In a world shattered by a catastrophic event, where everybody is trying to survive every single day, a young woman named Sreysha sought to rebuild hope and find a new purpose. She started her day as usual to find food, water, and other basic necessities when a ruined library caught her attention. She decided to explore it. Her finger’s danced across the dusty shelves, her gaze drifting across the remnants of a library long abandoned. The air was heavy with the musty scent of decay and lost wisdom.

When she swept aside a frayed curtain of cobwebs, a subtle gleam drew her attention. She saw a small red box buried under a stack of fallen bookshelves. Carefully, she took out the box, and as she blew off the dust, her heart skipped a beat. She opened the box, which revealed a cache of soft rosed letters. Sreysha’s trembling fingers took out the letters and sat to read them, wandering what it could be.

As she started reading the first letter, her eyes hungrily traced the lines, as if it was a link to the world she believed was lost forever. The first letter was written to “My Dear Sneha.” The letter portrayed love, longing, and regret. Time went by, and Sreysha read all the letters and realized that the last letter was missing. She tried to find who wrote it or the address but found nothing. She at once made up her mind to find Sneha and deliver her the letter and thus found a new purpose.

She left that place and went back to the abandoned house, where she took shelter, to come up with a proper plan and start her mission the next day. The box was found in the library, which meant the individual penned the letters on the day the disaster unfolded.

Sreysha went back to the library the very next day with the hope to find any record of who came to the library on that day. She was hopeful to find a clue, as the library was used by only a few people. She searched every shelf, every corner, and finally found a register, only to discover that half of the pages had been lost to a fire. She took down all the names and addresses she could find and began her search.

She first went to the nearest house owned by “Chatterjee’s.” A man and her old mother lived in that house, and neither the letter was not written by them nor they had any idea who could be the owner or recipient of those letters. In next house, only an old man live; the third house was abandoned. The sun was setting soon, yet Sreysha could not find anything about Sneha. While returning, she managed to get hold of a map of the place and went back and recorded all the events in her diary. She crossed out all the houses and places in that locality that were already visited.

The next day, she began her search again. She stumbled against a guy named “Aksh.” And, as they stumbled against each other, all the belongings fell from Aksh’s bag, and the same soft rosed letter caught Sreysha’s attention. She instantly picked up the letter and started showering questions on Aksh. Confused, he asked Sreysha to calm down and suggested they sit somewhere and he will answer all the questions.

As they sat, Aksh began to narrate his side of story, how he found the letter, what intrigued him in keeping the letter with him, and what he decided to do with the letter. Soon, they both realized that they were on the same page. One finding the other letters and the recipient, the other finding the last letter and the recipient. It was just a coincidence or fate; it is yet to be known.

They both decided to work together to find out Sneha and the one who wrote the letter. They went to Sreysha’s place, and they put together all the information they had. Since Aksh found the last letter near a subway station, they mapped out all the possible routes the individual might have taken.

On the third day, they took the shortest route but found nothing and had to return empty- handed. This continued for two more days, where they visited all the possible houses and shelters, and finally on the sixth day they found an old, small, red- roofed house. When they entered the house, they saw a pale, exhausted man probably in his 20s lying on a thin mattress on the cold floor.

They asked him about the letters, and he told them about his past, Sneha, and the letters. The man’s name was Adith; he and Sneha were childhood friends. Since childhood, Adith has admired Sneha a lot, and they shared every small detail, incident of their lives with each other; they were inseparable. When they entered college, Adith decided to express his feelings to Sneha. But the day he asked Sneha to meet him at a park, an incident separated them.

While Adith was on his way to meet Sneha, he felt dizzy and fainted in an alley. He was taken to a hospital by the people, and the doctors informed him, “You have brain tumor, and it is in such a place in your brain that we cannot perform any surgery. You only have 6 months, and if you are lucky enough, then you might live for 1 or 1 and a half years more. I’m sorry.” He was shattered hearing the news. Soon, he stopped going to college and even decided not to meet Sneha; only left her a note: “Please don’t look for me –Your Adith,” and started living somewhere else all alone.

He longed for Sneha and sometimes visited her in secret. One day, he went to the library and wrote letters for Sneha, but except for the last letter, he kept the other letters inside that small red box that was gifted by Sneha to Adith and kept the box on a shelf. He knew Sneha often went to that library. But that very day the apocalypse began, and in a stampede he lost the last letter near the subway station.

He sought their favor. “Please help me find her; I have something very important to tell her in person.” He gave them her old address, in case it could be of any help. They ensured him and left his place.

