Shefali kept changing sides on the bed the whole night.
Her stomach growled several times while the night kept ticking away.
She tried to sleep but she could not make herself to.
She wanted to cry yet not more than a lone tear left her eye.
It was not until early morning that she dozed off to sleep.
It took two days to reach Kalikata (present day, Kolkata) from Rajputana by road.
She was too tired but it was even tiring to let things be.
Shefali woke up with the sound of a koel bird and its melodious tune. It sat on a branch in the adjacent garden of the house and Shefali was drawn to it the moment she woke up.
She slid away the curtain and admired the bird's melody.
She turned her eyes from one corner to the other, looking at the place she was to stay from now on.
She forbade herself from thinking of a certain someone she was probably not going to ever meet again.
She glanced at the lonely locket on the side table and wondered if she was the only loner she spoke of.
"It feels like a nightmare... scarier than the one a year ago"
Shefali whispered to herself holding the window stool.
Shefali glanced down at Haricharan who watered the plants humming softly.
Her eyes softened.
"How am I supposed to move on so quickly, Dadu?"
She asked, her eyes darkening.
"I was in hopes to find you here with open arms, from the hurt of having to part from that man who has my peace now"
She said, a tear rolling down her eyes.
"Was that not harsh enough that Dada had to inform me about you?"
She sat on the floor, sobbing helplessly.
"So you were up there smiling at my foolishness all this time? For a whole year now?"
She demanded looking at the clear sky, hoping for an answer.
"Shefali?"
Satyendra walked in, shocked.
"Dada..."
She cried out, stretching her hand.
Satyendra sat beside her letting her sob on his kurta.
Her grip on his back was tighter every time her memories with her Dadu flashed over her eyes.
"Cry more... Let it go away"
Satyendra said kissing her head that lay on his chest.
"Why did you take so long to find me?"
Shefali demanded not moving an inch.
"I tried. It was just too hard to track you"
He tried explaining knowing Shefali was not in a state to listen or understand.
"Gauri? What about Gauri? How is she?"
Shefali asked looking at him with a blurry vision after gathering enough courage to.
"She is here, dushtu. She lives in my house now"
Satyendra said, smiling and whipping off her tears.
Shefali's eyes as if got back a blink of hope in them.
YOU ARE READING
𝟏𝟓𝟐𝟗: 𝐀 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚| Indian Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 Ⅰ 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐀𝐉𝐏𝐔𝐓𝐈-𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐀 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘 Shefali Roy had lost her parents in a pandemic when she was just one year old. That was the first time she was orphaned. The next time she was orphaned was when she was seventeen. The army of...
