Scars

"Mom, the colour on the walls we painted last summer has faded and also blotched up at many places." said the eldest son.

"Mom, mabye we chose a wrong time to paint. We should have let the monsoon pass by, paint was cracked due to leakages in ceiling" said the middle son.

"As the monsoon season has already passed and Diwali is coming, can we repaint the house?" He continued.

"Mom...Please" The youngest son echoed his elder brothers.

All this discussion was happening between a widow and her three sons.

Mother tried to persuade " No,beta. It's Diwali time and we can't afford more expenses. We need to buy you new clothes, sweets and fire crackers.

Her sons tried to convice her by saying, "Mom, we will not buy crackers this year. And we still have Diwali clothes from last year. We will ensure we keep everything in budget. The only expense will be to buy paint as we will paint the walls ourselves.

Finally came a "Yes" although she was not coninced she couldn't let her sons down.

Diwali was around a week away so they decided to paint the house on sunday.

On sunday morning they went to the hardware store and bought sandpaper, brush and paint.

The whole day all three brothers were busy painting the house. By evening when they were done, the house had a different vibrant look.

Mother was happy seeing her sons work together and completing the task.

She came to them and said, "Beta.. you must be tired. Go and take a bath. I will prepare dinner by then. There will a surprise treat for you because all of you worked hard."

"Mom, we know you are going to serve us kheer. You have been giving us kheer as surprise treat for years now." all three sons echoed together.

When they finished their dinner and ate the surprise treat, kheer and were preparing to go to bed they could hear rumbling from the sky above.

A sound that woud usually make the brothers smile.

In a few moments rain started pouring. Not Only from the sky but also from their eyes.

The widow and her sons were watching as the rain was destroying their work and the paint getting wiped.

Life is a bitch sometime and they were in her cluthes.

The scars on the wall remained fresh in their heart for many years to come.