Burning hopes

A Story by Nishita

A short story about what runs in the mind of a single mother left alone with her daughter. Read along to have a glimpse of her thoughts

She walked past the streets she had once walked with joy on. She carried in her hands, things which belonged to her but left behind the love which was once hers. Her shadow cast on her eight year old daughter who looked up at her with innocent eyes as the sun set. The orange sky gave no hopes to the now single mother. She sat on a bench in an empty park with a thoughtless mind and tears flowing down. Life had betrayed her.
Love did not meet its destiny as they had dreamt of. Understanding one’s heart was not that easy after all. Life had changed and so had the people in her life. The person who was meant to be her life partner had left her alone on the path of life and switched lanes. Her soul mate was no more the name her soul called out every moment. She held her little daughter’s hand with tear filled eyes. She had no where to go and no hand to hold except for that of her daughter’s who had no idea about what life was. The day was coming to an end and so were her hopes. She clenched the little girl’s hand and made a promise to her. “I promise to protect you from the storm, yet let you out in the rain. I promise to give you shelter, yet show you the world. I promise to find you a life partner, unlike your dad and I promise to make you ready to face life’s challenges. I do not wish to make you as soft as a flower instead I wish to make your heart as strong as rock, for the world, my child, builds on brick and not on flowers. I shall not be there by your side at all times, as the path of life must be walked on alone, if not today then definitely tomorrow. The world, my love, is evil for the weak and a stage for the strong. Let your vision be not limited to the foot of the mountain but at its peak. Let the world be your stage where you shall go up with all courage and might to show that you aren’t scared”. With this, she found new hopes in the eyes of her daughter; those eyes which assured her that she wasn’t alone, those eyes which knew nothing about the truth but told no lies.
She stood up to leave. Those empty streets of the busy city would show her a way. She stepped forward with her daughter’s hand still held and head held high with hopes. Although her destiny was nowhere to be seen, she knew the road definitely lead somewhere, for long distances always hide beautiful journeys and destinies.