Janet’s Hope

    Janet’s Hope 

She sat at the window smiling. Watching the little children playing and giggling is a source of great joy. Tears fell down her cheeks as Janet recollected her childhood memories of her playing with fellow schoolmates under the shadow of the same tree seven years ago where now the little children are playing.

What fun! We all used to wait impatiently for the last bell to ring and when it rung all hell would break loose. It was like a stampede to get out from the school. Licking the sweet ice-cream from the nearby Raju Chacha’s house was a great source of relief from the sour experience of our teacher yelling at us for no reason. Whatever, we proceeded our march towards our adda – our playground.

Cool breeze refreshed our minds as we walked down the road singing joyfully at the top of our voices. The honking of the truck – driver was very annoying. We never understood what joy he got honking in that stupid rhythm. Was he trying to impress someone or Had he lost his mind?

At last came our battlefield beside the road where our huge banyan tree stood proudly near the lake eagerly welcoming us. She was very large-hearted. She always protected us from rain as well as from torturous sunlight. Running around the tree, Janet could never be caught as she was as sprightly as a deer.

Kabaddi – was the game we all looked forward to. Whether you were a boy or a girl, no one were spared from the dirty clutches of Janet’s hand. No one dared defeat her. Defeating the opposite team was a cakewalk for her. In short, she was a pucca rowdy.

All this continued till that fateful day arrived. We were all playing football. As usual, the ball was in Janet’s control. When she hit the ball, it missed the goalpost and went off the road. Infused with energy, Janet ran quickly to get back the ball. As she crossed the road, unmindful of our shouts and screams, she was immediately knocked down by that cruel honking truck – driver.

Now, after seven years as both of us were talking of that harrowing experience, Janet said , “ I will definitely walk again Sophia. My hope is still burning strongly. I want to run around the tree. I have to go down there right away and feel the water with my hands…