text: "Tell us a story, baba," the children asked, hungry for another tale woven to lull them to sleep "The one with the rose and the beast." "No, it is too girly, tell us a story about the pirates." Their grandpa smiled benevolently over them, his smile reached his eyes, lighting his dim grey eyes, he said, "Fine, I'll tell you a story, but it is a real one, of the times when we could talk to the plants and animals, the gods and the spirits." "Pfft! it is impossible." said the elder ones, turning their noses up and looking scornfully at young ones, who still believed that Santa Claus came down their chimney covered in soot, to give them presents. "Ah, but it is true, you see, you can still hear them whispering when it is the hour of peace and calm, at night when the horns aren't honking and only the bird's chirp can be heard, lulling their little ones to sleep or the nocturnal ones, hunting for prey." "If you listen closely, you will hear them speak, of the times when they were young, recounting the adventures they had experienced." "What sort of adventures, babu?" they asked, hanging on his every word. "Like, when the Winter Lord tried to take over the world," he said in a hushed tone. The Winter Lord?" "Yes, him, who rules at the time of Winter." "Mom, tell me a story, the one about the pirates." "Fine, dear, I'll tell you a story, but not the pirates this time." "Aww, why not?" "Because I am going to tell you a new story this time, about a boy and a prophecy." "Ooh, what prophecy?" "A prophecy about a boy born on the Eve of July." "Just like me!" The mother smiled, ruefully, the boy thought. "Yes dear, just like you." "His mother had a dream, the night before he was born.....it was a message from God's angels." "Woah, what did they say?" "He is The Savior, he will bring joy and warmth back into the world when the time comes. Keep him safe. At all costs, they said, even if it meant she should die. "But why mother?" "Because he was the saviour, dearie." his mother told him tiredly, exhausted from a long day of keeping enemies at bay. "Then what happened?" "His mother protected him, just as she was told to. She never let him out of her sight, even in school, she would come disguised as a maid and keep an eye on her son. She loved him a lot. He was her precious gem. But he was also The Savior." "Then what happened, Ma?" "There was a boy in the same school, he dreamt. Dreams are dangerous, son. They keep changing, for better or for the worse. He dreamt and his dreams became nightmares. He dreamt and his dreams to him, were deliciously red apples, but to the world were poison, a poison that spread, slowly but surely, and destructed everything along the way." "What did he dream of?" "He dreamt of power, he dreamt of riches, he dreamt of luxuries, and he fell. He fell hard, yet God sympathized with him and helped him up again and made him the Lord of Winter, to inspire faith in him. He faltered, and he fell, but always had got help, until he fell too hard. He fell so hard, that the ground swallowed him, and his fate became his only. No one could help him now, he was his fate now and his fate was him." "He hated The Saviour, for he knew what was written in The Book, and he knew his forthcoming doom. Yet, he continued to fall and felt joy in it, and the adrenaline propelled him forwards. He decided he was happier falling, than rising and so he fell deeper and faster. But his happiness was shallow, like a dirty pond, which from above looks deep, but when you put your hand inside, it gets stuck in the mud. But he did not know and lusted for more power than he already had. He, he aspired to be a King, a King of the World, of a World which heard and saw darkness and spoke darkness. "And then?" "The Lords of Spring and Summer feared, for The Lord of Autumn had joined Lord Winter, and their army was the biggest the universe had ever seen and Lord Winter trained, and he grew, he grew powerful and he knew everything. But, even the most powerful have flaws, and his flaw was arrogance. He had barely completed his First Year of Training when he felt he was ready for war. So, he gathered his armies and marched, conquering lands. But then, The Saviour came along, and he, he knew nothing yet he knew everything, for he hadn't seen the light of day, since Lord Winter came into existence. "Then how did he know everything?" "He knew everything because of his mother, she was an Oracle, she had told him everything she had foreseen, yet she didn't tell him it was about him. "Why?" "Because she was destined not to tell, and she hadn't foreseen the battle between The Savior and Lord Winter. She was about to, but she died before she could." "How did she die?" "Protecting The Savior" "Do you know, what happened after? "No dearie, no one knows." "Then how will the story get finished?" "The story, Jeremy, is for you to finish." "The story, Jeremy, is for you to finish" "His mother died soon after, just like she had prophesized and in the meanwhile, war was going on. He did not know, and wandered the streets, open to friend and foe alike." "A battle had been going on, unbeknownst to him." "Both sides were eager to win and kept fighting desperately. They retired as soon as the sun sank. But, the forces of evil were at work that night, the forces of The Lord of Winter. He sent some men from his army and they stabbed all the warriors to their death in their sleep. It was a dishonourable act, yes, thus he was cursed. He was cursed with the ability to read minds, as soon as he came before The Savior and it was his doom." "How so? Isn't reading minds a superpower?" "It can be, and it cannot be, depends whether you can harness it and he couldn't and he went mad. Jeremy by now knew everything about the battle, learning facts from the vegetable sellers, who were always ready for gossip, yet he was clueless about who was The Savior. There had been a call for the world's young and brave men, and he set out to war, in hopes of fighting for Lord Summer and Spring and when he faced the enemy at the battlefront, the curse of Lord Winter started working. He knew everything, he knew the Lord of Summer and Spring's plans and defeated them easily and they had to retreat for the day. The Lords sat around a table and discussed their plans, and they fought, they were disunited in action, united in a goal. They loathed their lieges and betrayed them to the other side, so the Lords gathered, and decided to put an end to it. They came up with a plan. A plan is the base of war and strategy, without it, you are lost. They knew The Savior had come, but they knew not who it was. But they had come up with a plan now, and Jeremy volunteered to execute it. Thus, the prophecy started working. Jeremy slipped inside Lord Winter's tent and told him he could help him defeat his enemies. In the evening, when everyone was resting, Jeremy took him to a small room, in the enemies camp, where he proclaimed their weapons were kept. But in the room, he found nothing, yet he sensed several presences, each planning his doom, he heard them whispering, a thousand voices, ununited in nature, united to kill him. He was desperate to live, as he tried to source them, to destroy them and under this pressure, his hand withered away. His feet withered away. Yet he noticed not, for his senses stopped working, his brain froze, and his heart stopped. Yet, he lunged for the door, to kill all the lords who triumphed over their victory. Jeremy felt pity, yet he had no choice, for if Lord Winter had become the King, the World would have withered away, instead. Thus, the Lord died. Afterwards, thousands of soldiers and lords poured in from the door, cheering, while the other side surrendered their arms. The war was over. "Then what happened?" "People went back to what they used to do before, sometimes stopping to remember the ones they had lost in the war, telling and re-telling of the time when Lord Winter tried taking over the world. About the brave Jeremy. "Do you know Jeremy, baba?" "Jeremy? He is I."