Life Desk :
“Aww! What pretty eyes you have!” cried Suzan, “Are you hungry? Wait, let me bring you something to eat.” As Suzan went inside the shop to buy a loaf of bread and some milk for the homeless girl sitting in front of the shop, her friend Liza stayed with the little girl, petting her.
She appeared to be five years old, dressed in shabby clothes, poorly fed and unclean. She didn’t reply to any of their questions, maybe she couldn’t understand them, maybe she just didn’t want to talk, or maybe she was not hungry… she just didn’t speak. She simply kept staring at both of them with wide, questioning eyes. Suzan handed the loaf in her hands. The girl took it and kept staring. After sometime she opened the packet and started eating. Suzan and Liza smiled at her. I was there at a little distance from her, leaning against the wall, just observing everything. Don’t know what captured my attention but I didn’t seem to be able to move from that place.
It’s not like I was utterly jobless and had free time to see people feeding homeless children, I had to meet my professor for the bridge workshop that evening, but I couldn’t seem to leave the spot. Suddenly someone patted me on the back.
The bhaiya from the stationery shop handed me the notes I gave for photocopying (for which I was there in the first place,) and gave me the spare change.
As I turned around, I could see more people coming up to the girl, petting her, and giving her food. A couple even kissed her on the forehead and gave her some money. Still she didn’t speak, not even a word.
After few hours, I came to a conclusion that she was mute and hence couldn’t speak. The only thing that was bothering me was her being emotionless. Slowly the crowd ceased until only the girl and I were left on the veranda of the shop. After some time, she got up and walked down the veranda.
Out of curiosity, I started following her; she walked a good deal before coming to a half broken and damaged house. The house had no doors. As I turned around to look at the surroundings, I saw that dusk was already setting in, making the place gloomier.
The house was situated near the school for underprivileged students and it was quite far from the other similar houses.
I was at a good distance from her so that she couldn’t see me. I noticed some food in her hands that was given in the shop. She entered the house, I followed steadily. As I peeked inside, I saw her sitting beside a woman who was sleeping, as it appeared to me. She kept on trying to put food in her mouth, but the woman didn’t bulge.
It didn’t take me long to discover that she was dead and by the stench seemed like she was dead since this morning. Suddenly I was scared to my wits when the child gave a nerve shattering cry…AMMAAAA!!! AMAAAA…… It went on for quite some time; the child kept on tugging her dead mother and wailed with all her might. It was heartbreaking to hear those cries. I was glued to my feet.
I realised that the girl wasn’t mute, she wasn’t hungry, and she just wanted some food to bring to her mother. She thought that the mother would wake up when her little girl would bring food for her. But she never woke up. And the cries went on…
-TNN
