Hours, she sits there on the bench. Her shiny brunette hair dances joyously with the wind and brushes against her soft pale cheeks while staring solemnly at the sun, setting at the horizon and only as you gaze down at her deep blue eyes, that you get to see the pain and misery burrowed deep within her soul.
Gracefully, she stands as the wind speedily picks up its pace with her skirt moving madly above her knees. Starting to walk on gritty sands; leaving an etched footprint to what momentarily will be a past like any other tomorrow...Midway she stops and looks straight out to the open sky that’s been mixed with hues of red. Quietly she lets the calling of birds and the whisper of winds drift away her soul from the little things that held her back. Closed eyes, she starts to breathe deep in; filling her lungs as she tries to reminiscence the early childhood days, “Oh, what days those were! Not having any fear to what has beholden in front of you, as the caring of your parents were an armor to anything bad that was entrusted upon you; and there you were creating an imaginary world of your own that made you feel the strongest of all” she thought.
The sudden noise of waves clashing against the rocks breaks the deep emotions running through her mind leaving a half empty thought hanging around. Annoyed, she picks up the lens that’s been dangling around her neck; peeks through to capture the beauty in peace. Slowly, she bursts out in sigh of relief as she whispers to herself, “Photography is one of the reasons that always kept me going; it was a way of hiding behind a camera and not expose your weakness. All those years being the puppet of fate I spent many nights wishing at the evening’s shining star for a breakthrough. The regret of having left my family at such an innocent and vulnerable stage where I had to fight off for a better life; while my friends went on with their smooth journey’’. Having said that a little soft voice starts to fill the air. ‘’Mommy mommy?’’ turning her head with an abrupt smile looks at the direction of the voice. Before her stands a very young girl with long wavy pig tails in a peachy- pink dress.
Bending down she lends an ear, ‘Yes sweetie?’’ and the little girl continues with full of light and excitement. ‘’Mommy look at what I got, it’s a pearl!!!’’ Opens her little soft palms and there smiling at them was the hugest pearl ever to be found on that beach. ‘’Mommy do you think by me finding this make me a princess of the sea?’’ She laughs thinking of her imaginations when she was at her age. ‘’Yes Tia why not! Maybe when you grow up there’ll be a prince waiting to swipe you across your feet and take you off to your wonderful journey where you’d be ruling your own little world’’. She takes her hand in hers and starts to walk off along the shore. Waves covering their feet just as when Tia starts to whisper, ‘’Mom, I want to be in a world just like yours!’’ She looks down at her with a smile that hid a silent tear. “It might not have turned out the way I wanted; but the one thing I’m always proud to have is you!.”
(c) Farheen Nabi, 2006, All rights reserved to the author.