A Silver Lining

chapter one

The door slammed shut...a car whizzed past... ambulances...too many people... ambulances...funerals. A tugging at her soft curls and a sudden jolt brought her back to Earth. "Memshahib, we're here", the same voice repeated. She realised it was the taxi driver announcing their arrival.

It has been too long now. Eight years to be exact she thought as she stood by the sidewalk, a chubby toddler to her right and the bags the taxi driver had dumped by her left. The gates of the mansion loomed in front of her.

"Where are we, Ma?", the toddler's voice penetrated the haze that were memories. Too many emotions.

"Home, or so it was", was the only reply. The toddler got busy sucking her thumb once again, mumbling to herself.

"Didi!" Was that Chikoo? Wasn't he in school when she was last here? But that'd been a long time in the past. He went to her and picked up the bags. Not mentioning about the child or her sudden appearance.

But wasn't that how servants were. Always seeing but never commenting. Wasn't it him, who had seen her crying under those massive staircases and left a plate of food for her because no one else had noticed that she was missing at dinner.

She smiled at him vaguely, lifted the toddler in her arms and started walking toward those double doors. Her stride more confident, a bounce in her curls, she wasn't the same woman who'd left all of it behind.