S(he)…

It was a long warm night, and she could feel the dust on her face. Humidity was high and her clothes were getting tight. She had been standing there for the past 45 minutes. The speeding vehicles and noisy honking did not deter her. Her stomach growled in hunger, her eyes were waiting for the moment of response. There was an impatience in her, her hands were fidgeting and wanted this to end. She wondered how long she should continue to do this and if there was miracle. Lights from these vehicles never made her eyes blink, as she had gotten used to them.

Her body was tired, swollen in places, hunger made her eyes blur, she was in her thoughts. She had dreamt of a life, where she imagined to have wings and she could fly. She wanted to be respected, loved, cared for by someone! She wanted flowers, she wanted rain, she wanted a simple journey with struggles she could handle. All she had were never ending gloomy days, thorny path where she wanted to go invisible, yet no one would notice her that she has gone.

She suddenly woke up when a car parked in-front her signalled her to give way for it to move. She realised that it’s been more than an hour, not a single car had stopped. She moved a little further, to a more isolated place on the high way. She waved and smiled at cars passing by. She finally saw a car trying to park, she ran to it, knocked the window. It was a family and the woman in that car stared at her. She felt uncomfortable. Even before she opened her mouth, the man signalled her to move away and she walked away silently.

“One more sale gone” she said to herself.

It was getting late, and her legs begin to ache. Her hunger had surpassed and she felt sleepy. She had to walk 12 km to reach home, and it was yet another bad business day. She carried her bag, and things with her. She slowly walked back home, with thoughts diving into childhood days. She had been running since then. She had been giving away everything she had, unfortunately her returns were to be betrayed.

She had lost many things, not her life and not that aim to go back on track. She reached home, it was almost mid night, She felt being following by someone, only to realise it was her shadow. She dropped to her bed, with no words to speak. She was alone.