Etherea

⋆15⋆

Ken's pov

We watched mom as she unlocked the door to Silver's room. We waited outside her new room till she closed the door behind her. We slowly entered the room in total silence. We were silent for some time because we were afraid Silver might hear us.

Dad looked around the room. He looked in every direction.

"You two have done a good job. I never thought that you two can clean like this, especially Anna." He said with a low chuckle.

I joined him. Anna rolled her eyes. She rolled her eyes whenever we teased her. Seeing this, we laughed more, we covered our mouths to lessen the sound.

"Fine. Laugh all you want." She said. She completely ignored us and looked in the opposite direction.

We controlled our laughs and waited. Waiting was something that made me anxious, I didn't like it. Each passing second felt like an hour. After waiting for an eternity, I looked at dad.

"Dad, look whether they are in there or not?" I said.

He slowly made his way towards the door. He opened it a little and poked his head around the door. After looking inside, he gave us a thumbs up and indicated us to follow him. The door made a little squeaky sound when we opened it completely. We all froze on the spot. We waited sometime before moving.

The bed was not a big one, it can be easily carried out of here. The actual problem was taking it out without making any noise. It was hard.

We first carried the mattress, the sheet, the pillows, the comforter, and everything that was on top of the bed. Then, we carried the dining table and the bedside table. Then, at last, we carried the bed. It took us a long time to carry the bed without making a single noise. We succeeded in it. We took our time in setting everything. The result was a simple, yet beautiful room.

"It looks a little empty," Anna said.

"Let's keep it simple. She will add the things she likes." I told her.

She gave me an annoying look.

"I'm going," Dad said.

We looked at him. He slowly entered the room and closed the door behind him. We sat on the bed and waited for their return, eager to surprise Silver.

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Silver's pov

We cried and hugged each other for some time. Mother kept on saying sorry. When our tears stopped, Mother said.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to say those things, but my emotions were out of my control and I said those words."

"I understand Mother," I said.

"I grew up hearing that a girl is meant to stay inside the walls of the house. I was a girl with a wild heart. I always dreamed about things. I used to say everything to my Mother. She was my best friend. No one knew me like her. One day, she told me some things. I was only ten at that time. She told me to stop dreaming about things, she told me to look around me, to understand the reality. It was hard for me. I cried for some days. It was hard for a ten-year-old girl, but then it all changed. I understood what my mother said. I learned the truth about society. Our society doesn't value women as it values men. The people never appreciated women. Women were only meant to help men. They lived inside the kitchens. They never spoke in public. Society considers women as curry leaves. We are everywhere, they need us, but we don't have any importance. They never gave women any importance. I understood everything. When I married, I thought your father is one of them, but he gave me the value I deserved. He always spent his time talking to me. Slowly, I became the cheerful girl I used to be." She said. "The society changed a lot. Girls now go out, and they have more freedom than we had in our times. But still, society has a do and don't list for a girl. The greatest and unchanged belief they still have is that they think of anything new as a threat. The new generation might not be caring that, but the people of my age still have that belief. That's why we locked you in here. You are new, a girl with a gift is new to the society and I don't know how they will treat you."

She looked at me. The person I saw in front of me was not my mother, but a ten-year-old girl. A girl with big eyes. A girl with dreams. A girl who failed. A girl who hoped. A girl with lost dreams.

I wanted to tell her many things, but no words came to my mind.

"I'm sorry dear." She said.

"It's okay, Mother. I understand. I thought about the things you said. I understand that you are worried about me. For someone like me, who lives inside these walls, I can't hope more, I can't dream more. If I do, I will always be sad that I can't have anything I like. I won't be satisfied with the things I have. I understand mother. But mother, I'm just like you. I have dreams, but more than that I have some rights. One of them was to meet my siblings, that's all I asked you. Without you all, I'm no one. Without dreams and hopes, I will be dead on the inside." I said.

She was silent for some time. I looked straight into her eyes, she still looked like that little girl, with lost dreams.

"I understand." She said with a warm smile.

I was really afraid that my words might hurt her after everything she said, but it would have been like cheating myself if I didn't say anything.

The unsaid words give the most pain. I understood that a long time ago. Whenever I told them the things that were in my mind, I felt relieved. But, whenever I tried not to tell them, it pained a lot.

She stood up and walked towards the slits. She started to look out through each of them. I joined her. I looked outside. I don't know how long we stood like that. I was lost in the beauty of the outer world.

Everything was glistening in the afternoon sunlight. Everything about Nature was beautiful. I felt ugly whenever I saw the beauty of the world. The warm sunlight came through the slits. I raised my hands as if to touch the sunlight. I felt the hotness of the sun. I realized how much I miss those things.

The fresh air, the heat of the sun, the rain, the snow... I missed everything.

In times like these, I cursed myself for living a life like this. If I was born like others, I would have been able to feel everything. But then a part of me reminded, "You wouldn't be enjoying these small things if you were like other people. We wouldn't be able to understand the value of something until it's gone."

Maybe that's want makes us humans. We think about the things we can't see, and we dream about the things we can't have, and we hope for the things that won't happen.

I looked out and once again, I was lost in my thoughts.

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Hope you all have enjoyed the chapter.
Take care and stay healthy.
And...
Dream more.
🖤🖤🖤