“SSSSSo yeah… sssssorry about that… assss I wasssss asssssking, can you tell me which way I sssshould head out to reach mainland” asked Kush continuing to walk alongside Tara along the streets. Only difference was the fist mark across Kush’s right cheek and his caved in face which made him slur his s’s. “Shut up” said Tara as she walked with her head bowed in shame and crossed over to another street. They kept on walking without speaking for quite some time, Kush couldn’t initiate the conversation due to the awkwardness he caused and Tara was in no mood to talk to him. Without realising they had been walking for quite some time and they came across a row of hundreds of empty houses.

They were small in size compared to what Kush was used to, but was perfect for a nuclear family; a house with a couple of rooms, a small terrace close. The houses were groups if eight, in each group one had a courtyard garden. The house with garden would have looked pretty, if not for it being barren. The houses were too dirty and dusty; it was here that a realization hit him. He had seen quite a few cities in his life time thanks to his parents taking him to different countries and cities a few times a year so letting him understand different types of societies, but something was weird here, this city was the capital city of Bhasmachal, Bhasmachal city. The climate here was temperate, neither too hot nor too cold, the beaches were beautiful but the city… it was severely underpopulated, to the extent that there was almost no young people at all. And probably weirder still was the fact that he had not seen single blade of grass or leaf in the entire time he was here. There was ocean water in close proximity here; so there was no way this place was a desert then what was it. It was a fleeting thought of no consequence to him so he simply bluntly said“This place seems worse than a desert despite all the things it has… I mean is it because this is an island being cut off from the rest of world or something?? Cause the weather seems temperate… I mean… never mind just something came to mind”

“Pretty sharp of you to notice it so quickly” she said without any thought “It is not just this city, the entire country is like this, these houses were parts of allotments which were supposed to given to poor people for free, funded by the great nation of Bharat. At one point in time the population of the Bhasmachal was so much that the pressure on land as a resource was huge, more than most developed cities but not huge enough that people had to live in 6 ft by 6 ft houses like in some cities.” Kush knew she was talking about the overpopulated cities across the world like Kashi, Londinium, Memphis etc. where the pressure on resources was so much rampant poverty was widely visible.

Tara continued “Bhasmachal had widespread fertile land because the previous kings had connected the ocean on all sides using canals, the tidal waves brought in alluvial soil all across the island when the tides were high and revealing a brand new layer every time the tides lowered, a perfect blend of nature and science. Many countries and island nations have copied this system, ever since.” She reminisced about the smiling face of Sylvie when she ran across huge farms with crops ready to harvested, her father and Marcus standing behind with Tara near the royal carriage, the pride in her friend’s eyes was resplendent. Though small, Bhasmachal had one of the highest per capita income of the world. At the time Tara used to feel jealous of her friend cause her clan was not as rich and had to live a nomadic life to survive… it was all in the past now. She continued to explain Kush “The country was on the cusp of economic boom when that thing came out from God knows where and sent the country back by at least a hundred years. The country’s major exports were food grains and fisheries, the back bone of economy, so much that food and derivative products were the only industries in the country. The raw material sourced locally and quality was good and demand was all over the world. They were the largest exporter of food products in Sarayu ocean some say, but this not my field of expertise so I can’t guarantee the fact”

“From the way you talk you don’t seem like you are from this country… or maybe I am just making incorrect assumptions”

A smile formed on Tara’s face, she raised both her legs and sat comfortably on the window sill “Right again” she said, looking in a certain direction outside the window; now doubting her hypothesis of the guy being a total dumbass “I am not really from this country, but my friend lives here. I am from Bharat and my father was a noble there, on my request, these people helped the people of my clan in our time of need, so I am here to help in their hour of need, though this hour has been running for more than a decade” listening to this perked up Kush’s interest and he started making his own conjectures “So as I was saying, the damn thing” a bit of animosity in her eyes this time “cursed the land and the surrounding 500 km of waters making it so that there is no vegetation, not even a single blade of grass or a single cell of algae growing grows in the region. You won’t even find weed growing in wilderness, straight up dropping the business and trade to zero, the kingdom coffers were opened just to buy stuff from the foreign traders. The fishes migrated away from the land, rampant famine raised the infant mortality instantly and average mortality to 100 time in a single year. The rampant deaths started a wave of plague. It was hell on earth. People rapidly migrated, the only people still living here are loyalists who believe the kingdom would rise again” it was a sad scene to see such a beautiful woman sitting there on the window sill peering at the emptiness of the barren garden waiting for the sun to set.

The room was silent for a few minutes, there were no insects or birds to fill the quietness of the ambience, Kush knew his matter was not urgent so he sat on the dusty floor his back against one of walls not uttering a word, giving the beautiful woman her space.

When Tara came to, half an hour had passed by and saw the man was still sitting there silently.

She then said “sorry for just zoning out like that” energy back in her voice

“No worries, I am not in a hurry anyway.” replied Kush “What happened to the monarch of the country? Did he not retaliate?” asked Kush after a short pause of his own

“the king died soon after the thing came out and right the now the monarch of the country is his only daughter “

She then came down from the window sill and said as she tapped on her butt to brush off the dust and gave her left hand to Kush, indicating him to hold it and get up. Kush gave a half smile and grabbed her hand to get up. She walked a bit away from him and then said “That’s all there is for the history lessons on Bhasmachal, sorry for giving you this boring crap, for some reason it felt like I should tell you.”

“Hey!! No worries… I am happy to be a board you can bounce anything off of, plus I really love stories and history is the greatest story there is. Happy to help a friend in need” as he said this Tara who was standing between him and sun was perfectly aligned. She was about 6 feet high and standing such that the sunlight reflected off of beautiful flawless skin. The Sun was hidden behind her head just a tad bit, it was like seeing the halo of an angel. Just then she smiled, a smile so beautiful that Kush forgot where he was. Her hair was tied into a bun above her head only few strands falling down the right of her brow, the flaw further added to the ethereal beauty of the angel, awestruck Kush unconsciously walked to her. Distance between them was that of 5 steps which Kush slowly cleared it step by step.

Tara on seeing him approach was stunned for a moment, but like it was the most natural thing to happen, she just stood motionless waiting for him to reach her. When Kush was about a half foot away from her he raised his left hand tucked the strands of hair which perfectly framed her hair behind her ears and traced his forefinger along her jaw from behind her ears. His hand then cupped her lower jaw, his hand then moved four of her fingers behind neck and used his thumb to push her face up. They were almost the same height, so he did not have to hunch down. Just as their lips were about to meet, Tara turned his face away and said “I think we should call it a night”.