ALIN... The nightmare of a girl!

The houses were blazing with fire, brighter than the setting sun. The sound of the glasses of the luxurious cars being shattered was echoing in the ears. The shrill shrieks of the women being attacked terrified the soul. The slangs of the men soared in the air. Thugs with cycle chains, iron rods, fire balls, kerosene cans, and butcher’s knife spread everywhere. Families shrunk into the deepest corners of their houses. Some brave men went out to fight for the ladies who were the target of these savages. A few hours ago the place was as good as a well developed locality. Now, it was a jungle of fire and shrieks. Every single person seen was running in order to save his life or his dear ones. The men were killed because they tried to come between the attacker and the victim. The attackers were a large group of wild men, no less than animals, who entered the locality in order to take the soul out of every single girl in her adolescence. Mercilessly they attacked the tender girls who were merely aware of their sexuality yet. The reason behind this animosity wasn’t known.

Every single person who tried to save his daughter or sister was dead. So were Alin’s brother and father. Her mother hadn’t been in house for a couple of weeks. She probably had no idea about the loss of her husband and son. Alin was scared enough to stay within the ruins of the flat which once used to be her happy home. She heard girls and women screaming and knew what was happening to them. She knew that she is going to meet the same end. She was shocked to shed even a single tear. She was just fifteen with a quite plain complexion but sharp features. Looks weren’t going to save her from being raped. She couldn’t mourn on her dear ones’ death. She couldn’t think of her fellow mates who were out there. She was so indulged in her blank thoughts that she didn’t hear the footsteps coming closer to her.

A hand was placed on her right shoulder and she got up from the ball shape, she had squeezed herself into. She screamed out loud, but couldn’t hear her own voice because another hand was now on her mouth. She couldn’t dare to turn around. She did not need to. The person who bore those hands presented himself before her and she brought herself to hug him tight and for the first time in hours, she broke down in his arms, in Vishal’s arms. Vishal had been her childhood friend who eventually became her secret admirer. She wasn’t aware of his love as he had never confessed it to her. He was the closest person to her outside her family. With no one from her family around, he had probably become her only family. He tried to calm her knowing that it was an impossible task. He felt stupid himself while asking to do her so. He had searched for her as soon as the riots begun. He couldn’t find her. He wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if something had happened to Alin. He had seen her father and brother’s dead body lying a few feet away from them. Being an orphan himself he could feel Alin’s agony, her pain. They sobbed together for a while but then they heard the wild screams coming towards them. Vishal had to do something to keep Alin safe and alive. He pulled her out of the ruins and both of them ran in the opposite direction of the screams. They landed in a small area which was still unaffected by fire, where they couldn’t hear any screams.

 Before long a man with iron rod attacked Vishal on his head from the back and pulled Alin to his side. She cried, she screamed for herself and more for Vishal. He was the only person alive whom she could claim to be hers. Vishal had fallen on the rough stony floor but had in a way regained his balance, not completely though. He ran towards Alin. Though he took steps closer to her, she seemed to be distanced. His eyes were closing, blood dripping from his head to the back of his neck. His hands were trying to get hold of the man with Alin. She was trying her best to get rid of the strong grip. Vishal managed to get hold of the hooligan and punched him in the face and the man attacked his stomach by the same rod. He ruthlessly hit Vishal which made every part of him bleed, but he resisted. The love and pain in his stunning blue eyes were obvious when they turned red with anger and tears flowed down. He lay unconscious, probably dead. Alin shouted for him, all she wanted was to be with him.

She suddenly felt a hand running down her back through her multi colored though faded kurti. She felt thrown on to the stony floor beneath her. Her long sleeves were torn with knife. The man above her was fair skinned though heavily bearded, severely scarred, eyebrow pierced heavily and had blood dripping from his forehead. He caught her waist between his thighs which made her immovable. His hands pinned her hands to the ground and he laughed, showing his red teeth which added to the scary appearance. He tore the sides of her kurti simple by his sharp teeth. Alin screamed so loud that her voice became inaudible to herself. She had never imagined herself in such a situation, no girl ever does. She felt sharp nails running above her stomach in a circling motion, she saw the man undoing the buttons of his shirt and jeans. She couldn’t tolerate it anymore. There was anger in her eyes, she tried her best to get out of the clutch of the savage but failed. She was hit on her head with the same rod. She felt something hard hitting her left knee, probably breaking the bones. She felt herself giving up; she failed in accepting the fate she was having. She just lost the chain of thoughts, she was about to close her eyes completely when she smiled. She saw wounded Vishal pick up a knife lying nearby and attack the man. He stabbed him again and again till his grip on Alin loosened. Vishal asked her to run but she couldn’t, she did not have the energy, she did not want to leave him behind. He forced her while he stabbed the man. She finally ran with her wounded limb. She settled in a corner yards away and lost consciousness while waiting for Vishal.

The sun had set, it was dark. The sounds had subsided and so had the fire. She made herself to stand and go look for her savior. She saw the smoke forming a layer beneath the sky. Even though she couldn’t directly see the sky, she knew it was dead blank with no stars, with no moon but simply blackness. She could hear the faint sounds of mourning, the siren or ambulance in the far distance. She couldn’t make out anything clear, her vision was blurred. She had hardly taken a few steps when she fell back onto the ground with Vishal as her last words.

