Realizations - A New Beginning (OS)

Realisations ' A New Beginning

He stood there, feet apart, arms crossed over his chest, eyebrows knitted in a fierce scowl. He had made a circle of fire around her and was now waiting for her to break.

How dare she? She had made his Datta Thakur lose face in front of the whole village. People who never dared to look him in the eye will now talk about the aborted ritual in his house. And they certainly will not be charitable. After all,  it's human nature to discuss others people's problems thread bare. And that will be almost like stripping Datha Thakur of his honor ! He, Prithvi, will never allow that to happen. Not as long as he's alive. This girl will pay for it. He will break her spirit and force her to return to her city defeated and disgraced.

The circle of fire continued to burn bright and the heat radiating from it was intense. But still, she stood, a determined look on her face, not a sign of panic or fear. She will not give him the satisfaction of seeing her panic, she averred. He was a bully and a boor and she was not going to give in. He would have to kill her before she so much as let out a squeak !

As he stared at the slim figure, resolutely standing in the circle of fire, he could not but help admire her courage. She had guts, he'd give her that. From the day she set foot in the village,  she had crossed swords will all over her quest to get her father visit her mother. Whenever she spoke of her mother he could see the immense love she had for her in her eyes. He wondered if he too would have loved his mother with similar intensity.

He closed his eyes breathed in deeply trying to stem the raw hurt which invaded his whole being whenever he thought of his parents . Why did they abandon him ? What could be so earth-shattering that a mother could leave her infant on the steps of a temple and just walk away ?

His eyes flew open as he heard a cough. He saw her covering her nose and mouth with her dupatta. The fumes from the burning fuel were getting too pungent now.

She tried to control her cough once again. Her throat, nose and eyes were burning from the acrid smell of the smoke. Her eyes were watering and her vision was blurred. She felt faint and nauseous. Then she saw him, running towards her !

As he watched her trying to save herself from the smoke, he saw her sway slightly, in a trice he was running towards her. With a huge leap he crossed the circle of flames and caught her just as she collapsed.

Back home he placed her on his charpoy and carefully covered her with a sheet. He wet his towel and wiped her face of the grime and soot. He looked at her intently and suddenly something snapped in him ! 

He leapt up and threw the bunched towel to a corner with a ferocity that surprised even him. When did he, Prithvi, the savior of the weak and helpless, become so absorbed with vengeance that he almost burned a helpless girl ! He clenched his fist and punched a bale of hay and sent it spinning to the other end of the yard.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself. There must be some other way to deal with this girl. Clearly she was here on a mission. If she was here only for Datta Thakur's money she would have given up long ago. But her battle was something more personal. He vowed to get to the bottom of this. Even if it meant a visit to the city to check her credentials, he'd do it.

He felt her stirring, in a trice he was at her side. Bending beside the charpoy he called softly, "Meera ". She was muttering something, almost inaudible. He bent closer and caught the words, 'Ma' and 'sick'. Remorse hit him, as he realized she was speaking the truth, her mother was ill.

He brought a glass of water, lifted her head onto his lap and held the glass to her lips. Her eyes fluttered open and she slowly sipped some water. She then raised herself up and looking him in the eye, she said, "You called me Meera".

He was caught off guard and mumbled something about having to go out. He then asked her to stay put at home and rest for a while. 

Before she could say anything he was gone, leaving her wondering if she had really heard him call her name.