I wish...

"Why do so many uncles come home every night ma?"


"So that I can feed you and fulfill all your wishes kanna.."


"But...why are all these uncles coming so late in the night?? ...appa is working no ma to fulfill all our wishes?" 


"Go... go play outside kanna.. don't ask so many questions.. " 


She watched her son run to play gully cricket with his friends and was lost in her own world...she saw a young girl selling flowers on the other side of the street with someone who probably was her mother...

Tears swelled up in her eyes... it brought back the memories which were still afresh... 5 years... it had been Five years since that incident.. 

"Appa! apppaaa! appaaa... See amma's not making me pakodas.. I reallllyyy want to eat them appaaaa.. tell ma to make no appaaa.. plleeeaaseee"
"Saaavitriii! Why aren't you making pakodas for charu?? she's literally craving for them.. Make it for her savii"
She looked at her husband and their daughter.. A man who was a hero in their daughter's life and a villain in hers... She had no one to go to and had given into him completely... She had pleaded for her life when he had first brought his drunk friends home one night and he had watched her getting raped and laughed at her helplessness.. She had threatened to run away after that incident and he had kept her under house arrest... she was literally helpless.. she thought of committing suicide but the thought of leaving their young 2 year old daughter in the hands of a sadist had shut out all thoughts of leaving her alone behind in the 'bad' world...

After that night, Prakash started getting more and more of his 'friends' home on one pretext or the other and this time, since he had lost his job, this was his only way of income...
His wife pleaded him.. begged him to not to do that to her.. her pleas fell on deaf ears... she had no other go, she surrendered to him completely...
The birth of their son dwindled the no. of men Prakash brought home and this gave a ray of hope to Savitri that her husband mite change...
But as both their children started growing up, Prakash found a new 'house' for the 'special nights'...
Her hopes of Prakash changing into a 'good' person was shattered...

"Ri... Our Charu will be turning 14 in another few days... I want to buy some clothes and jewellery for her.. Can you give me some money??"
"Haan haa.. Buy her good clothes from that new big shop... i don't want that tailor touching my daughter from now on..." 
She was surprised by her husband's behaviour... what had she done to deserve the fate of sleeping with other men? why had god given her such a fate?... She was happy at least her husband was protective towards their daughter..


"Chhaaaru.. Happy birthday! ...May god fulfill all your wishes kanna... Go freshen up and wear the new clothes"
"Thank you ma and appa.. :).. i'll go rite away!"


"Saavvvi!! I'm taking Charu to the temple.. We'll be back soon!"
She wished she could have gone too.. damn! her monthly timing..

" Paaa.. Why are we going this way??? This route is longer no pa?"
" No chaaru kutty.. this is actually a short cut... "
"But paa.. its very lonely here..."
The next minute, Charu was being dragged into the bushes and couldn't understand why her loving pa would do something like that..din't he realise he was hurting her by all that dragging??
She screamed and screamed as she felt a sharp pain down there and knew something was wrong.. she felt the hairy body leave her soft lean built... Without even thinking, she ran... she ran for her life.. she din't run home this time.. she ran for her life.. That was the last time Savitri ever saw Charu...

"Whyy?? why did you have to do this to her??? your own daughter?!!! how could you??? You bastard!!!"
The next thing she knew, her body could feel the hotness from the firewood on her leg and she withered with pain on the ground...
She had no one to help around except for her younger son Saran, who kept asking where his akka had gone to and all she could do is hug him...
She was glad that Prakash had left or so she had thought.. her leg burn had been so severe that she could hardly move around the house, let alone leave the wretched house...
Her nightmares returned when Prakash came back after a week and his 'friends' started increasing... she was helpless again... she had decided to take in what fate throws at her...

The tears continued to flow... she wondered where her daughter was.. how she was.. What did she look like...She din't wanna think her daughter was not in this world anymore..


Savitri was glad her daughter had,had the courage to run away and hoped she had a better life somewhere... she was glad her daughter had escaped from the clutches of the 'sadist hero'.. She wished she had, had the courage to escape from the clutches of the bastard... she jus wished.... she wondered what else life was gonna throw at her and her son.... She hoped he wouldn't turn out to be like his father... the small ray of hope for a better future - that's what she saw in her son...

******

Its all about the choice.. Its all inside you.. Your either make your life or break it...

P.S : This is a work of semi-fiction... and its pretty much the first time i'm writing something like this..