CH - 1 The unknown smartphone

(just read till the next chapter, this chapter might be boring for some people.)

Hey there, I'm Raghav. Raghav Shukla.

I was born in India 23 years ago on a rainy day to my mother, Purvi Shukla. My father, Ravi Shukla, was talking to her on the phone, trying to get through the traffic. They said that, when I was born, thunder rumbled across the sky, so they gave me the name "Raghav", thinking it would appease God Vishnu.

2 years after my birth, my family had to move to the United States of America because the company my father worked for was absorbed by another company from the U.S. It was hard for my parents to get accustomed to their new environment, but they made it work. They got me into a good school for kids in New York, then sent me to high school and college in Washington, D.C. I graduated at 20 with average grades and went job-hunting, but... well, it's hard to find a job when everyone is looking for the cream of the crop.

I love mythology. When I was 5, I remember reading a book about the 330 million gods of Hinduism. I was immediately entranced! From that point on, I began to obsess over gods, goddesses, demons, and heroes. From Kāne, the Hawaiian god of life and creation, to Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun. You want to know any fact about myths? I'm the guy you should ask.

Ah, I'm getting sidetracked. You want to know about the events that happened to me these past few weeks, right? About the fact that the gods and goddesses of myth are real and use phones to text to each other? Well, it all began a few months ago...

———P.O.V. CHANGE (3rd person)——

The night sky was dark. Raghav remembered that it used to glitter and dance with stars, but now, thanks to air pollution, all he could see were a few shimmering stars and the dusty moon. He sighed and continued walking down the sidewalk, past all the stores and restaurants full of people. He checked his phone's screen and felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw that it was 7 p.m. He put it away and walked noticeably faster than before.

The sky was dark but the street lights lighted the road. He was rushing towards his home when his phone started ringing.

*Never gonna give you up*

Raghav took the phone out of his pocket and saw that it was his mother who was calling him. He was sure that his mother will shout at him but he stopped running and answered it anyways. Better be safe than sorry.

Mother : "WHERE ARE YOU, SON?!!"

Raghav : "Maa (Mom), I am on the way."

Mother : "Why are you so late? Didn't I tell you to come back till 7 p.m.?"

Raghav : "I was with my friends for an interview and I am 23, I can take care of myself so chill Maa(mom)."

Mother : "Oh you don't talk back to me and better come back soon."

Raghav : "But I only answered your questi-"

Before he could continue, his mother hung up the call. He sighed with a stressed expression. There exists no child who can fight with their mother and if the child dared to, well they wouldn't exist after that.

He took a deep breath and sent up a prayer to the God he loved the most.

Raghav - 'Oh lord Shiva! If I die today, please remember that I have good karma and let me and deserve to be reincarnated to a better life. Well, you might already know about this.'

He finished his prayer and started running again but after a while, he saw a street vendor selling some electronics. That was very rare to see. Who sells electronics on street? Raghav thought that he was late anyways so there was no harm to be a bit late.

He went near the Vendor and saw that the Vendor was wearing a robe that was hiding their whole body. Only their face was visible partially. He couldn't determine the gender of the vendor. He thought that it was very unusual and kind of creepy and the vendor was scheming something but still, he decided to go with the flow.

Vendor : "What can I get you, sir?"

Vendor asked with a very strange yet creepy voice. Vendor's voice sent chills down to his spine.

Raghav after hearing the vendor's voice realized that the Vendor was a man but was still uncertain as it's 21st century and nothing can be determined these days.

He ignored the vendor and started looking at the items being sold. He was not surprised by most of the things being sold as he already expected them. There were several broken cameras, wired telephones, etc.

He looked around a few things and found a box filled with a lot of things. He saw a full black coloured phone with no logo of any company inside the box. He never saw such a phone in his lifetime so, he picked it up and took it to the vendor.

Raghav : " Which company makes this kind of phone?"

He asked curiously as he wanted to know more about this unusual phone. To be more precise, he wanted to know the price of it.

Vendor : " Oh, I don't think I was selling that but anyways, it will be for $100 if you want to buy it."

Before Raghav could say a word, a few policemen rushed toward the vendor with their guns in hands, ready to shoot. The vendor tried to run but it didn't helped him even a little as he was quickly arrested by the police. The men then looked toward Raghav and asked with a straight voice.

Policeman 1: "Are you alright?"

Raghav : "I am good but why have you arrested that vendor?"

Policeman 2: "That guy is a thief and a scammer. He scammed a lot of people and you were a few minutes away from being scammed."

Raghav didn't find this very shocking. He already had his assumptions about the vendor but he stayed silent like every citizen. ( No pun intended ).

The police quickly took the vendor away. Raghav just saw all this and he realized something important.

He was still holding the smartphone. What should he do with it?

Raghav : "Well I guess I will take it as payment for my mental harm"

He smirked and ran towards his house. By mental harm, he meant the scolding of his mother that he would get for being late. It was because of the vendor that he will be late.

While running he looked at the phone with curiosity and opened it. The smartphone didn't have any password so it opened without any problem. The home screen of the phone had normal system apps which usually come with the phone when you buy it. But one thing that caught Raghav's attention was a Golden-black colored app icon. The name of the app was 'Chat'. Yes, only that.

Raghav got interested in the app and opened the app with his eyebrows raised. The app opened as any other app and asked for the name and age. He also realized that he had no wifi connection and even the mobile data was off.

Raghav : 'It seems the app does not require any internet connection, interesting.'

He entered the app with the name, Raghav. It was because he liked his name a lot and did not want to hide it and so he used it. He then entered his age, 23 it was.

After the input of all the information, the app changed the interface to a dark background. With the basic functions like 'Profile', 'Group' and 'Settings'.

He was already in a group which was named 'Group of legends' and Raghav was the only member of the group.

Raghav : "Group of legends? It sounds very childish for some reason. And why am I the Admin?"

Suddenly Raghav realized something important. He had watched several anime and read several novels and mangas. So he guessed what this Group chat could be and in the middle of the road, he took a deep breath and then shouted.

Raghav : "MY GOLDENFINGER!!!"

He ran to his home as fast as possible because of the excitement. When he reached home, all his excitement died. Why, you ask? Well, a person was standing in front of the door of his house. This person, in her current form, can be seen as a demon.

She had black hair and was a fair-skinned woman. She was neither too fat nor too skinny. She wore a red saree and a yellow apron. In both of her hands were two cooking utensils. Holding her anger in, she gave a deadly smile and *politely* said-

Mother : "My dear son, now can you explain to your mother why you are so late?"

Raghav was sweaty seeing his mother. He was very scared of her. He chose his words correctly and said-

Raghav : "Maa...When I was coming here, the police caught a person as he was a scammer and asked me questions like if I am fine or not."

Mother : "WHAT!?"

Raghav instantly regretted his decision. After all, now he would be scolded for at least half an hour.

_______________________________________

Word count - 1564 (Without the words in '(..)' and my greetings)

Howdy People!

Tell me if you like the story and if there are any mistakes.

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