They returned back, and Sreysha started writing everything in her diary. Aksh’s curiosity got the better of him, and he asked her, “Why do you keep recording everything in your diary?” To which she explained, “We are living in a world where there’s no more humanity left. Everyone is struggling, killing each other just to survive one more day. It’s such a surprise that we found something which can bring back hope, love, and humanity. And, I want to remember this till the end.” Aksh was quite impressed by her and, not to lie, felt warmth from her.

The next morning, they went to the address given by Adith, but much to their dismay, they found that no one resided in that house anymore. While they were leaving, an old man asked them, “Who are you looking for? Sneha?” They looked at each other as if they found hope again. Aksh replied, “Yes. Do you know anything about her? Where is she?” to which they learned that “Sneha soon left the house after she lost contact with Adith. They both were two peas in a pod. Sneha tried to find Adith but could not and left. She might have gone to her grandma’s house, which is in countryside.” Aksh asked the name of the place, but the old man did not know the name but said that it is by an ocean.

They found that there were two such villages, which were by an ocean: “Jagatpur” and “Aryapur.” They went to meet Adith again to ask if he had ever heard the name of any of the villages from Sneha. But he had never heard any of the village’s name. So, they searched Sneha’s house and found an old album where there was a picture of Sneha and her grandmother on the beach. Aksh recognized the beach and found out that the village is Jagatpur.

They did not waste any other time and left for Jagatpur. It would take them three days to reach Jagatpur, as they had no other option other than walking. During these three days, Aksh and Sreysha became very cloe. They shared about the life before the apocalypse, their friends, family, and job. Aksh started developing feelings for Sreysha. On the second night, Sreysha and Aksh were walking for hours, having a subtle flow of conversation; they forgot the constant threat of danger and let their guard down. They were suddenly attacked by a gang “X” who were watching them from the shadows.

The gang “X” was popular for being ruthless and killing people to get food and water and to protect their territory  from intruders. They considered Sreysha and Aksh a possible threat and tried to kill them and steal their food and water. When three of the members came close to them, Aksh moved Sreysha behind him. She stared at in amazement as Aksh, the taekwondo champion, took down the three attackers one by one. He grabbed her hand and yelled, “Run, now!”

Sreysha felt Aksh’s hold tighten as they ran. “Don’t look back, Sreysha! Just keep running,” he yelled.

Sreysha, not being able to keep up, stumbled, but Aksh’s grip kept her from tipping over. “Stay focused! And trust me.” They kept running, and Sreysha’s chest ached as she gasped for air, her lungs on fire. As the gang was gaining ground quickly, they hid behind a narrow alley. The shouts, curses and footsteps of the gang echoed through the dusky silence.

They waited there for few minutes and started running in the opposite direction. Soon, they reached an abandoned supermarket, where they decided to hide and spend the rest of the night. As they settled a bit, Sreysha asked Aksh, “Where did you learn taekwondo?” With a hint of smile on his lips “My father was a taekwondo trainer. I learned everything from him.” Sreysha’s eyes grew wide with amazement. “That’s awesome.” Her voice had genuine respect and admiration. ‘I absolutely had no idea.”

Aksh’s lips curved into a smile, the corner of his eyes wrinkling. “There’s still a lot you don’t know about me, Sreysha. I hope one day there will be nothing that you don’t know about me.” Sreysha’s cheeks flushed. She turned around and wished him “Goodnight!” But her heart was racing fast, and she found it difficult to get rid of the feeling ignited by his words.

In the morning, they placed the map on a table to find a route to avoid encountering with the gang. “I think we should take the route through the redevelopment area,” Sreysha said, pointing her finger on map. Aksh said, “The redevelopment area? We will get lost in the maze of abandoned buildings.” “That is why it is safe. Yeah, the route will be longer, but there’s a little chance of us encountering with the gang,” Sreysha said. Aksh threw his hands up in surrender, “Fine, whatever you say ma’am.” Sreysha’s cheeks had a faint blush but quickly suppressed the feeling, pushing it to the back of her mind.

As they left, Aksh’s eyes never left Sreysha’s. He demanded in a low, husky voice, “Stay close.” Sreysha nodded. As they went through the rubble-strewn streets, Aksh suddenly stopped and whispered, “Do you hear that?” “What?,” Sreysha asked. “Footsteps. It’s drawing near.”  Sreysha tried to hear intently and heard the sound of footsteps as it drew closer in their direction. Aksh gestured for Sreysha to follow him, and they flitted behind dumpster.

They saw two people, one girl and one boy, about their age, scanning the area, moving in their direction. They kept looking back, as if someone was following them.

