With the high-altitude ambitions, they climb the hilltop to catch signal. They are lush and lovely as the landscape behind them. These children of forest live in the network-less valley of life. Masked, they lose their natural raptures, cannot regain the warmth they lost in the school padlocked by the pandemic. They’ve been installed on the rocks with their mobile phones. While listening to the online class, they forget the giant elephant foot, tiger teeth, and slithering venom. Frequent lightning frightens them, yet they don’t switch off their passion for learning. It drizzles now; water wets their dress, not their dreams. Under the clouds, they look forward to the light. First published in The Literary Hatchet (issue # 30).