Silent Whispers

Chapter 12: Hammered

A ten-year-old Khushi hummed to herself as she coloured in her favourite sketchbook, trying to pass the still evening without complaining. She knew she was to stay in her room until dinnertime, even though her legs were itching to take a run in the park nearby her house.

The park was perhaps her most favourite thing in the entire world, simply because it involved her father, who made it a routine to take here there as soon as he arrived home from work. What followed on those days were the father-daughter duo spending endless hours on the swings, soaring high into the setting sky.

It used to be the best part of Khushi's day. Of course it was another thing that it had been ages since she last visited the park. Her father mysteriously disappeared without a warning and she was locked inside her house without an explanation.

Khushi put down her sketchbook, the memory of her father bringing back a heaviness in her heart she couldn't explain. She wished he were at home. She wished she could hug him and complain about all the bad things that happened to her since his departure. She wished she could tell him how lonely she felt without him.

It was as if she lived in a different world altogether now. Her brother stopped playing with her, saying he had "grown up" stuff to do. Her mother too was no different, distancing herself with some excuse or the other. And the worst of all, Khushi was confined to her room most, if not all, of the time.

"You are too little to come out into the hall Meeti," her brother had told her. "But I promise, it will get better. You just have to be patient."

She believed him. After all, her brother was older and smarter than her... He knew it was wrong to lie.

So, she patiently waited for the day when everything would be alright. For the day when he father would come home, and her mother would make jalebis in celebration and her brother would take her to the ice cream parlour near her house.

Khushi looked longingly out into the sky. The sun was setting, casting the entire world in varying hues of red. She had always admired the evening sky – it mesmerized her to see so many colours dancing together in perfect harmony. But that evening, she couldn't enjoy it. The colours looked all wrong for some reason she couldn't pinpoint.

Turning away, she was almost glad to hear her stomach let out a hungry growl. It was dinnertime, which meant her brother would soon be making an appearance.

But he didn't.

With each passing minute, the room steadily got darker and Khushi, hungrier.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, she decided to step out. She was done waiting for the day.

Opening her door, she confidently crept out of her room and swiftly walked down the narrow hallway towards the kitchen. She let out a small sigh of relief when she noticed her brother sprawled out on the sofa in the hall, fast asleep.

Grinning to herself – there was no way she was going to get into trouble now – she entered the kitchen to find her mother. She paled upon seeing the sight that followed:

Garima was staring aimlessly ahead, while one of her hands clasped a knife. And suddenly, without a warning whatsoever, she slashed the dagger across her wrist, not even flinching when a spurt of red fluid burst from her arm in response.

Khushi stood rooted to the spot as she stared transfixed at her mother. She knew the liquid was blood and seeing how it sprayed all over the floor, she knew it was causing her a lot of pain.

But she couldn't move.

No matter how much she wished to run inside and help Garima, her legs just refused to budge. So, she watched.