Aksh & Sreysha shared an intrigued glance. Aksh gently prodded her, “We should talk with them. Let’s go.” As soon as Aksh & Sreysha came in front of them, they backed off in a defensive mode. “Hey, don’t be scared; we won’t harm you.” Aksh said. “Stay away from us. We won’t give you the antidote,” the boy said. Sreysha’s voice filled with confusion as she asked, “What antidote? What on earth are you talking about?”

“You guys are not from gang X?” asked the girl with hopeful voice. “No we are not,” Sreysha replied. “Thank god!” both of them sighed. “Hi, my name is Piyali, and this is Kainsh.” “My name is Sreysha and…” “Hi, piyali, I am Aksh. Nice to meet you,” Aksh introduced himself, extending his hands to hers. Sreysha side- eyed Aksh quite annoyed.

“What were you saying about Antidote?” Sreysha quickly asked. “Oh! We are researchers at NMP, and we were making an antidote for this disease under Professor Rajesh. But, gang X one day attacked our lab and killed everyone. They came for the antidote and the substance that triggered the virus and created this disaster.

 Our professor gave us the responsibility, “Take this antidote and the substance and also this notebook of mine. It has all the formulas written to make the antidote. Keep them safe, and hand over to ‘Eagle’. Now, go from here. I’ll distract them. Go, go, run.” “But, professor, what about you?” panicked Kainsh. “I have entrusted you with this big responsibility. Don’t disappoint me. I will be fine and will soon follow you guys. Now, come on, go. We don’t have much time,” Rajesh gave them a last, reassuring glance and left.

“But why does gang X need this antidote and all? And who is Eagle?” asked Aksh. “We have no idea who Eagle is, but gang X wants power for which they need the antidote and the substance, which they will use to make a deal with the country, Nyxoria, and use it against ours.”

“I guess we have another mission now, Miss Sreysha,” Aksh elbowed her. “What other mission are you guys talking about?” Kainsh asked curiously. “Ah! Long story. For now, let’s go from here and find a place and we’ll tell you guys about the ‘mission.” Sreysha said. They all agreed.

Sreysha narrated the whole story to them and both Kainsh and Piyali decided to help them find Sneha. Aksh said the four of them will team up and help each other, but Sreysha was in a little dilemma about this. She gestured for Aksh to talk with him in private, “Are you mad? Why did you agree to help them? Did you ask for my permission or opinion? The gang is after them; they have the substance that created all this mess; we have no idea who the eagle is, whether it’s a person, an organization; it is safe or not; do you even think before you speak?” Sreysha, as usual, started asking questions without a pause. “Calm down, calm down. Oh my god! Are you even breathing? Or you don’t need air while showering me with questions,” joked Aksh. “Stop joking. I’m serious,” demanded Sreysha.

 “Fine, I’ll answer all your questions. First, I don’t think they are bad or they will harm us. Secondly, we do need to bring back everything as it was – the  people, the place – everything  is in a mess. If we help them find whoever or whatever this ‘Eagle’ is, they might find a solution to this disaster. And talking about gang X, we are also running from them, so if we stick together it will be a win-win situation; we’ll find Sneha, Eagle, save our country, avoid gang X, and fight against them if required. And I’m here, Sreysha. Don’t worry. I’ll always protect you, no matter what happens. I promise,” Aksh reassured Sreysha.    

Aksh’s words helped Sreysha to calm down a bit. Aksh’s words, “I’ll always protect you,” kept Sreysha up all night. They started early the next morning, and after waking for few hours, they saw a sign that said, “Welcome to Jagatpur.” Sreysha sighed in happiness as they finally reached Jagatpur.

They kept searching Sneha everywhere, asking whomever they met about her whereabouts, but found nothing. After walking through a forest, they reached a mountain, and that’s when a gate in front of what looked like a tunnel caught Kainsh’s attention. He asked everyone to take a look at it. They were puzzled, as why does a gate exist in a place like this? And it looked like it was a quite tight security gate. They searched for a button, bell, everything to open the gate.

They froze as they felt guns pointed at them from behind and a girl’s voice: “Who are you? And, how did you find this place?” To which Aksh answered, “We are looking for a girl named Sneha.” Hearing the name Sneha, the girl’s eyes widen in shock and she asks, “How do you know her?”

Sreysha tried to turn around and answer her but was stopped by the girl, “Don’t turn around or we will shoot.” “Fine, fine. Don’t shoot. We promised someone that we will help him find Sneha so that he can meet her and give her the letters that he wrote for her.” “What letters? And who is this someone?” asked that girl. “Why will we tell you all these? First, you tell us, who are you?” demanded Aksh. That’s when one of the guards whispered something in that girl’s ears, and she asked the guards to take them and follow her.

