#web book

play song vid at the end of the post for a better reading experience

The day which changed Namjeev's life forever began just as any other day did for him.

At sunrise, he was greeted awake by the soft rays of sunrise that spilled in his face. Grumbling, he rubbed his eyes and took a minute to remind himself that what he saw when he slept was just a dream.

It was a pleasant dream, one that he wished would never end. It made him smile in his sleep but weep when he woke up.

He had dreamt of his mother. Again. 

His mother often appeared to him in his dreams and she always said the same thing to him when he saw her.

'Wait here for us. We'll be back'

He had been obedient to her. He did wait. Sometimes he thought that that was all that he would end up doing with his life. Waiting.

The waiting was agonizing, there was nothing that was more painful than staying behind and not doing anything expecting someone else to act before you did.

Nothing, except maybe the empty feeling in his stomach. The feeling that made him want people to know of his existence. Of his loneliness.

He knew that so far his life hadn't amounted to anything, nothing he did would impact anyone. Was it selfish of him to want to have an impact on someone else irrespective of whether it was positive or negative?

He forced himself to not think too much about it. Thinking too much about it would definitely send him in a downward spiral.

He had to be a dutiful son, it wasn't right to think of his mother's instructions with distaste. After all, she said that to him so that he would stay alive.

He grabbed his cane and stepped out of his tent and was immediately hit by a gust of wind.

Namjeev shielded his eyes from the sand before inspecting the sky. There were moody dark clouds lurking around sulkily, he would most likely have to endure a storm that day.

He contemplated not going about his daily routine and just staying inside but ultimately decided against it. The sun still shone brightly on the horizon, if it wasn't scared of the storm clouds, then he didn't have to be either.

With every laboured step he took forward, Namjeev's confidence depleted. Although he had his cane with him providing support, the winds blowing against him was too harsh.

Nevertheless, he still persisted. His parents could be back at any moment. It would be a shame if they came so close and he lost them simply because he was afraid to step out.

He trekked seven kilometres in front of his tent, approximately measuring the distance with the number of footsteps that he took.

When he saw no movement for as far as his eyes could see for the next twenty minutes, he put his cane forward and began to perimeter his tent from the seven kilometre radius.

The entire patrol had been uneventful, he hadn't seen anything interesting so far. Well, that wouldn't have been the case if he made an exception to almost being stung by an adorably small scorpion.

But he didn't, so he was sure that that day's morning patrol was as monotonous as every other day's. Or so he had thought.

Namjeev had reached the oasis and had begun to fill his bucket with water. It wasn't too big to have a civilization near it but was big enough such that it had some vegetation around around it. That was enough for him.

Before leaving, Namjeev decided to take a look at the oncoming storm once again. The sun no longer shone, it was then hiding behind a dark rumbling cloud. Perhaps it was a sign that Namjeev had to head back to his tent quickly.

But he ignored it. More than ignored it, actually. He did exactly the opposite.

The dropping the bucket of water and forgetting his cane, Namjeev half-ran and half-limped towards the storm, his eyes fixed on only one thing.

He went as fast as he could but was still worried that he wouldn't reach the staggering humanoid figure in time.

As he got closer his hopes that the person would be either of his parents were vanquished, but he still kept going. It had been a long time since he had seen any other face except his own.

Namjeev stopped in his tracks when he finally reached the stranger.

He couldn't have been much older than Namjeev. His eyes stared ahead unfocused, his clothes were dirty and crumpled, his hair stuck out in various directions like the Sun's rays in an unflattering way and blood seeped from his crown to the side of his face.

He looked hideous.

He was the most beautiful boy Namjeev had ever seen.

song:

tagging all who showed interest in this (lmk if you want to added or removed)

You can find them all in Jam Jars, a free web book. Read it on Wattpad or Ao3!

It'll be okay. It'll be okay. It'll be-

Namjeev had been repeating the same three words in his head for a while, stopping only when the stranger in his bed occasionally stirred.

He had passed out almost immediately after Namjeev saw him. If he had to be honest, Namjeev would be surprised if he didn't. He looked like he had walked through the end of the world.

