no one gave him the right to play God either,” Christopher replied.

“You know I cannot win with you, Here eat this fast,” his grandma said as she placed the plate to his right. “I think you should just leave all these hassles and find a partner and settle.

You know with this illness I would not be here taking care of you for a long time.”

I don't need anyone, just having my grandma is enough for me and you are also not going anywhere, he thought. “Grandma, I don't want to hear anything. You look healthier than me” he said.

The handkerchief in his hand fell down which brought him back to the present moment. Let me tie this here so I don't come back again to this same cave. He then started exploring the cave.

As he moved forward in the cave he saw carvings in the walls that resembled the writings in the book. The light at the end of the cave was also getting brighter so he closed his eyes but kept moving forward. Suddenly he felt grass under his feet. He slowly struggled to open his eyes in the bright light and he couldn't believe what he saw. He saw the most vividly colored world. He saw a huge garden-like island with a castle in the middle that was made up of five gems that shone brightly from miles away. The garden was in the middle of an ocean of milk that was covered with forests of lotus that were as big as the trees. The place had a heavenly aroma that smelled like saffron and musk that was mesmerizing him. He was standing near a great entrance that was made up of gold guarded by two heavenly beings. The wall was transparent but he was not able to move through it. But he could see it was covered with a huge pomegranate forest and the fruits shone like rubies. The most colorful birds that had the longest feathers were singing in hymns. Suddenly the heavenly guard, who had no face and a floating body, asked him, “You would have to leave your body to pass this gate.” He was amazed how his own body came out like clothing and all that was left was this transparent fluid body. This, however, made him concerned about his grandmother’s degrading health. This made him feel this could be what death would be like. It made him sad thinking about how his only family member who looked after him all his life was sick. He started floating and getting pulled over to the castle.

As he entered the humongous castle that was shining, he remembered reading about the castle in the book. It was decorated with shiny crystal chandeliers and it had paths that led in six directions. As he was going to choose the path that led him to the upper part of this castle he was intertwined together with a notation written “Nishidha,” that means forbidden. He chose the door to open through his consciousness and as he entered the room it led to another red shiny door. As he opened the door again it led to a dark alley. A shiny purple small tree was in the middle that shone in the moonlight that was providing this dark room with little light from the crack on the roof. It had one shiny opal like an apple hanging in the tree. His heartbeat stopped for a moment when he realized he had found the forbidden fruit in this rare plant. He ran to it and grabbed it. All of a sudden the floating stopped and he felt dragged into the alley’s pavement and he felt stuck. The voices in the castle warned him he was going to be stuck here in this alley forever. He panicked as the thought of never meeting his grandmother again worried him. He tried everything to drag his leg and made minute changes. He stared towards the end of this alley and saw a small passage that shone in lilac light. Suddenly an angelic lady appeared before him and he felt a warmth and love that he had never felt before. It didn't take him much to understand that she was his mother. She said, “Let go. We are always with you and you don't need us physically. Our love had protected you that day in the accident so you could go ahead and live a fulfilling life not stuck in the past. When time comes we will meet again.” He loosened the grip of the apple.

He felt calm. He put it down and suddenly found himself in front of the door. He walked outside and was amazed to see that handkerchief in the exact same location and in the same condition. He touched his head in confusion but his hair had grown by two inches. He walked down as the blizzard had slowed down. He promised himself to live a fulfilling life with his grandmother. As he reached his home in the evening his grandmother was lighting a candle as she saw him, She asked, “Are you not going for the trek to find the plant?”

Christopher replied, “No, I will be your obedient grandson and just stay here and take care of you.”