They reluctantly followed them through the tunnel, which opened to a big building. Everyone was staring at them, which made them uncomfortable. The girl asked the guards to send Sreysha and Aksh in a separate room and Piyali and Kainsh with her. Sreysha and Aksh found themselves locked in that room by the guards. And Piyali and Kainsh were taken to a lab, where the girl took the antidote and the substance from them and told them that they came to the right place. This puzzled Piyali and Kainsh.

Later, the girl asked the guards to bring Sreysha and Aksh to her room. There she asked them about the letters and everything, but they were not telling her anything. The girl had no choice but to tell them that she is Sneha, the girl they were looking for. Sreysha and Aksh shared a shocking glance.

Sneha told them everything: what happened after Adith left without telling her anything, how she came to this place, what she was doing, and everything. They understood that Sneha started working for the government as an undercover agent, and she was leading this organization ‘Eagle’ to find a cure for this virus and to stop gang X from making a deal with Nyxoria. She recognized that Kainsh and Piyali worked under professor Rajesh by the badge on their bag. Rajesh gave the badge only to those people whom he trusted; Sneha has the badge as well.

After hearing Sneha’s story, they told her about Adith. As they were telling her, tears started rolling down Sneha’s cheeks. She decided to meet him as early as possible. They gave her the letters and left to give her some personal space.

“I can’t believe that we found her here, and she’s the one running ‘Eagle.’ What a small world.” Sreysha said, astounded. “Yeah! But where’s Kainsh and Piyali? Let’s find them,” said Aksh. They found them and told them the whole story. They both were in disbelief. They explained that they will work here to make the final antidote for the virus.

Meanwhile, Sneha, after reading the letter, regretted her past decisions and decided to leave the next day to meet Adith. Sreysha and Aksh decided to accompany her, to which she agreed. They left the next morning, and after three days, they reached city. But that’s when they encountered gang X. A fight between them took place, where Aksh got injured while protecting Sreysha, but, at the end, the gang had to surrender.

After the fight, Sneha hurriedly went to Adith’s house and started shouting at him, “You left me without a single word. You just disappeared. How could you?” and kept hitting him. Adith let Sneha vent all her anger, emotions. After Sneha vented all her anger, she collapsed in Adith’s arms, still sobbing. Adith wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and she tightened her hug.

 Soon, Sreysha and Aksh followed Sneha and watched them standing a bit far. Sneha softly asked Adith, “Why didn’t you confess? Why didn’t you tell me anything? Why did you go through everything alone?” “I was scared, Sneha, of hurting you. I thought after confessing if you found about my illness you will leave me. And I did not want to ruin your future just to be with you.”

“Stupid! How could you even think of something like this? You are my best friend, and I could never leave you. I was all alone after you left, Adith.” Said Sneha. “I am sorry. I know I shouldn’t have taken that decision. That was stupid of me. I should have told you the truth and face that situation.” Adith’s voice barely audible. Sneha pulled back and saw tears streaming down his face. She gently wiped away his tears and cupped his cheeks in her small, tender hands. “I am sorry too. I should have looked for you and should have been there for you.” Sneha said softly.

Adith held Sneha close and confessed his feelings: “I love you Sneha, more than words can say. I found my home in you. Every moment spent with you felt precious, and I cherish them. I love you and will always love you, Sneha,” he kissed her forehead. Sneha smiled softly and said, “I missed you. I love you too, Adith. I love you.”

Adith gave her a locket with a picture of them, and whispered, “I want you to always remember that I love you.” and collapsed onto her shoulders. Sneha wrapped her arms around him, hugged him tightly, and started sobbing.

Sreysha and Aksh realized that it was too late, and Adith passed away. They were overwhelmed with grief but understood what love was. And to never give up on our favorite person or partner, no matter what.

One year passed, and things were getting back to normal. Kainsh and Piyali kept working for ‘Eagle,’ and Sreysha and Aksh were accepted under special consideration to work with Sneha. And, without any hesitation, quickly they conveyed their feelings for one another. On the other hand, Sneha kept working as an undercover agent. She always wore the locket, never taking it off, a lasting symbol of Adith’s love and their bittersweet farewell.

The End

A Message from the Author

As we reflect on Sneha and Adith’s beautiful and heartfelt love story, we are reminded that life is fleeting and tomorrow is never promised. Let us cherish every moment with our loved ones and express our love every day, every moment we get.