Aawaz- The Unheard Sound

Chapter 12

Vaani's Pov

My heart froze in sheer terror as I stood there, helplessly watching my child's innocent form slip down the unforgiving stairs. Each agonizing moment stretched out before me like an eternity, etching the scene into my memory with searing clarity.

The world seemed to slow to a cruel crawl, and every heartbeat was an excruciating drumbeat in my chest. His small, fragile body, once filled with laughter and boundless energy, now descended those steps with a terrifying gracelessness. The harsh sound of each collision between his tender frame and the unyielding wooden steps echoed through my ears like a haunting lament, amplifying my anguish.

As I strained to reach out, my limbs felt impossibly heavy, rooted in a nightmarish paralysis. My child's eyes, wide with fear, met mine in a desperate plea for salvation. But in those haunting seconds, I witnessed the unthinkable: the spark of life flickered and dimmed within his gaze.

My vision blurred as a torrent of tears welled up, but I couldn't tear my gaze away from the heart-wrenching scene unfolding before me. Frozen in place, I remained a helpless witness to the gradual fading of life from my child's fragile form.

A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the room as if time itself had been suspended by the sheer gravity of the moment. Those who had been present in the room, previously filled with animated voices and bustling activity, now stood in stunned and fearful silence.

In that agonizing moment, time seemed to both expand and contract, stretching its boundaries to accommodate the depths of our collective despair. And though I longed to look away, to escape the unbearable truth that lay before me, I remained rooted in place, my gaze locked on the fading light of my child's existence.

"No... he cannot be dead. He cannot die. I won't accept it; my child cannot die. I know I am just seeing things, he just had a little slip, and he cannot die. Maybe he is just tired, that's why he is sleeping on the floor. He cannot just die."

With this thought, I ran down the stairs to pick my child up, so he could properly sleep on the bed. I sat down beside him, and murmurs started happening again. I looked up to see that every one of them was looking down at me, some people with pity, some in shock, and a few of the ladies were crying as well.

"Listen, everyone, you don't have to look like you have seen a ghost, my child is absolutely fine. He is just very tired and sleeping on the floor. I know you people don't believe me, wait I will wake him up and then you all will have to believe me."

Author's Pov

With trembling hands, Vaani reaches out to touch Zee's hand, as if expecting a response, a sign that her precious one was merely sleeping. She whispered comforting words, her voice quivering with a fragile hope that her child might wake from this nightmarish slumber.

"I'm here, my love," she murmured, her voice breaking. "It's time to wake up now. Look, Mumma has put the flower that you brought in my hair, won't you look at it." Her words carried a fragile optimism as if her unwavering love could defy the laws of mortality.

Every single person present over there, their expressions heavy with sympathy, exchanged sombre glances but remained silent, not knowing how to tell the young girl that her child was dead.