Wednesday, June 6, 2007

She suddenly remembered the butterfly. She remembered the beautiful color and the intricate pattern on its wings. She thought with a smile how she and her friend ran all day behind it, just to catch it, and once they did it made them so happy that they just left it free.
She remembered the city fair, how she and all her friends used to wait for the school bell to ring and dash away to the fair. They used to play on all possible merry go rounds, even the one which just turns you upside down. She could still feel the adrenaline rush in her at the mere thought of it.
She could still feel the taste of the brinjal chutney her mother made that day. Mmm. tht was so awesome, her mom was the best cook. She had her maths exam that day and her mom had this weird superstition about brinjals being auspicious. She loved her mother. She wanted to get a gift for her this new year, which also happened to be her mother's birthday. She had even thought of arranging a small party, and inviting all her friends over.
She remembered her first cycle driving lessons, her dad being her instructor. She smiled slightly when she thought of how she fell down and her dad helped her up and consoled her, gave her confidence. She had always admired him, he was the world's best dad.
She wanted to go back home to all this. She wanted to lie on her mother's lap. She wanted to be warm in her dad's arms. She wanted to live and enjoy her life. She had prepared so well to win the painting competition at school. This wasn't fair. She was just 10 years old. She did not even know wht dying was, but there she was, lying on the road in a pool of blood. She saw her leg. It was bearly hanging on to her torso. She wondered how mom and dad would react if they saw this. She wondered which antiseptic from her mother's first aid kit would cure this.
She turned her head. She stopped wondering. Her mom with her eyes wide open lay dead. Her dad struggling with his crumpled hand, whining away in pain. She was helpless. She heard a couple of men speaking about how her dad was a negligent driver. She knew he wasn't. Nobody knew the truth. The actual culprits had fled, harmless. She wanted to go and hold her dad and take him home. She wanted to scream ...
She saw a van approaching. She saw them get 2 white clothes, one covered her mother, the other her "just dead" father. The 2 men lifted her and put her in the van. Her - "her leg". She wondered what would happen now. She wondered about the future. She could not handle the pain. She heard the men laugh over something. She suddenly seemed to have forgotten laughter.
The 3 rd white cloth was out. "It s too big for her body" laughed the men. She had always wanted to "die" on her mother's lap. The men would never know.