Elena’s hair had been combed and she had been put to bed in her sleeping gown. It was unclear at this moment if this happened for real or it was so deeply embedded in a guilty mind that it taken the shape of reality. However, Elena was nowhere to be found. The little girl had looked everywhere in the house but Elena wasn’t there. Her mother and father suggested places where Elena could be but the little girl had already searched those particular places a number of times. Elena wasn’t where she was supposed to be & she wasn’t even anywhere else. Tears sparkled in the eyes of an eight year old girl as she stood looking at an unoccupied bed. She had earlier not wanted to waste time crying but now there seemed to be nothing else to do. The tears rolled down her cheeks, the sobs made their way in her breath and eventually, her cries had brought her parents. They scanned the cupboard & lifted objects around the room but everybody knew Elena wasn’t there. “We will get you another doll,” was said for the millionth time to a little girl crying for her missing doll. Our little girl reacted like any of the other million little girls who had been told that their doll could be replaced. She cried even louder.
Her class was going camping and Elena could not be taken along. It wasn’t a difficult decision. The other children had moved on to iPads, she couldn’t be seen with a doll. Elena couldn’t have minded, she would have understood. Wouldn’t she?
That day onwards, everything had changed. She would wake up each morning and realise that Elena wasn’t there. She would hold back her tears at school making note of the places that could be searched again. She would ride back home imagining how she would get her Elena back that day. She would lie crying on her bed each night, pining for the presence she missed. These days were supposed to mark the Great Depression of her childhood, the days when the clouds shed tears and the skies turn dark, the days when nobody eats much in the house, the days when she walks through silence across individuals lurking at different corners with their heads bowed, the days when everybody would hug her and give her a shoulder to cry upon- the gloomy days. But they weren’t.
The summer Sun glowed in the cloudless sky, her parents scolded her for not coming for meals on time, her classmates happily discussed camp life while some had already moved on to their iPads. She held back tears and watched in disbelief. Life went on as it had before Elena’s hair had been combed and she had been put to bed in her sleeping gown.
Her class was going camping and Elena could not be taken along. It wasn’t a difficult decision. The other children had moved on to iPads, she couldn’t be seen with a doll. Elena couldn’t have minded, she would have understood. Wouldn’t she?
That day onwards, everything had changed. She would wake up each morning and realise that Elena wasn’t there. She would hold back her tears at school making note of the places that could be searched again. She would ride back home imagining how she would get her Elena back that day. She would lie crying on her bed each night, pining for the presence she missed. These days were supposed to mark the Great Depression of her childhood, the days when the clouds shed tears and the skies turn dark, the days when nobody eats much in the house, the days when she walks through silence across individuals lurking at different corners with their heads bowed, the days when everybody would hug her and give her a shoulder to cry upon- the gloomy days. But they weren’t.
The summer Sun glowed in the cloudless sky, her parents scolded her for not coming for meals on time, her classmates happily discussed camp life while some had already moved on to their iPads. She held back tears and watched in disbelief. Life went on as it had before Elena’s hair had been combed and she had been put to bed in her sleeping gown.
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