Where Shadows Learn To Dream

On The Way To Freedom

Aanya

The years in prison had not been kind to me, but they had made me stronger. I didn’t recognize the girl who walked through those gates seven years ago—naive, terrified, desperate for a way out. I was different now. Hardened. Sharp. Cold.

I stood in front of the mirror in my cell for the last time. My reflection stared back at me—the once shorn hair now reached my waist, the faded but ever-present collar tattoo that once marked me as someone's possession, and the hardened gaze of a woman who had survived. The laughter from the prisoners, the mocking glances from the guards, they were all in the past. No one dared mock me now. They feared me. I had become someone to be reckoned with in that hellish place, and today, I was walking out of it.

As the guard came to fetch me, there was an odd stillness. The clanging of the keys echoed through the corridor, but none of the usual taunts or jeers followed. Instead, the prisoners watched in silence, aware of the shift in the air. They had once mocked the girl with the tattoo, the girl whose innocence was ripped away. Now, they knew better.

"You ready?" the guard asked, though his voice lacked any real warmth.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. I followed him out of the cell, each step feeling heavy, like the years weighing down on me. But it wasn’t just the past that lingered—it was the future, uncertain and dangerous. A future I had no control over. And yet, it was mine to face.

The prison gates creaked open, revealing a world that felt distant, foreign. Seven years had passed, and everything outside those gates seemed unfamiliar, but I was not afraid. I had faced far worse than this.

As I stepped through those gates, there was no one waiting for me. No friendly face, no comforting embrace. I had no home, no family, no place to return to. The world beyond those gates was cold, indifferent, and I realized now that I was truly alone.

But perhaps that was for the best.

I walked down the empty street, the sounds of the city buzzing faintly in the distance. Raghav had gotten everything he wanted. He had left me here to rot, while he inherited the life he always desired. But I had learned my lesson—trust no one, love no one. The last remnants of my innocence were long gone, replaced by the brutal realities of survival.

A slow, chilling breeze swept through, and for the first time in years, I breathed it in. I had survived. But surviving wasn’t enough anymore. I wanted more.

Where would I go? What would I do? I didn’t know yet. But I would figure it out.

I was free.

But freedom, I had learned, was not without its price.