Haunting Gift - PART ONE

The day had started out as a beautiful spring morning. Aarti woke to hear the koel koo ooing his favorite song from his hiding place in the branches of the acacia. The newborn calf moo’d to its mother as it swaggered towards Sita, their sole cow. Chickens clucked away in their coop in the excitement of a new day. Aarti stretched and rolled out of her bed in a swift motion. All washed up and hungry for breakfast she followed the smell of parathas and stepped into the kitchen. Her mother was crouched in front of the hot angithi roasting the pancake like paratha breads stuffed with spicy potatoes. Her father and brother had already eaten and left for the fields. She ate quickly with her mother and hurried on to her daily chores.

Late in the morning she stepped outside her courtyard into the neighborhood compound and started to walk towards the community well. Fresh blooms of pink roses encircled the well radiating aromatic smiles to all those who visited. A gang of black and gray puppies crossed her path throwing what they thought were vicious barks. She laughed at their arrogance in their pack and walked on, her bucket full of water feeling heavier at each step.

As the noon sun sparkled, Aarti prepared to take her daily trip to the fields. Her mother packed the basket for the men’s lunch and Aarti took her usual route through the mango orchard. She dawdled with her load to delay the approach to the big orchard. With dense foliage and tiny green mangos weighing the lush branches down, she struggled to find the rays of light streaming from the sky. Dark shadows lurked behind every trunk and seem to follow her through the entire path. Ominous sounds echoed from every branch making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

As always, she picked up her pace and ran through the orchard to reach the clearing of open fields on the other side. Her father and brother always met her in the middle of their field from which they walked together to sit under the shade of the banyan tree to enjoy their mid-day meal and a well-earned nap. But this day, that started out like any other spring day was not like any other. Even though the koel’s melodic song reverberated, flowers shared their colorful smiles and scents, these are the not the memories that will haunt Aarti through the journey of her long life.

To be continued…..