AISHA: The Cursed Name

Chapter -5 The Choice

The Choice

Aisha slowly walked to the stage and then, sat on one of the low lying stairs saying,
"Why does it always happen to me? Why?..."

She screamed, her voice echoing in all directions when Bani indicated Shashwat to leave them alone. Although he wasn't sure that it was the right thing to do, he obeyed his junior and walked away. When Bani was sure he was nowhere around she walked towards Aisha and sat beside her clutching her hand tightly. Aisha immediately pulled it away saying,
"Stay away from me. You are also one of them who cheated me. You should also leave me alone and lead a pleasant life as you desire."

Aisha was mad at her when the calm tone of Bani bought silence to her heart,
"See Aisha, I never cheated you. It's the rule that we must not disclose our secrets to the Low Mortals. I never knew you were like me. And... Did something happen to..."

Aisha stopped her mid-sentence. The last she wanted to hear now was anyone questioning if her parents died. They did! She was actually an orphan now. But, to admit it, her soul always pulled her back. She looked at Bani with rage though there was a pleasing look in her eyes begging to just let her be by herself, she said,
"No! Now to hide in denial will make it all even worse. Its no use to hope for what is not real.
Don't tell anyone.
My parents, were not mine. They adopted me. What I have been told is that my father... Who is not my real father; were friends or maybe knew my parents. So when they... Died... He gave me place in his home and his heart. He lied to me for whole seventeen years of my life.
Nothing happened to them... My family... I knew of... Its just I've been bought here."

She rolled up her sleeves, pointing at the mark on her left, blood running out from it. The wound seemed fresh for the first time in all her life. Her face was so crumbled to allow any more stress to reflect over it. Her shock might have only made her eyes grow bigger but she closed them to possibly prevent them from rolling off their sockets. She told herself to calm and then she continued,
"This... Umm... This is what they left me. This is not something I was told to be the mark of some ritual, it's a curse left by my parents. Dad said... A lie! It's not a mark of some stupid ceremony, it's the punishment I got for my birth.
My mother... She said I'm some monster. My father said they might kill me to live if I don't come here. They... I've seen them, how they just couldn't stop me. They... Didn't stop me. And they still lied to me. Telling me of my parent's death in my face and then saying that I'm not suppose to know the entire truth. Not even their name. It didn't take any time to just erase my entire existence and identity.
And so wasnt enough that the one thing I have, my name, its a curse. ITS A CURSE!"

Bani was hearing her, but her main focus was on the bleeding wound. Aisha's name carved on her hand was not a new thing that she had seen. But today, a dried, dead wound opened up. Not only what was on her hand but Aisha's entire life shattered and hurts like a wound. The deep red trickled down her fair skin seemed to look as if her entire body, her soul was tearing apart. Wasn't much big cut but the intensity of the blood that escaped looked as if her entire body had burst opened and the blood wanted to detach off the pain it carried in that body. Bani stood up as she said,
"I dare you, don't move! I'll be back in a minute."

She ran towards the trees and started to search for something. After a while she returned with a few leaves in her hand, crushing them as she dropped the juice on the wound, covering it with the crushed leaves. Aisha whimpered and pulled her hand away, as she discovered that the blood had clotted. It was healed by the magical effect of nature.
"Will this mark go away?"

Aisha questioned as Bani said,
"No! This Mark has been made by some very strong magic, I felt it. It will never heal. You can only cure the wounds not the marks. This was given to you to stay forever. Its not meant to be erased. And so are you. And this is what you need to understand, no matter what your mother thinks of you, she has loved you with true emotions. See, I guess you need rest, you are connecting things in the wrong manner. This, that happened today need not be a part of your destiny... Its just a mistake of events of life. "