ArShi-One Shots - 2

Fate- locked and sealed

Sometimes I get crazy ideas which I don't know if can make a good story, but I just had to write it.

Since, it's a very loose story with no concrete plot, I have been liberal in writing style.

It's readable, but not my usual well crafted style.

Pack your logics away, it's fantasy.

Fate- locked and sealed

Ambara flew like a breeze in mid air amidst the twenty babies placed in the nursery of AYC Hospital, Lucknow. Her eyes shifted between the parchments in her hand and the babies in the cradle. She sighed as she reached the end of one aisle, unsuccessful in finding the baby she was looking for, and moved on to next aisle. Ambara preferred the olden days where babies are born at their own house. It was easy to identify which baby she was looking for and weave the baby's fate around it. Now, in the modern times, with fancy hospitals placing all babies together, taking them away from new mothers, in incubators or facility nursery in the pretext of some medical jargon or other, identifying babies has become a tiresome process.

Ambara has always loved working for her Lady Fate. Probably, because Ambara had the most significant and interesting job. She was in charge of visiting the earth every day, finding a babies not more than three days old and weave their destined fate around them. Though, it is His almighty who- based on Karma- writes what a human is supposed to endure in that life in particular chronological order, it was Lady Fate who knits the aura of destiny and it is duty of the likes of Ambara to weave it around babies so universe knows what to give them and when.

Ambara was the most hardworking sprite trained by Lady Fate. However, now Ambara has worked non-stop for fifty revolutions and was on the last working days before her much awaited vacation to paradise garden. It also meant Ambara has to train a new sprite, Savara, who is more often too dim to understand the ways.

Ambara traveled between the aisles looking for a two day old baby girl while chiding her dim-witted trainee and also secretly dreaming about her vacation.

"Madam Ambara." Savara called with glee. "Here is the baby we are looking for."

Sighing with content for job quickly done, Ambara floated to where Savara was standing.

"Isn't she the cutest bundle of pink you have ever seen!" Savara crooned.

Ambara rolled her eyes Savara. 'All immature trainees and their naive outlooks!' Ambara mumbled as she cross checked with the catalog she had to confirm that they were indeed with the right baby.

"Now, Savara." Ambara cleared her voice. "Do you know what to do?"

An eager Savara nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Walk me through it."

"I first whisper the baby's old name from last birth in her ear. After the baby acknowledges it, I wipe out traces of old life and whisper new name in its ears. Then, I start weaving its fate around it starting from childhood, teenage, adulthood, marriage, motherhood and death."

Ambara didn't show that she was impressed, though she was. She only nodded asking Savar to proceed.

"What is the baby's old name?"

"Maria." Savara said before she whispered the name in the baby's ears. Then she patted the baby's head three times and blew away all the old memories by reciting special hymn.