SIX Years

Breathing hard, a pair of feet running towards the unknown destination, her form haggard, scarred, and bruised. Yet she kept her pain aside and ran for her life. Tripping a few times, she panted hard all worn out, but she never slowed down. She would turn around a few times to check if being followed.

She got punished for no fault of hers; she knew it. Those who punished her knew it. But it seemed they were looking for someone to vent their frustration out. She looked to be an easy target; she had no one to stand by her or to defend her. A painful realization halted her steps; she was unwanted; she had always been, by her parents, her uncle aunt, her cousin, and even him. He was her idol, she respected him for his thoughts and views, but what he did today made her change her feelings about him. It was all a mask, an ugly cover to hide the real him.

A strong wind threw dust all over her injured form, breaking her trance. She looked around; she had reached the end of her village, near the rail tracks. Place where she always found her solace, and she needed one now desperately.

A sound made her head turn, the rail tracks changed. It was time for an express train to pass through her village taking the passengers to her destinations. But she had nowhere to go. Why was she even alive and for whom? Her mind asked. No one would mourn her if she died. ″Yes, I should die″, she thought. Death would end up all woes. She will embrace her end happily with the hope of a better next life. Maybe, in the next life, she would have an experience she always wanted.

She heard the approaching train and lifted her long skirt to step on to the tracks. 18 yrs would be an early age to die, but for her it felt right as her pain had crossed the threshold of her limits. She felt the tracks vibrating as the sound closed on her, she shut her eyes to welcome the end.