1 Chapter One...The Beginning...

Far beyond the narrow valley of Paro, there was a thick and ominous forest and as you look deeper into the forest you'll see a beautiful meadow that seemed to look as if it came out of the Garden of Eden. The short but disheveled, peppermint-green meadow grass was waving and rustling in the air with the fresh smell of peppermint. The sky above was orangey-blue with the clouds that looked as soft as a sheep's wool and was lazily drifting across the sky. The scene was a feast for the eyes.

The tiny, slim figure of Lakdem collecting medical herbs and fruits could be spotted at the side of the humble-looking cottage, she was wearing a long pangtsi kira with coma draped over her shoulders side by side across her chest and a kera wound tightly around her waist and she was wearing a blue tego. Her cottage was a simple one made from different size of boulders and was neatly walled and the rooftop was made up of shingles. Regardless of the appearance of the homely cottage, it gave the feeling of humbleness and peacefulness.

Puffing some air the girl stood up from her crouching position and carried a basket full of nutritious herbs together with some fruits for dinner, she was heading back home when she saw the sun setting. Lakdem sighed and looked around the surrounding area, it has been 10 years since her great-grandfather died and she had been alone in this meadow and she can't think of being single throughout her life. She wanted to start a family but her great-grandfather would always object her from going outside the forest as the outside world was cruel and also killed her family…well as per her great-grandfather's point of view. Her great-grandfather's wish was the reason behind her being stuck in this large meadow.

Sometimes she just wished of exploring the world and led a peaceful life in this meadow with her own family. Lakdem again sighed and went inside her house and started cooking dinner for herself.

Lightening the kerosene lamp Lakdem started changing her dress to a simple and plain-looking kira and started making her bed and sat on it, she took out a book related to herbs and started reading it for sometimes and went to sleep after turning the kerosene lamp off.

Waking up early was a habit of Lakdem, she changed to her yesterday's clothes and went outside to wash her face and rinse her mouth after chewing the peppermint leaves, then she went to the altar room which was a bit cramped but looked cozy and started to do the seven bowl water offering ritual and started to pray. She again went outside to get some fresh air while in her hand was her favorite book, the Medical Book; she sat down on the grass and read the thick book. Lakdem's father was originally a British but since he fell in love with a Bhutanese girl that was her mother, he started living in this meadow with his own family. The great-grandfather was from her father's side so he also started staying here with his only family, his grandson her father. Having her father together with her great-grandfather to teach her about herbs and the English language, she understood the language and had fun learning about herbs, you could say that she was a bookworm actually.

It was midday and Lakdem was exhausted from working in the field and planting the herbs she came across when she was walking a bit near the forest, she was about to go inside her cottage when she heard some sound coming from the bushes. Slowly while holding a stick she walked to the bushes where the sound came from and what she saw in that bushes surprised her...