Page 74 of Aru Shah and the End of Time

“So what? I like being prepared,” said Mini. “What did you pack?”

“I didn’t pack anything,” said Aru. “Who has time to pack when you’re told the world is going to end—”

Mini shushed her. “‘Deign,’” she said. “It means ‘to do something that one considers beneath one’s dignity.’”

“None of those options makes sense,” said Aru. “What if we just try walking in a different direction? Like in between the signs?”

So they tried. But their feet met a wall of air. Something prevented them from taking a single step that was not in a specific direction. The only place they couldn’t access wasDEIGN,because the sign pointedup, and there weren’t stairs or anything.

“Chitrigupta could have told us which way to go,” grumbled Aru. “We’re practically family. He said so himself.”

“But then we wouldn’t—”

“Yes, I know. Character-building blah-blah, and the world wouldn’t be saved. That’s way too much pressure. Are our brains even fully developed? We shouldn’t be allowed to make these decisions—”

“Aru! That’s it!” said Mini.

“Okay, now I’m worried. None of what I said was good.”

“We’re not smart enough,” said Mini.

“Yay?”

“But we can change that,” she said.

Out of her backpack, she pulled out the box of wisdom cookies.

“Book cookies?” asked Aru, grimacing. “All right, fine. Gimme.”

Mini looked inside the box, then checked her backpack again. “There’s only one in here.”

The girls stared at each other for a moment. Mini’s fingers reflexively curled over the cookie. Aru could tell how much it meant to her friend.

“It’s yours,” said Aru. “You’ve got the same soul as Yudhistira, and he was always known for being the wisest of all the brothers. That cookie has your name all over it. Plus, I don’t need more wisdom. I’d explode.”

Mini flushed. “Thanks, Aru.”

“How long does the wisdom last?”

“I think only for the duration of the decision making,” said Mini.

“How do you know that?”

“Because it says so on the back of the box.”

Sure enough, the duration of the wisdom cookies was listed alongside the nutritional facts.

“Ooh!” said Mini. “It has my entire daily serving of potassium and zinc!”

“Hooray.”

Mini took a bite of the cookie.

“What’s it taste like?” asked Aru.

“Kinda smoky? And cold. Like snow. I think it’s supposed to taste like my favorite book.”

“What’s your favorite book?”