A drop of warm tears slowly falls to my left ear. In this world, Som is all alone, just like the moon up in the sky. 

I sigh.

I take a look at my mobile. It's 12:45 am. I am lying on a playground, all alone. 

They said, today is my brithday, 21st birthday. But the irony is, I can't even place a surname right after my name. How can I? I myself don't know what my surname is. 

21 years ago on this night, someone found me, an infant lying beside a highway road. He handed me over to an orphanage. A few years later, a married couple with no children adopted me. Eight years later, they miraculously got their own baby. From that moment they started treating me like unwanted garbage. I tried my best to live among them. After one year in college, with the help of a professor, I have gained some students and started home tutoring. I saved up some money, rented a little room near the college, and started living on my own.

I smile at the sky and speak to Goddess Kali, "Maa, can you please give me a chance to meet my real family? I need to know why it was necessary for them to abandon me. What was my fault? Maa, you're the mother of universes. You're my mother. Won't you fulfill a little wish of this child on his birthday?" 

Suddenly a big burning object falls from the sky to the forest next to the playground. 

Is that a meteorite? Shooting star?

I get up. 

A minute passes. No sound, no fire. 

I turn on the flashlight on my mobile and start running to the forest. 

That can't be a meteorite. 

From what I've seen from anime, animated series, and movies, advanced alien technology, aliens, fairies, angels, etc. come to Earth just like this. And protagonists get amazing powers from them. Maybe I can get an advanced alien watch, which can do unworldly things, except showing the time like a regular watch. 

I've gone almost to the middle of the forest, and then reality starts questioning me. 

My room is already small, as it is. If there is an alien or angel, how will I arrange a place for their staying? I am just a student who is living on a scholarship and tuition. How will I feed them? More importantly, my landlord won't allow guests in my house. Let alone Alien or Angel.

Wait a minute!

In anime and movies, bad things also come to earth just like that. Evil aliens, parasites, curse objects, objects with cosmic radiation, demons, etc. 

Maybe it's one of those! And I am the idiot unnamed character, who is going there just to be the first victim.

I immediately stop right there. I barely manage to stop myself from falling. Then I turn around and am about to start running for my dear life. 

Suddenly someone grabs my shoulder. I startle. Quickly step back and fall on the ground. 

My chest starts hurting painfully. That person places a hand on my chest, and the pain slowly fades away. 

I look forward. 

The forest is a little bit dark; I can't clearly see. But there's a shape. Looks like a human shape.

I grab my mobile and turn it to the person. 

No, not an alien, not a monster. 

A woman, maybe 6 feet tall, with violet hair, violet eyes, and a weird, unknown dress. She says something in an unknown language. 

That can't be English, Japanese, or Korean. 

I get up.

She speaks again.

I ask, "Which language is it? Tell me your language name; I'll use Google Translate."

She stares at me for a couple of seconds, then places her right hand on my head and mutters something. 

I instantly feel a sharp pain in my head, and then it's gone. 

She pulls away her hand.

What was that?!

"Can you understand me now?" She asks.

I startle. 

I know she didn't speak with any knowledge that I know of. She just spoke in her language, and I understood it clearly, like, it's Bengali, my own language. 

I hesitantly ask in that language, "Yes, I can. But how can I..."

Before I could finish the sentence, she hugs me tightly. She says with excitement, "Finally, I found you, my brother!"

What! Brother?

I try to get away but can't. She's unbelievably strong. Feels like my bones are about to crack. I can't breathe. My voice muffles as I try to say, "I am dying..."

She releases me and asks, "What did you say?" 

I take some time to breathe. I now clearly understand the necessity of oxygen. 

"Nothing. Who are you?" I ask.

"I am Hana," she replies with a smile. "I am your little sister."

What! My brain starts spinning. 

She is my sister? My little sister!

I say, "But I've never met my real family. I don't even know they exist or not. How will I know you are my sister?"

She seems to be hurt hearing the question. She says, "Even if you didn't meet us, that doesn't mean we don't exist. We aren't from this world, brother. Something happened at the time of your birth, and then everyone, good or bad, was looking for you. The only choice left was to send you somewhere no one can reach. That's why they had to send you into this world." 

My mind goes blank. What is she saying?

She places her on my left cheek. "Brother, I am your sister. Your real sister." 

Something just twists my heart, and it hurts. 

I ask, "If you are my sister as you are claiming, then why are our hair and eye colors different?"

She replies, "Well, because your mother's hair is black." 

Something hit my head. I ask, "Wait! Are you saying we have different mothers?"

She smiles and says, "Let's leave those details for later. What is your name, brother?"

I stare at her for a few seconds. Then says, "You don't even know my name, yet you're saying I am your brother? Are you talking to the right person?" 

