When the tears come streaming down your face
'Cause you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
What could it be worse?
Little Nuala's eyes were glued to the pitter-patter outside as the last of the guests left the house, her nose was pressed against the stained glass that had not been wiped in weeks. She could imagine her mother scrunching her nose in disdain at the spider web in the corner of the window pane. Amma had always been a cleanliness freak.
She had brought it up with her father earlier, of how when her mother returned from wherever they took her dressed in a pretty sari and cotton buds stuffed in her nostrils, she would be disappointed that no one took care of her home. Appa looked at her longingly and started sobbing. She had never seen him cry like this. Appa never cried. After that she never mentioned the untidy house or amma again.
Her dark eyes went to the picture of amma hanging on the wall. There was a garland of yellow flowers around it. She sighed. They weren't even Amma's favourite flowers. Amma loved roses. She imagined her mother clicking her tongue at the garland and smiled.
The bear in her stomach growled hungrily. Amma had told her once, "Never keep the bear hungry." But her tummy bear was hungry since the morning. Appa forgot to feed her. She ran in the kitchen and opened the fridge. She grabbed a chocolate bar and munched on it on her way to her room.
Her tiny bed with bright green sheets was unmade, her pyjamas and frocks dumped on a wooden chair, her toys lying around like wayward cattle and there was a heap of empty chocolate and biscuit packets under her bed. She wondered what would happen if amma didn't return before the food in the kitchen ran out. She caressed her stomach, worrying about her tummy bear. Suddenly, she was filled with a deep sense of loneliness and tears welled up in her eyes.
She got into bed dejectedly and pulled the comforter under her chin. Her glass unicorn was sitting on the bedside table. She had named it Sparky. Sparky saved her from the monsters at night. "Nighty night Sparky," she said wishing amma was here to sing her to sleep.
"Come back soon amma, I miss you", she whispered to the stars outside the window, not knowing her mother was one of them too.
The rain picked up its pace outside and little Nuala gazed at the bolts of lightning across the sky, her mind wandering to the stories her Amma told her. Of a land where everyone was happy, where unicorns ran freely, where fairies granted wishes and where no one ever cried. Soon she lost herself to slumber, dreaming of amma coming back.
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
_______________________________________________
Song - Fix you, Coldplay.
Amma - mother in tamil language
Appa - father in tamil language
Tell me what you think about this chapter in the comments section.
-Riya Surekha Mishra.
