It was a quiet December afternoon, the kind where snow settled like silence over the town of Fairydom. In this hushed world lived Leah, a gentle and thoughtful girl with a head full of dreams and a heart full of hope. One day, fate, or so it seemed, offered her a golden escape: a fortune ticket to an enigmatic place called Skyland, where untold success and a prestigious career awaited her.
But there was a catch: Leah would have to leave Fairydom permanently. No farewells. No return.
Leah, mesmerized by the idea of instant success, didn’t hesitate. Her elder sister, Ish, however, hesitated for both of them. Wise beyond her years and unusually intuitive, Ish sensed something deeply wrong about the offer. She pleaded with Leah, reminding her that shortcuts often lead to shadows. But Leah, like many dreamers, mistook her sister’s caution for pessimism.
As the new year’s dusk settled, Leah boarded a sleek, driverless aerial car. She had an amazing journey whereby she discovered the shimmering moon, twinkling stars, wavy clouds, bright fireflies, and quirky birds. She got a brief halt in a royal star named Regulus. She was enjoying every minute of her life but at the same time, she was missing her family and wished that they would have understood her.
As she resumed her journey and approached the vehicle, she was stunned to discover that her aerial car had transformed into a flying dragon. Not a fearsome one, at least not at first, but still, a dragon. With no options and a talisman from her parents clutched to her chest, Leah climbed aboard.
The dragon did not take her to Skyland.
Instead, it veered violently toward a place that wasn’t on any map, Witchland, a twisted realm cloaked in cruelty and shadows. Leah found herself bound and disoriented, surrounded by witches preparing a sinister sacrificial ritual in her honor. They referred to her as their "offering to Medusa," ridiculing her innocence and naivety.
Terror took over. Her talisman slipped from her hand, she thought it a bad omen, unaware that a dove, pure and unshaken, had caught it midair. Somewhere beyond fear, her heart cried for her parents, her sister, and the wisdom she had left behind.
As the night unfolded in horror, Leah found herself surrounded by cannibals chanting cryptic incantations, “Shring brings sarvaling, bhoot bhavishya vartmaan badling”, hearing this she went to an unconscious state. As Medusa entered the Gitok, the sacrificial ground of Witchland, she was immediately attacked by the cannibals. When the other witches arrived to protect her, flying dragons unleashed poison balls upon them. In the middle of all this, Ish along with the lucky dove came to the Gitok to rescue her little sister.
Then, silence. Leah heard a voice- “Get up Leah, you are getting late for the office”, from her parents. It had been a dream. But not just any dream. It was her subconscious screaming wisdom she had been too busy to hear.
At that very moment, Leah realized that no matter how much hard tiff she had with her sister, Ish was/is/will be always there to extricate her (even in her dreams). Also, she appreciated the right timings of her parents in awakening and enlightening her (not only in her dreams but also in real-life situations).
The takeaway from this story is to always listen to the advice of your loved ones. And lastly, success isn’t an elusive destination, it’s a path paved with patience, effort, humility and grounded decisions. Shortcuts may look shiny, but they often lead to illusions. Trust the instincts of those who know you best, and remember, the ladder of success has no elevator. Every step is part of the climb and every misstep, a lesson. True growth doesn’t happen through miraculous transformations or shortcuts, it emerges step by step, through continuous effort, struggle, ability to learn from challenges over time and thoughtful decisions.
Trust your instincts. Value wise counsel. Take the stairs, not the elevator and enjoy your journey on each step.
Because the climb may be harder, but it will be yours- authentic, earned, and deeply fulfilling.