Getting him to Namjeev's tent was a challenge. The traveller was heavier than he was and was also unconscious. Namjeev's bad foot added to the difficulty.

By the time he reached the tent, both he and the traveller were soaking wet. 

But on the bright side, at least they were both alive. They would be by the end of the day, wouldn’t they?

Namjeev had been staying in the desert ever since he was a kid, so he wasn’t very worried about himself. The traveller on the other hand made him want to pull his hair out.

It would be so unfair if the boy (was he a boy? man?) died after Namjeev had endangered his life in order to bring him to the tent safely. 

Namjeev hadn’t stopped fussing with the stranger. Immediately after they had entered his tent, he laid the traveller down in his bed, then scrambled around looking for his medicines.

He cleaned the blood from the stranger's face, tended to the wound and dressed it. After that, he changed the traveller to cleaner, warmer clothes.

Namjeev started bouncing his knee. What if the ointments that he used on the stranger were inadequate? Besides, even if that worked, what if he fell sick from his time outside?

How long had he spent wandering before Namjeev found him? He had found him at dawn, so the traveller had definitely been lost in the desert at night.

Namjeev outwardly shivered from just thinking about how cold that might've been. He himself had been lost in the desert at night when he was younger, but was found by his father after what his mother told him had been six hours.

He had been eight years old then and was crumpled up in a ball when his father finally saw him. His eight year old self had tried to look for some firewood but failed to find any and ultimately decided to resort to body heat.

At present, Namjeev had forgotten the reason why he had stepped out anyway. It probably was to do something boyish and stupid.

What he didn't forget was the look in his mother's face when his father had brought him back to the tent. His mother had been stationed there, just to be safe, to check if their son would return anytime soon. Boys of his age wouldn't wander too far from their houses.

His mother had looked like the weight of the sun had been relieved of her. Her cheeks were stained with tears and her hair flew around wildly. Young Namjeev had assumed that she would then scold him, but she hugged and kissed him instead. Repeatedly.

"I'm sorry" he had said. "I'll never go outside like that again"

It was a heavy promise, but he meant it. He never wanted to relive the experience. The cold was so unbearable, it felt like it seeped into his bones.

"Why did you go outside?" Asked his mother.

At first Namjeev assumed that his mother was asking him that because she was overcome by emotion, but he later realised that she hadn't meant the question rhetorically.

"I don't know" he had answered. It was the safe answer.

"Did you go outside because you didn't want to stay here?" suggested his mother.

Namjeev considered it for a while.

Was that the reason?

He didn't give his mother an answer.

That night, Namjeev didn't sleep much and Neither did his parents.

He knew that as he heard them fighting until dawn. He supposed they weren't exactly fighting, but there was a lot of yelling and crying involved.

He had caused that.

It was all his fault.

Namjeev told himself to focus on the injured traveller, he was what needed his attention, not a horrid old memory.

He was growing impatient. It had been a while since dawn. Outside of his tent, he couldn't see the sun behind the storm clouds and years of staying in the desert told him that even if the clouds miraculously disappeared, the sun wouldn't be staying for long.

Just as Namjeev lifted his hand to shake the traveller awake, he sat up straight and brought his hand to his head.

He didn't look around to inspect the tent or even glance at Namjeev, but his hands ceaselessly skimmed the bed, the canvas of the tent and everywhere else they could reach.

It was then that it occurred to Namjeev that the traveller was blind.

"Where am I?" He asked, his voice panicked.

Namjeev's heart grew heavy as he thought of telling the traveller that he was in the middle of nowhere.

tagging all who showed interest in this (lmk if you want to added or removed)

'The horizon' is the title of the webbook that I will be uploading here, in this account in installments every tuesday starting from the ninth of November.

It focuses on a boy named Namjeev, who has spent his entire life in the desert and appears to not be interested in leaving it. His life is simple, he has a routine that he likes, which he repeats every day.

Things start to get complicated when a blind traveller (named Kiran) stumbles into his abode.

tagging everyone who showed interest in the first post:

Emma: A labracadabradour

Emma: *exists*