CHAPTER 3 A NEW LIFE BEGINN
The next morning, Graham woke up early. His heart was beating fast because he knew people were waiting to see him. Mara helped him get ready. She said kindly, “You look fine, Graham. Everyone is excited to meet you.” He smiled softly but said, “I don’t know what to say. I am just a man who slept too long.” Mara replied, “That’s exactly why they want to hear you. You are a part of history.”
When Graham entered the hall, he saw a group of people waiting. They clapped when he walked in. Some of them smiled, some whispered to each other, and some looked at him with great respect. Graham raised his hand and said gently, “Please sit down.” The room became quiet.
He spoke slowly. “I don’t know what kind of world this is now, but I can see that people still have hearts. Two hundred years ago, I wanted peace. I wanted people to care for one another. Maybe I am here again to remind everyone that kindness still matters.” His voice was calm but full of feeling. People listened carefully.
After the meeting, many came to shake his hand. A young boy said, “My grandfather told me your story. He said you would wake up one day.” Graham smiled and said, “Then your grandfather’s wish came true.” The boy laughed happily and ran back to his family.
In the days that followed, Graham began learning about how things worked in the new world. Mara taught him how to use small talking devices, how people now learned, and how they sent messages. He was amazed at how fast life had become. “People have so many tools,” he said one day, “but do they have time to breathe?” Mara looked at him and said, “Not always. People still forget to rest.”
Graham laughed softly. “Then maybe I can teach them the value of rest,” he said. Mara smiled. “Maybe you can teach them more than that,” she answered.
Graham started visiting schools, hospitals, and community centers. People loved to hear him speak. He did not talk about machines or money. He talked about hope, about slowing down, about being kind. “The world can change every day,” he told them, “but the heart must stay gentle.”
Slowly, people began to see him not just as The Sleeper but as a guide. Some called him “the man of peace.” Reporters wrote about him, and his story spread everywhere. Graham didn’t enjoy attention, but he was happy that people were inspired by his words.
At night, when he sat alone, he often thought about his past. He said softly to himself, “I had one life before sleep, and now I have another. Maybe life always gives a second chance to those who need it.”
Mara sometimes visited him in the evening. They talked for hours about dreams, about the old world, and about how humans were still the same inside. Mara said one night, “You slept for so long, yet your heart stayed pure.” Graham smiled and replied, “Maybe time cannot change the heart.”
But deep inside, he still carried sadness. He missed the people he once loved. He missed the world he had known. Yet, he decided not to live in sorrow. He thought, “If I have woken up again, it must be for a reason. Maybe I have to do something good before I leave this world again.”
And so, each morning, Graham began his day with the same simple words — “A new life begins today.” Those words gave him strength.
The world around him was fast and strange, but Graham’s calm heart slowly became its soft light. People started listening to him more than ever, and a small change had already begun — a change born not from power or machines, but from one man’s quiet hope.
