Priyal, who had left home in the morning for her practice, finally returned to her mansion at night. Her eyes were heavy with tiredness. Both her shoulders were hanging down, clearly showing how much hard work she had done today. There was a bag on one shoulder, pulling it slightly lower. Her clothes were still wet around the neck because of sweat.

But on Priyal’s face, there was satisfaction, the kind of satisfaction a player has after a good practice. During the school holidays she was able to practice properly. She didn’t have to worry about homework or going to school daily. Her whole day belonged only to her practice.

As soon as Priyal stepped into the Roy mansion, her eyes fell on her mother, who had a card in her hand and a small smile on her face, the smile someone has before sending a loved one somewhere. Priyal brought both her eyebrows close, trying to read what was written on the card from far away, but it wasn’t possible.

Her mother’s attention was on the card, and so was Priyal’s. Priyal entered the hall with slow, tired steps. Her eyes were fixed on the card but her exhausted body dragged her towards the sofa because she had no energy left.

When Priyal’s mother saw her, her face lit up with the happiness that comes to a mother when she sees her children safe. Holding the card in her hand, she walked toward Priyal, the anklets on her feet and the bangles on her hands softly chiming as she moved.

Priyal looked at her mother with tired eyes, waiting for her to ask something.

“How was the practice… you look very tired today. Seems like the practice is going too hard,” her mother said to lighten the mood.

Priyal gave a small smile and replied, “Of course, Mom… I have to win the match at the state level. I still have a lot of practice left.” She looked up at the ceiling while speaking. The dream she had been seeing since childhood was clearly shining in her eyes.

To represent her country at an international level. That dream for which she had been working for the last two years, making herself capable enough to play at the state level and then the national level.

“When you practice with so much hard work and dedication, you will definitely win,” her mom said while sitting beside her. She placed her hand on Priyal’s shoulder. The cloth on her shoulder was wet, telling her how intensely Priyal had practiced. She looked at her daughter with proud eyes.

The image of the card flashed in Priyal’s mind again. She glanced sideways at her mother and asked, “Mom… whose card is that and for what?” she asked, confused.

Her eyes were still stuck on the closed card. Hearing her, her mother looked down at the card again. She lifted it slightly and said, “It’s from Ankit’s house. His friend’s daughter Siya’s birthday is tomorrow. They have kept a party in a hall at night. So this is the invitation.”

The moment Priyal heard Siya’s name, energy rushed back into her body, in a completely new form,  excitement.

She looked at the card and then at her mother. Her expression, which was dull a moment ago, changed completely. Now there was no tiredness or weakness on her face or in her body.

“Means… we are going there tomorrow?” Priyal asked excitedly. Her eyes didn’t just hold Siya’s birthday excitement, she was also feeling excited about meeting Jay after many days.

She didn’t know why, but just hearing Jay’s name gave her a different feeling. Just one accident had changed all her feelings for Jay.

“Yes, of course. How can we miss anything from Ankit bhaisaab’s family? Come early tomorrow. And tell your sister too, she always takes the most time to get ready,” her mom said with pretend anger.

A big smile spread across Priyal’s face. She suddenly jumped off the sofa, lifted her bag from her shoulder again, and ran toward the stairs. Her mother watched her with confused and surprised eyes. She honestly hadn’t expected Priyal to become this happy just by hearing they had to go there.

♡♡

After sitting at the table, Siya went up to the roof. She did not talk to anyone, nor did she want to, because she knew everything was happening because of her. She sat in a corner of the roof, her face barely visible. Siya’s knees were close to her chest, held by her own hands.Tears streamed down her face, her eyes were red, and her heart was beating fast. She could not understand why all this was happening, when she had neither asked for anything nor spoken.

Rohit, who was sitting nearby, watching his sister cry, was too young to understand what was happening at home, nor did he pay much attention to it. But whenever he saw his elder sister crying, he also felt like crying. He hated seeing her sad and could not bear anyone making her cry. From the moment she

started crying, Rohit stayed beside her.

“Didi, please stop. When you cry, I feel like crying too,” Rohit said, pleading. His voice was full of emotion, as if he might cry any moment. But Siya did not react; she lowered her head, sobbing quietly. Her voice itself carried her pain. Rohit placed his hand on her knees, wanting her to feel she was not alone.

“Didi, why are you crying? Simran aunty told you not to take Swati aunty’s words to heart, right? So why are you crying? It makes me feel bad. It would have been better if we were in the village. There, Papa used to come and console us; here, no one is here,” Rohit said, tears welling in his eyes, remembering his early days, how their father used to comfort them lovingly without hurting them.

Siya’s memories of her home overwhelmed her; she remembered her father, and her heart broke further. Her body slowly seemed to give up

Then Simran came to the roof, breathing heavily. As soon as she saw Rohit and Siya, she ran toward them. Seeing Siya cry caused her a strange pain. Siya was not her daughter, yet Simran felt her suffering clearly. 

She looked at Siya with loving, heavy eyes, tears forming as she saw her like this. Simran sat beside her quietly, not saying anything, just looking at her, her eyes full of the pain Siya’s family had caused her.

Rohit looked at Simran, tears in his eyes, which she could feel. Simran placed her hand gently and lovingly on Rohit’s cheek and said, “Rohit, go downstairs. I will talk to Siya, okay?” Rohit glanced once at his sister, then nodded and stood up. Though he did not want to leave Siya alone, he also knew that at this moment, only Simran could comfort her, not him

After Rohit left, Simran placed her hands on Siya’s hair. As Simran did this, Siya’s sobbing slowly eased. Perhaps she had been waiting so long for this love that Simran was now giving her.

