THE GIRL IN CLASS 10TH

PRELUDE - 10TH SEPTEMBER, 2019

FYI, THIS STORY DOESN'T START HERE. IT has started about 9 and a half years ago, in MARCH,2010. Right now, IT'S somewhere in the MIDDLE (and not in the END).

AND IT'S HAPPENING inside a spacious rectangular room with chequerboard marble floor, which is black and white in colour unlike the world around us (I mean humans) which is mostly grey metaphorically, and dark green walls. Yes, it sucks – the colour combination. And there is nothing to break the monotony of the walls – no portraits or paintings, no photographs, not even a window. What kind of room doesn't have a window? Exactly, Awful kinds.

The night has already engulfed the area and so is the darkness but it doesn't matter much to the room. The demarcation between day and night or light and dark seem to fade inside. ITS ALWAYS DARK IN THE ROOM. But thanks to the study table placed at the rear end of the room exactly opposite to the front end closed entrance door, thanks to the study lamp on it, and thanks to the fact that the lamp is switched on. Its faint yellow light manages to illuminate the room just enough for the eyes to see around. But what attracts you is not the single bed in the middle of the room that you see, but the soft and slow pitter-patter of the drops of BLOOD on the floor from the edge of the bed that you hear. This sound of blood drops hitting the floor, bursting like a water balloon, getting smeared over the black and white squared floor – ITS REALLY EERIE. For some, it might sound soothing but definitely I am not one of them. The bed forms a 'T' like structure with the side wall as Its placed vertically with the headrest adjacent to the wall. The other thing that stands out visibly (and also ironically) is the sitting amenity – the wooden study chair. It's not positioned next to study table where it is supposed to be. It faces the single bed's footboard, 4 or 5 feet away from it. And it's not empty. Somebody is sitting on it in a relaxed state. It's a man, head titled towards left and resting on left shoulder. His wide opened eyes are focused diagonally towards the blood dripping side of the bed. The wide eyes can either be the result of shock or it can also be an outcome of amazement. Can't tell surely as it's difficult to figure out his face expression in the dimply lit environment. So that is it. A study table with a lamp, a study chair with a man and a bed with dripping blood. That's all the amenities we have got. Its not at all proportionate, quite less as per the size of the room. But there is one more thing that I have missed. Thanks to the gloomy light. It's the most, and pls note that not 'one of the most' but 'MOST', integral part of the story. IT'S THE BODY.

A fourteen and a half-year-old girl in school uniform is lying in the pool of blood facedown to the floor next to the blood dripping edge of the bed. Black shoes, ankle white socks, knee-length green skirt and white shirt. She has a mid-length hair tied in a french braid with the tip reaching upto the mid-point of her back. It is looking normal, as in the clothing and not the sight, with just one unusual detail – the light brown coloured knee and elbow guards! Why was she wearing those guards? Running, Cycling, Skating or any other physical training related activities can be the answer but the school uniform and the fact that she is inside a room and that too in the night, doesn't add up clearly. Evidently, one thing is very clear now. It is shock and not the amazement - the wide eyes of the man sitting on the chair. They are focused on the girl through the edge of the bed. But why he is sitting relaxed. Why he is not doing anything. Why he is not getting up, going to the girl and asking her about her well-being. He is shocked to see the girl in that state but he is not willing to go to her. WHY? He could be the reason for the state that girl is in. Right! But again, why is he shocked then? He should be amazed in that case but definitely that is not the case here. So many questions and the answer is lying on the floor in the terrain of blood. The feeble light strikes her. it doesn't have a language otherwise the light photons must have asked her for the answers. It has managed to kiss only her left cheek as the right one is relaxing on the blood soiled floor. Her eyes are closed, and body lays still. I wish to pinch her and ask her how she is doing but obviously I can't. The narrator is not supposed to interfere. It's difficult to say whether she is dead or alive. THE GIRL is NYSA. SHE IS STUDYING IN CLASS 10TH and this is HER STORY!