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Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment and reading purposes. The characters, events, places, and situations depicted are fictional unless otherwise stated, and any resemblance to actual people, living or deceased, or real events or places is purely coincidental. The story may contain fictional situations, themes, or material that may not be suitable for every reader. Some images accompanying this story may be generated using Google Gemini and may be fictional, stylized, or interpretive and may not accurately represent real people, places, objects, or events.

“Inside the tree? That’s absurd. I have never heard anyone say there would be a village inside a tree,” Verra said to Kamala.

“It is true because very few people know about our village, but that’s where the magic lies. There is our village inside the tree. Why don’t you check yourself? Let’s go, come on, get down,” said Kamala to Verra.

They both got down from the cart as Verra looked again to see how big the tree was. As he realized the tree spanned for miles, he spoke, “You know, I believe there could be a village inside it, since it is so big.”

Verra spoke to Kamala as she was gathering her goods.

“Didn’t I tell you there’s a village inside? Let’s go, come on,” said Kamala.

As this conversation was going on between Verra and Kamala, Venky was in deep thought. They started walking towards the tree, but soon they realized Venky wasn’t there. They turned back and saw that Venky was still in the cart.

Verra looked at Venky and called him.

“Why don’t you come down? Let’s go,” Verra asked.

Venky, who was in deep thought, snapped back and looked at them. He replied, “Yeah, let’s go.”

He got out of the cart, but this time, rather than going forward, he stopped there. He then pulled Verra’s hand and asked him not to go any farther.

“Why? What happened? Is there any problem?” Verra asked Venky.

The same question followed from Kamala.

“Is there any problem, Venky?” Kamala asked.

“I think there is a problem. As we were having a conversation along the way, I realized something that doesn’t make any sense. She said it’s 1898, and then her name is Kamala Sharma, while my father’s sister is Kamala Sharma, and she was lost in the woods around 1898. If I join those things together, and we keep saying we are from 1921, it all looks suspicious,” said Venky, pulling Verra back towards him and staring at Kamala without blinking.

“What are you talking about? Suppose your father’s sister was lost in the woods in 1898. Wouldn’t she be around the same age as your father or a few years younger? Then she would be an aged woman. But look at Kamala. She is young, in her teens. If you think she could be your father’s sister, she would have aged at least,” said Verra.

The same was followed by Kamala.

“Yes, it is true. If I am the sister of your father, would I have returned to the village? I know the route. Even if I was your father’s sister, then I would have aged very well, considering you’re a teenager. But look at me. I’m young, you know,” said Kamala.

“It is true that she doesn’t look like a 41-year-old woman if I go with the idea that she is the sister of my father. But looking at it from a different perspective, I think there must be something very problematic here. So I would rather not go inside the tree until I confirm that we are safe,” said Venky.

Seeing how Venky was reacting to the situation, Verra also became suspicious. Then Verra backed Venky. He looked back at Kamala and said, “If Venky is not going inside, then I am not going inside either.”

Kamala looked back at Verra and spoke.

“You must be joking. You are believing Venky’s words now? I mean, come on. I look young. I’m not Kamala Sharma who is the sister of his father. Why don’t you believe me? If you spend any more time outside here, the predators may come and hunt you. Do you want that, or would you come inside our village? It is truly a nice place to see, you know. Let’s go quickly,” said Kamala.

Verra again denied going inside. He held Venky’s hand, signaling with a tapping gesture to run. Venky followed, and they turned back and ran as quickly as possible.

Kamala’s face turned from a simple and confused expression to a desperate and scary one.

“You don’t have to make me do it, do you?” Kamala screamed as her facial appearance started to change.

She continued, “Do you think you can run from me? There is no return from here.”

With this, she commanded them to capture Verra and Venky. Roots emerged from the tree’s opening, capturing them and entangling both of them in the roots before dragging them inside the tree.

They both tried to free themselves by hitting and biting the roots, but as they realized it wasn’t working, they gave up.

Verra gave one last look at the woman and said, “You got us good.”

They were dragged inside, and the opening of the tree closed while Kamala’s face returned to normal.

With the blowing air hitting her face, she murmured to herself, “Ohh, they got me good. Venky, he is the smart one there. He got every hint I gave, but he realized it late. Any further back, if he had gotten those hints, we would have lost them.”

Meanwhile, Lakah, the lion, and the rabbit came near the village.

“There we go. We reached the village. Go inside,” said the rabbit to Lakah while looking at him.

“Yes, I should. If I don’t, you will just push me in,” Lakah laughed with these words.

With a short disturbance, the lion and rabbit got serious while looking in a different direction from where the disturbance came.

With their serious expressions, Lakah asked, “Is there any problem with my words? If there is, I apologize for it.”

“No, no, not your words. Remember I asked, do you remember anyone leaving with you? But you said no. That’s a good thing, but it seems the ones I chased, their souls were lost into the woods.”

“Whaaat? Their souls were lost? Isn’t it kind of like they got lost in the forest?” Lakah asked the rabbit.

“Yup, you can say like that. That’s why we helped you to get back to the village. Go on, forget about this,” said the rabbit to Lakah.

“Geez, you guys scared me for a second with these words.” Lakah entered the village.

“There we go. We got another two falling for the trap,” said the rabbit to the lion.

“It seems so,” said the lion.

“Only if you hadn’t chased them, they would have been safe,” said the rabbit.

“It serves them right. They shouldn’t have hurt you in the first place, isn’t it? It’s good that we helped someone and he heard us and turned back to the village,” said the lion.

“Indeed it is,” replied the rabbit.

They then turned back and entered the forest.

“Courage can push you forward, but without a brain, it will only lead you to stray from the goal.”