I'm looking over beaches, towns of gold, CakeCity, a grass-covered countryside, Zombieton and snow-covered peaks with this one glance out of the window right now. You may ask- who am I and where do I live? But trust me, I am completely normal, and live on a large island called Fantastica. I guess 'large' is an understatement for this place. And by the way, I'm Vijay.

Despite living an ordinary life at this moment, I've gone through one adventure that shook me up for 'life' - something that's much more than a four letter word. This story is just one little entry into my diary of life - something I began today! Ha, sorry if that was a bit of a poor joke.

Let me take the time to tell you about Fantastica. It's this large island in the middle of nowhere with any person, landscape, item or vibe you can imagine. Seems like anyone's dream place, but it's not. Used to be mine, and this is the story of the time that changed. Before you start reading ahead, let me tell you this- this is a story about life, something much more than a four letter word. Have I already mentioned that before? Oops, I'm writing in pen.

It was summer o' '19 when I disobeyed umm... my English teacher, I guess? I told my teleportation device to take me to Dessert Tree, the bakery, but I guess I pronounced it as 'desert tree', so I landed up next to an acacia palm that instant. Life is annoying.

Soon I came to discover that this wasn't any other tree, but the famed Tree of Wishes. I had just one wish, so I decided to go back home. But then the poetic Vijay stood there, wishing he reached the 'place of his dreams'. I landed up in this dead-cold nowhere. I guess poetic Vijay thought that the place of his dreams was home, but this stupid 11-year-old was obviously, wrong. Life is annoying. Is that a repeat?

My instincts told me this place should be called Parron. Yeah, weird name, but that's just me. Beneath my shoes was this snowy white slab I had never seen before, and surrounding me was this chilling mist I had never encountered before. Those were the days of spoilt, pampered and locked Vijay, but after Parron, they were gone (tell ya later).

A few minutes later a glove-covered hand tapped my shoulder. 'Hey you' the body behind seemed to say. I turned back to see this boy about my age. I was surprised his face wasn't blue with cold. And that moment it seemed like he read my mind, for he told me that my face was blue. Yeah thanks, I thought.

A few days later, I was pretty sorry for being so sarcastic, even if it was in my head. This boy turned out to be a pretty good friend and advice-giver. He was a lot like a Parron encyclopedia too, in my opinion. The day I met him was also the day when I started trusting my gut like crazy. He told me this place WAS called Parron, no joke.

On my sixth day in this new world, I heard a loud growl and was approached by this white, fierce, giant cuddleball! 'That's a polar bear, part of a group of living things called animals, if you don't know' said the boy whose name, I discovered, was Nimm. This was the second time this kid ACCURATELY read my mind. Could be a wizard, goodness knows. Not one of those fakes back home, certainly.

'You can touch it' said Nimm, 'But don't touch its underside or it might attack you'. 'O-k?' I responded in fear. I tiptoed closer to the animal and petted it. The bear shifted aside a few feet, and that move opened up to some adorable miniatures, which I later found out were called cubs. They were the cutest thing I had seen that day!

And it really seemed like that day, I had become an animal magnet. A small thing, a bit shorter than me, waved at me. It was a penguin. I had seen one at the zoo, but didn't know that it was called a bird.

That was the day I realized something- Fantastica was not this land full of beauty and advancement; it was a prison cell for someone like me who belonged outside in this free world.

Nimm's food supply was expected to run out two days later. I had no idea how to get food now. Back in Fantastica I was a pampered little angel who had dinner served right at his bedside table everyday. Now I had to find food myself.

But thankfully, my animal friends came to the rescue! The little penguin taught me to swim. At first I was scared to go into the water for the fear of drowning, but Nimm pushed me in when I wasn't looking. I screamed as if I had been pushed onto a bed of iron nails. But the penguin held me down with his flipper. He just had that look as if he was the coolest guy at school. Life is funny, and at times, extremely expressive.

Soon I had learnt to swim. But I did not know how to get food. Mr. Polar Bear taught me that after Professor Penguin's lesson. When I returned to Nimm's igloo, I complained to him about the tiny fish caught. He just told me that I had to stop being the spoilt brat I was.

I survived like this throughout. Don't have many other interesting stories though. I'll just tell you that everyone I met helped me. And I am grateful. Probably I might not have been like that a few years ago, but was during my time at Parron. Not just the lessons, but I played with and got warmth from the animals.

So, I guess, it's time to wrap up for today. I missed my parents during my chilly adventure, but anyway, I reached home safe and sound after some time. And I did struggle, but that's a story for another time. With that, I'm about to turn the yellowed leaf to close this book for today.