Title: The Mystery of the Withered Trail




Story:


Once this trail was the life of the villagers. From the fields to the house, from the temple to the pond - this path used to take them everywhere. But with time the fields dried up, the villagers settled in the cities, and this trail remained - with silence in its dryness.


But this story started when a city youth, Vivek, came to this deserted place.


Introduction:


Vivek was a writer. To spend some days in solitude away from the hustle and bustle of the city and to complete his incomplete novel, he came to live in a deserted hut. He reached the hut only after crossing this trail. But as soon as he reached there, some strange things started happening.


At night he would hear the cracking sound of dry twigs, as if someone was walking. Sometimes he would see footprints in the dust on the trail—but there was no one near the hut. And every evening—the sun would set exactly where an old dry tree stood at the bend of the trail, like a guard of a mystery.


Layers of the past:


Vivek spoke to the few remaining elders of the village. They told him that years ago a girl, Savitri, had died a mysterious death on the same trail. She would return to her farm every evening by that path alone and one day never reached home. People say her soul still sets with the sun that gave her light for the last time.


Search for the truth:


Vivek's novel had now become a personal obsession. He wanted to know the girl's story. Every evening, when the sun set, he would sit at that bend and wait. And then, one day, he saw a shadow—a silhouette, standing among the dry bushes. He shouted, ran, but when he reached there, there was only burnt soil, as if something or someone had been burnt there.


Then he found an old, burnt piece of diary among the bushes – on it was written:


"If I return and someone finds me, tell them I went with the sun – Savitri."


Conclusion:


Vivek wrote that novel – "Savitri ki Pagdandi" – and it became famous all over the country. But he never went on that trail again. Because some paths do not just lead to the destination, some paths go inside you – and no one returns from there.


1. Mystery


2. Withered Trail


3. Investigation


4. Secrets


5. Abandoned Path


6. Hidden Truths


7. Suspense


8. Dark Journey


9. Disappearance


10. Enigma


The End