It was a regular summer vacation, and Rhea, like any other teenager, was bored out of her mind. Her phone was dead, the Wi-Fi was out, and there was nothing but the same old routine to follow. She’d been stuck at her dadi’s (grandmother’s) house in the village for weeks now. The village was quiet, too quiet.

One afternoon, Rhea was lounging under the big banyan tree in her dadi’s backyard, scrolling through her phone and pretending to care about a game when her dadi suddenly interrupted. "Beta, go explore the village. Don't just sit here and waste your time!" her dadi called out.

Rhea groaned. "Ugh, Dadi, it’s so boring here. What’s there to even see in this village?"

Her dadi chuckled. "You’d be surprised. Just don’t go to the old well at the end of the village. The elders say strange things happen there."

"Yeah, right," Rhea muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. The idea of "strange things" happening in a sleepy village was enough to make her want to yawn. But still, Rhea loved a good mystery, and she figured she’d take a stroll through the village anyway. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

As she walked down the narrow lane, Rhea noticed something odd. The sun was shining bright, and yet, there were no shadows. No shadows on the ground. No shadows on the trees. Everything was... well, flat. Like a cartoon drawing.

"Okay, that’s weird," she said aloud, her eyes darting around. "Am I in a dream or something?"

She shook her head. "Maybe I need new glasses," she muttered, but it didn’t make sense. The whole village was like this — no shadows anywhere.

Curious, she decided to ask the first person she saw. She spotted a friendly-looking woman carrying a basket of vegetables. "Excuse me, Aunty, why are there no shadows?" Rhea asked.

The woman looked at her, then glanced around nervously. "No shadows? Oh, beta, we don’t talk about that. It’s... it's just the way things are here."

Rhea’s interest piqued. "But... how? Why? You’re not worried?" she pressed.

The woman sighed, shaking her head. "No one talks about it, but there’s a reason. You should ask the old man at the temple. He knows about these things."

Rhea’s curiosity was now fully awakened. She didn’t know much about the "old man at the temple," but she figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. She walked towards the temple at the edge of the village, a small structure with old stone walls, and pushed open the creaky wooden door.

Inside, an elderly man with a long white beard sat on the steps, eyes closed in meditation. Rhea cleared her throat. "Excuse me, Baba ji, I need to ask you something important."

The old man opened his eyes slowly and smiled. "You’ve noticed, haven’t you? The absence of shadows?" he said in a calm voice.

Rhea nodded eagerly. "Yes! Everyone is acting so weird about it. Why are there no shadows in this village?"

The old man motioned for her to sit beside him. "This village is cursed," he began. "Many, many years ago, there was a powerful sorcerer who lived here. He was known for his ability to control the shadows. But he made a mistake. He tried to trap the shadows, to control them, and in doing so, he removed them from the world forever."

Rhea frowned. "But why would that make any sense? What happened to the people who live here?"

The old man sighed. "The people are still here, but the shadows... they’re trapped. And the village is stuck in a kind of limbo. No one can leave or enter freely because the shadows act as a doorway, a barrier to the outside world. If you want to fix this curse, you need to find the ancient stone that the sorcerer used. It lies hidden near the old well."

Rhea’s eyes widened. "Wait, you’re telling me I have to go to the well? That’s what my dadi warned me about!"

The old man nodded gravely. "You must go, child. Only you can break the curse."

With her heart racing, Rhea left the temple and hurried toward the old well. The ground was strangely silent, and the air felt still, as if the entire village was holding its breath. When she reached the well, she peered inside and saw nothing but darkness.

Taking a deep breath, Rhea climbed down the well with determination. She felt around in the cold, damp stone walls and finally, her fingers brushed against something hard. It was an old stone, covered in strange symbols.

Without a second thought, she pulled it out and held it in her hands. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. The well rumbled, and Rhea’s heart nearly skipped a beat. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying she was doing the right thing.

Then, with a flash of light, everything stopped.

When Rhea opened her eyes, she saw the village in a completely new light. Shadows were back. Not only that, but the sky seemed brighter, the air fresher, and the people seemed more alive.

The old curse was broken.

Rhea walked back to the village center, where the people smiled at her warmly. The woman she had spoken to earlier waved at her. "You did it, beta! The shadows are back!"

Rhea grinned. "I guess I just had to follow the mystery to the end."

And just like that, the village was free from the curse, all thanks to a teenager who dared to question the strange and look for the truth.

As she made her way back to her dadi’s house, Rhea couldn’t help but feel proud of herself. The village of no shadows was now just another old story... one that Rhea would remember for a lifetime.