THE DREAM.

 

She was slowing down and was panting with exhaustion. She wanted to rest a moment, but she heard the footsteps behind her. She quickened her pace, desperately searching for a place to hide.  Just when she was about to give up hope, she sees a light. She runs straight to the door and started banging on it. "Open the door, please! Help me! Please!" The door is opened by a middle-aged woman. She freezes upon seeing her.

Shreya wakes up soaked in sweat. She has been dreaming the same dream with alarming frequency lately. 
                                       ***********

Shreya has been putting off this task for months now. The carton box lay unopened in the storage closet. The box was delivered to her 5 months back from the hospice where her dad had breathed his last.

On the top is a white envelop with "Pari" written on it. Keeping it aside, she checks for the other contents. There is a bundle of photographs;  Cards and letters, some investment papers and a copy of his will.


Curling up on the sofa, she opens the envelop.
"Pari, I am your culprit. I have lied to you all these years. Will you believe me, if I tell you that I had meant to share my secret with you...for many years now. Only that, I wasn't strong enough to do so. Why now? you may ask. Certainly not to redeem myself. But, now I don't have the fear losing you. You may feel betrayed thinking I did not trust you enough or believe in your love for me. You see...I am guilty of separating you from your mother. Yes Pari, your mom! I lied to you that she was dead.
Will you be able to forgive me?

Ours was an arranged marriage. It was only after marriage I realized that Simi was uneducated. She could neither appreciate my knowledge or intelligence...nor could she understand my work as a Physicist. I tried to love her, adjust with her, teach her to read and write. We were of different wave lengths.

You were born 2 years after our marriage. I started staying away from home, sleeping at the faculty quarters, only to return home during the weekends. And, on one such visit, I realized that you were already one year old! I had missed out on a year of your life! And, by then I had given up on my marriage. I wanted a way out. I did not want you to end up like her.

I planned it all. And one fine day I went home, took you and walked out of the house. Your mom begged and pleaded with me to leave you behind. You were all she had. I know I was a heartless bastard but, I had my reasons.

So, here we are. There's picture of me and your mom amongst the other photographs. The address is written on the back of a photograph. Pari, my baby, please do not hold any grudges. Keep me in your memory."

 Shreya reads the letter again and again until she knows every word by heart. Finally, she reaches for the photographs. Her hands are shaking and her insides feel knotted. 

She sorts through them and finds what she is looking for. The first photo has her parents standing in front of a white house, the door of which is framed in blue. Strange...she stares at the face of her mother and all the color drains from her face. She is her mother's mirror image!

For- Write Tribe #2