She chuckles. "I am a bit offended. But, of course, brother. I am talking to the right person. You're my brother. The problem is, you were separated from the birth. Our parents didn't get to name you. And I am meeting you for the first time. So, yes, I don't know your name, even though you're my brother."

I say, "My name is Som."

- "Som?"

- "Yes. In Bengali, it means 'moon.'"

- "Oh! It's a beautiful name. Where do you live, brother?"

- "Not far from here. 20 minutes' walking distance."

- "I want to visit there. Let's go, brother."

- "Sure. I can't say no to my sister, can I? Let's go."

We start walking towards the field. 

Back on my mind, I know I am trusting her words way too quickly. But I can't grow suspicion of her. 

Her expression, her voice, her body language... Everything is telling me she's not lying. She is who she says she is. 

I can feel a bond with her. Something I never felt with my adoptive family. 

She was having a little problem walking in the forest because of her height. I am constantly guiding her, holding the flashlight on the path and on the branches of trees. For some reason, I feel extra careful and extra protective towards her. 

She is my sister! My family.

We get out of the forest and enter the field.

She asks, "Oh! Finally out of that darkness. Brother, I was meaning to ask, why is your body so thin?" 

I reply, "It's the way I am, Sister. Since childhood, my body has always remained like this. Skin and bone. Because of that, I can't do any heavy work or participate in any sports."

She gets quiet. Seems she is thinking something.

I ask, "So, Sister..."

- "Yes, brother?"

- "Why are you here? Why now?"

- "Believe me, brother, if I could, I would have come to find you long ago. You are my brother; I have to find you." 

Suddenly a question comes to my mind. "Wait! How did you find me? And what happened to that burning meteorite? It fell on that forest, and nothing happened."

She smiles and says, "That was an illusion, brother. I found out your location. But I didn't know your face and your exact location. So I created an illusion that only people from my world can see. Then you came running into that place. I recognized your soul aura, and here we are."

I stare at her. 

She laughs a little. She says, "Don't worry, brother. You'll understand everything once you're home. I do have a question, though. You were running towards the illusion; suddenly you paused and then started running opposite. Why?"

I hesitantly reply, "I thought some dangerous alien might come to attack me."

She laughs louder. "Why would you even expect such a thing?"

I say, "It's not like, I would expect anyone from my real family to visit me."

She stops laughing and says, "Sorry, brother, this took so long. I can only imagine what you have been going through without your family, all alone in this world. But I am here now. I'll bring you to our family, to our home."

Something again twists my heart. I lower my head. My eyes fill with tears. 

This moment...is it a dream? 

She stops and hugs me. I lose my control and start crying. She softly caresses the back of my head and says, "Brother, know this. Your parents and your siblings have never been happy all these years. They remember you every day, every moment. They are waiting for you, brother."

I pull away from the hug and ask with a tearful voice, "I have more brothers and sisters?" 

Hana smiles and says, "Yes. All of them are awesome and loving. You will see when you meet them. Now, let's go. I want to see this world before returning to ours. It's a completely different world. You don't have magic here, right?" 

I chuckle. "Of course we have magic here. But that's actually scientific tricks and pure skills." 

She says, "I am interested to see that. Do you know any tricks like that?"

I laugh and say, "No, no. That's just not in my...."

I pause. 

Why does it feel like she got smaller?

Suddenly I notice white smoke coming out of her body. Like she's vaporating. 

Hana asks, "What happened br...."

She notices that too. 

Her expression changes instantly. She exclaimed, "What! This can't be happening so soon! I had at least 2 to 3 days!"

I ask, "Sister, what's happening to you?"

The smoking intensifies. Her body was shrinking unbelievably fast. She is getting thinner and shorter every second. 

I ask again, "Ar...are you dying?"

She replies, "No, brother. This isn't my body. It's a golam, a doll created with magical energy. I am controlling it from my world. This golem seems to have used up all its magical energy. But this shouldn't be possible that soon!"

Hana quickly extends her hand forward and mutters something. A big white vertical circle appears in front of us. 

It looks like a teleportation portal from movies or anime. 

She says panicking, "We don't have any time. Let's go, brother!"

- "Where?"

- "To our world, to our home."

- "But..."

Hana cuts off my sentence. "This isn't your world, brother!" She extends a hand to me. "Trust me, brother. Come with me. Let me take you home."

Yes, she's right. This isn't my world. It never was. All I received from this world is loneliness, pain, rejection, and emptiness. I had nothing that could be referred to as a family and no one I could truly call a friend. I just lived like a shadow in a dark room, which only exists without an origin. 

Now, for the first time, a person has come looking for me, calling me brother. If going into that portal with her, means death for me or even worse, then be it. I'll be happier than existing here. Because, finally I have a chance to return to a home yet unknown. 

I hold Hana's hand and follow her into the portal.