Hellos!
I am bored. Like tons of unoccupied time so have come up with two plots. Here is the cover, blurb and small part of a chapter, choose one of them:

1. A Whisper of Life

~°☆°~

A languid smile of life and beauty of whispers articulated by hearts at peace.

A journey of college life, leaving it in between to lose it to the obscurity that lies ahead due to vivacity present in young minds.

A story to appreciate the small moments that lead to the formation of strong friendships.

~°☆°~

The cold walls of the scruffily painted room stared upon me as I stretched my body a little. Flipping onto the pages of one of my books, a yawn escaped my lips and with a weary sigh, I rubbed my eyes trying to discern the word printed on it.

It has been an entire hour since I reached the pg of my dear friend and to be honest my mind was barely vacant of the thoughts permeating my conscience. There was no clock to determine the time but the screen of occasionally pinging phone suggested that my entire noon was wasted.

The chatters of kids running outside seeped through partly closed windows and I shifted my chair a bit closer to it, trying to find warmth through the mid-December sun.

"Shubhu-" a voice jolted me from my trail of thoughts and I shifted my gaze to the door. Vivan was standing there arranging his hair that was as always combed neatly with oil sticking them at one place. I smiled at him that soon frowned on noticing his dishevelled state of clothes.

"He went outside, probably to see off his parents," I answered while he tried to arrange his dress. "Woke up just now?"

He didn't speak anything, rather hummed and sat on the bed, grabbing the nearest book to him.

"Yesterday, the entire pg went complete berserk. Early Christmas party they said." He laughed awkwardly and flipped the pages. The soft rays of sunlight gleamed on his spectacle while creases formed on his forehead while studying the content of the book.

"Ready for the next exam?" He asked, half-mumbled. His eyes were fixated on the book and I was not entirely sure whether he noticed the subtle shake of my head.

"It is easy." He reassured. "It would barely take a day to complete the entire syllabus."

"For a studious person like you, yes but I need time to cope with those boring YouTube videos. I mean they speak just too slow." My lips twisted in a grimace remembering the agonizingly slow tutorials.

"Better than our professors." The mockery was reeking from his voice which made me chuckle but I couldn't help but agree with him.

"Online classes and offline exams," I sighed, "I think our college is trying to make our lives living hell."

My grumbles were answered by his chuckle and I cast a glare at him which was shrugged off.

"Inform Shubham and Nikhil that I was here. Needed to borrow their hairdryer." He started standing up and stretched his body a little before waving at me.

As soon as I nodded, he exited the room and yet again I was left alone in the desolate room. The sky soon started to get dark after a while and keeping my book aside I walked to the switchboard. Trying to find the switch for the tube light, I pressed all of them but nothing happened.

"Hello, ma'am" A familiar voice tried to spook me in the dark but I just rolled my eyes and smiled.

"I suppose I was invited here for group studies and not staring at the walls." I pressed my lips in annoyance or perhaps trying not to smile.

"We still have enough time to study, 2 hours to be precise." He answered cheekily and even in scarcity of light, the gleam still didn't leave his eyes.

"Where is the switch of tube light?" I pressed the switches of the board again.

"Third one from the right." He answered before "keeping away" the bags in his hand that smoothly landed on his already unmade bed.

"I have tried it already." I puffed my cheeks, pushing it yet again.

2. Essence of Surbakah

~°☆°~

When the scape of mind starts to feel unfamiliar, Purvi finds her beliefs being questioned by everyone around her.

She was sure that the tingle on her fingers when she performed magic was real, her laughter beneath the heavy clouds and running around in the vast landscape was not just a figment of imagination.

Yet when she now speaks of that euphoric sensation, fear creeps in because no one seems to believe her claims.

The question remains, what was the reality?

~°☆°~

I scratched away yet another date on the calendar. It has been over a month, forty-three days to be exact since my world turned upside down. The grandfather clock rang in the living room, marking the passing of the 8th hour of today.

I sighed, trailed my fingers at the rough edge of the paper before flipping it, another month was about to start but my "family" showed no signs of letting me socialize. I missed talking, talking about anything and everything beneath the sky with Kruti; my dearest friend. I remember her being one of the strongest mages of Surbakah, always up to creating something.

"Surbakah..." I whispered, pondering over the name again. It was a world for me. On second thought, it is a world for me. The world where magic was like breathing and beauty was embedded in the smallest of things. The chirping of birds, the blooming of flowers, the folk songs and tales; everything was different.

I used to live for that world but in the last forty-three days, I have been called out for speaking fabricated tales. They are not lies, I know that.

'Do you now?' A voice crooned near my ear but I shook it away.

One of the few things that irk me these days are the voices that somehow reach the crevices of my ears and try to weave a net for me to fall.

Somehow, I have escaped them till now but the future... Seems obscure. These voices are only for some moment but the loud words of my parents prevail throughout the day.

"Speak after me." I stared in the bloodshot eyes of the person bellowing at me. The familiar dark brown eyes that I too possess.

I nodded meekly while a sniffle escaped from my lips.

"Surbakah.is.not.real." He paused after every word, taking time to grit his teeth while his grip on my arms strengthened.

It was difficult, my nose flared but my cowardice took the charge and I repeated those words. The creepers of hate started to crawl to me and-

"Purvi!" My mother screeched from the kitchen. I don't remember her voice being this unpleasant, nonetheless, I just ignored my distaste and headed to the kitchen.

The cold marbles rubbed against my feet, making me shiver just a little before I practically jumped on the mat to grant them warmth. Looking around, I tried to find my slippers but they were nowhere to be found.

"Must be under the bed." I mumbled. Just when I was about to bend to get them, another call made me rush and even without halting my steps further, I rushed to my mother.

"What took you so long." She questioned, irritation was quite evident in her tone but I just ignored it and stood there silently.