Kiara Kaushik was such a happy child. She understood emotions even though she was a couple months old. In case her mother ever cried because of anything, she used to immediately reach out her hands to touch her face and sooth her. She was also seen smiling, wasn't fussy about anything in particular. Vrinda and Arjun were beyond ecstatic to have her in their lives.
Time flew very quickly and Vrinda and Arjun didn't realise how four months of Kiara in their lives had passed. By now Kiara had become more agile and active. She had learnt to open her eyes and had started to stay up for longer hours. She still had a wobbly neck because she was new at learning to balance it. She had started blabbing to communicate with her parents and the rest of people that used to talk to or around her.
***
It was February which meant it was time for Vrinda to join her office again and resume her routine. But it was very hard, for a mother, to leave her four months old daughter at home with a person who doesn't even like her, Vrinda's mother-in-law. She couldn't voice her concerns to Arjun because, at the end of the day, she was his mother and Vrinda thought that he might feel bad about her talking negatively to him.
But Vrinda's office demanded her time so she decided to join her office again. She was apprehensive about it but she look a bold move and decided to trust Arjun's mother with her daughter, thinking that she might treat Kiara well, thinking that she is Arjun's daughter.
One evening, somewhere in August, Arjun and Vrinda were sitting in the living room, Kiara, on her father's lap, happily playing with his t-shirt's hem. They were talking about general stuff when Arjun's mother brought tea for them and said,
"Here you go."
Kiara was now lying down on his lap and was babbling and moving her arms and legs. Taking advantage of the situation, his mother accidentally dropped some of the tea from the cup on the tray that she was holding that landed conveniently on Kiara's right foot. Her foot got completely burnt.
Kiara started crying instantly and started shaking violently and this created confusion ever more.
"MOM? WHAT THE HELL? WHAT DID YOU JUST DO? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Arjun yelled at his mother while holding a crying Kiara.
"There's no time for this stupid blame game, Arjun. We need to get to the hospital as quickly as possible." Vrinda spoke while she was packing the stuff that one might need in the hospital. With one last disgusted look at her mother in law for stooping so low, they quickly rushed towards their car.
***
Arjun and Vrinda rushed to the hospital, into the burnt ward and begged the doctor to save their child. The doctor examined Kiara's foot, cleaned it and then put first aid over it. He covered it with a bandage and gave her sweets to calm her down.
"Don't worry. There's not much damage. It's just a minor burn and will heal in time. You guys got her in here at the right time otherwise this could have been worse. It isn't very deep and should be okay in a couple of months." Said the doctor.
"Thank you so much, doctor." The helpless parents spoke.
Kiara was too small to understand what was happening to her and why. She couldn't voice her thoughts to anyone and had only one way to express the pain that she was experiencing, by crying.
It took about two long months for Kiara's foot to heal and there was still an evident scar on her right foot, running from the top of her foot up to her thumb.
Arjun and Vrinda, both kept taking Kiara to the doctor regularly and he prescribed them an anti scar cream to heal the mark that was left behind, to a major extent. He said that the scar will fade over time but it might not be completely gone.
Soon, it was Kiara's first Diwali festival. According to Hindu culture it is the festival of lights where one celebrates the victory of good over evil. This is one of the biggest festival of the year which is celebrated with fireworks and lots of sweets.
"No! You will not take my daughter near the fireworks Arjun. Get her back right this instance." Vrinda exclaimed.
"Calm down Vrinda. Nothing's going to happen. I'm going to be careful." Arjun said as he lit the firework.
As soon as the sky shot went up in the sky and bursted, Kiara's inquisitive eyes that had been watching her father do his job like an expert, lit up with excitement and a huge semi-toothed smile broke out on her face.
***
Kiara started growing up with a bittersweet atmosphere in the house. She never got the love that she desired from her paternal relatives but she never minded it because she was showered with love from her maternal relatives. It never occurred to her that a piece of her life was missing. She never felt the urge to look for the love that other children got from their paternal grandmothers who used to tell them stories and shower them with love.
Time passed and as Kiara grew further, many truths were revealed to her in the worst way possible. Despite her inquisitiveness to find out the complete truth, she still hid it all from her mother.
When Kiara's mother asked her the reason of why was she hiding all that she had found and knew, about all the truths she had discovered, she said with a very innocent expression on her face,
"You've already suffered a lot mom,
I thought I'll not trouble you more..."
Kiara's mother was very proud of her and saw that she was mentally mature enough for the 'ultimate truth' to be revealed to her, of why there was such a huge disconnect between Vrinda and her paternal grandmother.
So, one day, gathering all the courage that she had inside her, she called Kiara to her and said, "Kiara, I'm going to tell you something. Listen to it carefully and please try to understand where I'm coming from."
"Okay, lay it on me!" Kiara said, trying to lighten up the tensed atmosphere. Kiara smiled at her, sighed, and started speaking.
"You were seven months old. I had gone to my office for my nine to five and when I came back, I found you missing from our house. I asked where you were and I was told that you might be somewhere out only. I went out looking for you only to find out that-" Vrinda stopped in between.
Silence followed for some time until Kiara spoke...
"That what mom? What happened?" Kiara asked...
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The Scars ✓
Romance'There won't be another me. There will be someone better, someone who'll love you much more deeply and for a much longer amount of time.' "He taught me, memories are not enough." Kiara was a bubbly girl, whose past was yet to be discovered. With hor...
