I AM AN ATHEIST

Herbia, also known as the city of God Tora was one of the best cities present in the continent of Jaguar. There were various myths around the formation of this city, one of them is a famous love story of God Tora. It was said that years ago, God Tora fell in love with a mortal named Rashi. But due to the strict rules among the Gods, he was not able to marry her. One day it was said that Rashi's marriage was fixed with a wealthy old man who was thrice of her age by her parents. On the day of marriage, everything seemed to go well, the house of Rashi was packed with guests, the groom arrived in time and the marriage was about to commence. Suddenly, a strong thunderbolt out of clear sky said to dropped on the house smattering everything into ashes except Rashi's body. After the incident, God Tora assumed to be descended into the world and buried Rashi's body in a forest. As years passed, due to blessings of the God, the forest was said to be turned into the city Herbia. The city was big with a mixture of wooden and mud houses, the street planning is so good that even some modern-day streets could not be compared. At the centre of the city, the Cathedral of Tora stood tall, if one looked at it, one could observe the ancient symbols carved at each and every block of the Cathedral trying to tell some unknown history emitting a high degree of attraction. "Mommy my legs are paining" A boy around 5 years old complained. "Don't worry Mintu, if you feel pain then just pray to the God Tora, if you do that then you won't feel the pain anymore " The mother of the boy who was holding his hands replied. "Mommy, Mommy is God Tora awesome?" the puzzled kid questioned out of curiosity of his innocence. " God Tora is one of the Trinities who rules over hundreds of other Gods, God Tora is very generous, He treats his believers like his own children" The woman answered as they reached the doorsteps of the cathedral. The cathedral had around 100 wide steps stretching from one corner to the other, at both corners of steps a priest stood to welcome the believers. As kids were naturally curious, it would be easy to make them believe in something as long as it was said by their parents. Mintu was also attracted towards this God Tora and began worshipping him blindly just because his mother said so, he did not any other reason to become a believer of God Tora. "Is this the cathedral? it's so big " Mintu exclaimed after looking at the cathedral, usually he was not allowed to play far away from his home, so it's his first time seeing such a big building. " Of course Mintu, it is " At that moment, a man walked from afar towards the duo. "Daddy" Seeing the man, Mintu rushed towards him and hugged his legs. "Honey, you are here " The woman's eyes shined brightly and a smile appeared on her face after seeing her husband here. She was not feeling good when the people all around her came with their husband but she did not, so now seeing her husband coming over while leaving his work elated her. " Hahaha...Darling how can I miss the ceremony for the arrival of the blessed one ?, you know that already God Tora never had a blessed one unlike other gods who got many blessed ones serving them " The man said with a big smile on his face, he looked happy about the event that is going to take place. It turns out that today is the ceremony of the blessed one, it is widely known that Gods grant some supernatural ability to some believers, they are known as blessed ones. The blessed ones are the favourites of the Gods, Gods love them like their own blood and fulfil each and every one of their wishes. The words of a blessed one are equivalent to the words of God. Rohan and his family like countless other families serving God Tora were invited to attend the ceremony. While Rohan was having a reunion with his family, "Hurry up the ceremony about to commence" a loud voice travelled from inside the cathedral. Without wasting time, Rohan held his wife's hand and while carrying Mintu on his shoulder reached the arena where the ceremony would take place. "Daddy Daddy is that Bishop?" Mintu who was sitting on the shoulder of Rohan questioned while pointing his finger at a middle-aged man standing exactly opposite to him. "Yes, That's Bishop Ruma" Rohan answered. "First of all, In the name of God Tora, I thank you all for gathering here" " Today our purpose is to create a path to welcome the blessed one" " God Tora revealed that he wanted to send his blessed one so he asked me to conduct the ceremony " " It would be our fortune to get blessed one to be hailed from our city" " God Tora requests your cooperation" As the Bishop said the last sentence, he dropped to his knees. "High Priest, stand up, it does not suit you, I am ready to cooperate" "Me too " "Yes, High Priest " voices echoed from in the area. " No priest is greater than the firm believers says God Tora, chapter no 2 paragraph 32" A loud voice travelled out of Bishop's mouth. The chapter and paragraph references are taken from the holy book of God Tora. " My brothers and sisters, I am a priest but has less standing than you in the eyes of God if you are a firm believer " "So, it's no insulting to me to sit on knees In front of you, it's all because of generosity God Tora" " Praise the God " words flew out of Bishop's mouth like a stream of water. " Praise the God" " Praise the God " " Praise the God " " Praise the God " The crowd cried out with never before seen enthusiasm. Due to shouts, the atmosphere around the cathedral lit up and reached a peak. Even the people who are quite far from the Cathedral could hear the chantings. Rohan's family including Mintu were among the crowd, they were also shouting out loud. Then Bishop stood up and signalled the other priest to hand him over something. The priest seemed to be prepared beforehand, he immediately handed over an object to the Bishop. Bishop Ruma took the chock from his hands, and in front of countless eyes, he drew a big circle on the ground. " In the name God Tora, I am inviting all women and children to step in the circle " Bishop invited while he put his head down. Hearing Bishop Ruma's invitation, " Daddy I wanna go there, I wanna go there " While picking the hair of Rohan, Mintu expressed his strong desire. "Mintu, Daddy is not allowed to go there, come here mummy will take you there " Rohan's wife said. Mintu looked at his daddy for confirmation. when Rohan nodded his head, he got down from Rohan's shoulder and grabbed the palm of his mother. " Honey! we will be going then, oh I forgot I made your favourite food today when the ceremony completes let's go back and eat it together " Rohan's wife said as she held the little guy tightly. " Haha You are such a good wifey, but I want something more than food after going back " Rohan replied. It took some time for her to understand Rohan's words, but when she did her cheeks turned red. " You..you..., wait here I will be back" Bidding farewell to her husband, she pushed people around and made a way through the tightly packed crowd towards the circle. Despite only calling women and children into the circle, no one questioned the high priest for partiality. When the first woman entered the circle, Bishop shouted: "Praise the god". " Praise the God" "Praise the God " The audience repeated. Although Rohan sent his wife into the circle, for some unknown reason he felt uneasiness. Rohan did not doubt this feeling, it was not new to him, every time he felt like this something bad always happened. " Kalpa, Kalpa...wait " Rohan shouted as he tried to rush through the crowd but unfortunately was pushed back by the crowd. Meanwhile, Kalpa and Mintu who could not hear Rohan almost reached the circle. "Mommy hurry, hurry, we are the last comer " Mintu shouted as he escaped from Kalpa's grip and ran inside the circle. " Mintu wait " shouting out loud Kalpa followed Mintu into the circle. " Kalpa, Kalpa " at the moment Rohan almost reached there. " Kalpa" He shouted his lungs out but another voice overshadowed his. "Let the ceremony begin" Soon everything turned red...