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Two days later, Alin woke up with the trauma of being assualted in her mind and soul. She wasn’t raped but what happened to her was enough to make her go into a shock, a shock so intense that she barely remembered anything else. Even though she was saved of her physical exploitation, mentally she was brutally attacked. Had she been raped and died, this trauma wouldn’t be there. Neither she was raped nor she was dead and she hanged in between. She found herself in a hospital bed with her mother by her side. She hadn’t seen her mother like this, without the red bangles in her hands and sindoor on the partition of her hair. Even though she was sleeping, Alin could make out that she had been crying, a lot. She was wearing a faded saree which was unusual because her mother preferred vibrant colors. For the first time she realized that her mother was now a widow, with all the happiness drained out of her life. She called her but she could only mouth the words, she couldn’t speak. Her throat was dried up. She lay on the bed motionlessly as a corpse as she remembered the riot.  She shivered with the memories, with the dead bodies, screams, the evil laughter flashing in her head. Her mother woke up and greeted her with a smile. Alin’s black eyes, drained of any sign of life, spoke to her. Her mother said, “I am fine. It’s okay. Probably it had to happen this way. Don’t worry about me. You have a life waiting for you. I don’t know how to tell you but I think you should know. We tried to find Vishal but there was no sign of him.” Alin gave a loud shout.

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Fifteen years later-

A little girl probably of six rose high on the swing and shouted merrily, looking at her mom. The sound of her laughter was the only thing that made the two women, sitting at a distance in front of her, happy. One of them was quite old and the other probably in her thirties. The older women cleared her throat and asked, “How do you feel when you see Antara laughing?” “Jannat” was the reply. “Every mother wants her child to laugh and enjoy her life. It pains in a mother’s heart to see her child mourning without a single tear for fifteen years. You have to move on Alin; for yourself, for Antara. How can you keep your little baby happy when you’re not? She is a child now but one day she is going to realize and feel the emptiness in your life. You have taken a responsibility by adopting Antara, you need to fulfill it. Stop mourning over the past, move on, fall in love, make a family, be happy. Think of it at least for this old soul. Please Alin.” Alin remained silent and silently whispered “VIshal” with the same pain as she did fifteen years ago. People think he is dead, and it would be complete stupidity to think he is not. There hadn’t been a sign of him. She didn’t wait for him but knew that the only person whom she could love, who could help her make a family was Vishal and no one else.

Antara screamed breaking the chain of Alin’s thoughts. She had fallen down from her swing. Alin ran towards her but a group of boys running blocked her for a while. Still trying to get to her, she heard her daughter’s cries coming to an end. She was stunned. She remained where she was. Though the face had lost the charm of a sixteen year old lad, it was still the same face; the face which she dreamed of everyday. The person who held her little baby in his arms was the one who had saved her life. He came near her, let Antara go and she hugged her mother. By this time even Alin’s mother joined them. Instead of being happy, a pang of pain crossed Alin’s face. It was filled with questions. Antara and her grandmother went for a walk giving them privacy.

“Yes, I am alive. I wasn’t burnt into ashes that day. I escaped. I kept a record of your stay at hospital; I was there too with a different name though. Once I healed, I left the place. I did not know what made me go away from you when I loved you so much. I wanted to be with you. But I had nothing with me then. How could I take care of you? I decided to make a living first. I know you would never forgive me for what I did to you. I know it’s too late for any kind of explanation or confessions, I can’t even ask you to be with me. I am sorry. Forgive me if you can. Stay happy always. Good bye!” Vishal turned around to leave.

“How dare you to commit the same mistake again? You left me once and I did not even have my say but today I am going to speak. You ask me to stay happy, I will if you tell me how to? How can a girl who survived a rape be happy? You did not let me die, and with those flashbacks how am I supposed to live? For last fifteen years, I blamed myself for your disappearance which people said was death. How could I live without the person I loved? I haven’t slept a sound sleep since that day. I adopted Antara, she surely brought happiness in my life but how is the pain, the scar going to heal within me.” She broke down. She fell to the ground, cried hard. “Don’t leave me again. Please Vishal. I don’t need any explanation. I don’t care. Just be with me.”

He held her in his arms for a long while till her frustration, pain of last 15years were out. They cried together. When the sobs subsided, they looked each other in eyes. They knew they are going to be together from now on. They are going to be happy; they would make a family of their own. Vishal knew it would take some efforts to take the nightmare out of Alin but he would do anything for her. The love that was caged for fifteen years was now freed. Antara came running towards the duo. They kissed her and had a family hug. Alin’s mother came to her and whispered in her ears, “I can now die in peace.”

Vishal and Alin got married a year after their encounter. Alin got over her past though at times, she still had the flashbacks but Vishal's presence was more than just helpful. They decided not to have a child of their own and bring up Antara together. And both of them finally lost their virginity by making love to each other, in the way they had dreamed in their teens i.e. in each other’s arms healing the scars of the past. The happiest of all was Alin’s mother who had constantly prayed God for this day to happen.

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The End

Writer's note- The second and the third part may seem unnecessary, but omitting them wouldn't have done justice to the dream which made me write the whole thing. I think for the time being I will let it be the way it is.