“Siya,” Simran said softly. Her voice carried love for Siya, care like a mother’s, exactly what Siya needed the most right now.

Hearing her name from Simran’s mouth, Siya lifted her head and looked at Simran. Siya’s eyes were red. Her cheeks and clothes were soaked. Her breaths were fast from crying, and her chest was moving up and down repeatedly.

Seeing Siya in this state, Simran felt pain in her heart. She didn’t like seeing Siya cry like this. She had made herself vulnerable through her crying.

“Siya. Don’t cry, bacha. I am here. Your whole family is with you. If you cry alone like this, your health will get worse,” Simran said lovingly. Her hand was still on Siya’s hair. Simran placed her other hand over Siya’s hands.

Siya looked at Simran with her red eyes. Tears in her eyes spoke of her pain.

“Be quiet. Whatever Bhabhi said was in anger, beta. She was just a little hurt, that’s why she spoke in anger. It’s not that she doesn’t like you, she is just a little hurt, that’s all, beta,” Simran tried to explain to Siya. She herself knew that what Swati had said today was very wrong and could have been justified differently.

But what could she do? She could not tell Siya the truth

“Mu… mummm, I… I don’t want… to go to an orphanage,” Siya said, crying. Her voice was completely broken; the thought of the orphanage still ran through her mind. Siya looked at Simran helplessly.

Simran shook her head slowly. Siya’s words seemed to dry in Simran’s throat. No words came out, she only shook her head.

“No one is sending you there, Siya. Don’t ever think I would keep you away from me. For me, just like Sona and Richa, you are also the same. I will never send you away, Bacha. Don’t think like that. No one will ever send you anywhere,” Simran said, hugging Siya. Siya held Simran tightly with both hands as if she didn’t want to let her go.

Siya’s tears fell on Simran’s shoulder. Simran slowly moved her hand on Siya’s back, comforting her.

“You will never go anywhere. You are part of this home, a part that can never be separated. What Bhabhi said is her thought, not ours. You are the daughter-in-law of this home, and this is your home forever. Don’t ever think of anything else,” Simran said slowly.

Siya started nodding her head. Simran’s words seemed sincere, full of affection, showing her motherly love, exactly what Siya had always wanted.

For a while, Simran kept sitting there, hugging Siya just like that. Siya’s voice had stopped coming out, but her tears still weren’t stopping. Simran didn’t want to say anything to Siya at this moment; she just wanted to make her feel that she wasn’t alone. She wanted to pull out the pain that was sitting inside her.

“Mami… why does mami talk like that? What wrong have I done… that she always talks like that… to me? I don’t even go in front..... of her so much. I… don’t even talk to her, and I never expected that she would ever… talk to me with love. I just do what… what you all tell me to do… then why… does she behave like that?” As Siya told all this to Simran, tears kept falling from her eyes.

Simran’s hand paused for a moment on Siya’s back after hearing her words. Simran couldn’t think of anything to answer this little Siya’s question. She knew that one day this thought would surely come into Siya’s mind, but she didn’t know it would come so soon.

“Siya, nothing like that, dear. She isn’t angry with you. She is angry with all of us. She is upset with all of us, dear. But I don’t know why her anger always comes out on you. Don’t think too much about it. You never did anything wrong, Bacha,” Simran said to Siya. Even though she knew she was lying, she didn’t want to tell Siya the truth and make her more upset.

Slowly, Simran held Siya’s shoulders and separated her from herself. Siya’s tears still weren’t stopping. A helpless sobbing sound kept coming from her mouth. Her eyes had become completely swollen.

Seeing Siya in this condition, Simran’s heart kept shrinking. She was feeling helpless at this moment. She couldn’t do anything for her Siya except talk.

Simran wiped the tears from Siya’s cheeks with her index finger.

Believing Simran’s answer, Siya was trying to calm herself down. She felt that maybe Swati’s anger just came out on her, otherwise Swati wasn’t angry with her. She believed that.

“Come, let’s go downstairs, dear,” Simran said softly to Siya.

Siya shook her head and said, “I want to stay here… a little more, mummy. I like sitting here… under the stars. Sitting here makes me… feel like my mummy… papa is watching me. I am looking… at them. Sitting under the sky… I feel like home."

As Siya slowly spoke, Simran’s tears could no longer stop. Simran quickly wiped her tears. she didn’t want to break in front of Siya. But before Simran could say anything more, a voice came.

“Mummy.”

Simran turned back and saw Aditya standing there. He was looking towards Simran and Siya. Siya wasn’t looking at Aditya; her gaze was still down, and tears were still falling from her eyes.

Siya did not look toward Aditya even once. Her gaze was down on the floor. Her voice had stopped coming out, but from her eyes tears were falling to the floor like water. Siya’s throat had dried from crying so much, and now she just needed a drop of water.

Aditya shifted his look from Simran to Siya, who was sitting in one corner with her head lowered. Aditya knew that if Siya had been upstairs this long and was sitting in a corner like that, then surely she would have been crying. He could not control himself after seeing Siya like this, that’s why he himself had come upstairs so he could calm her.

Aditya took a deep breath and moved his steps toward the two of them. As he went closer to Siya, he could understand her condition more clearly. Her red face was visible, defining her state completely.

Simran stood up from her place and looked at Aditya helplessly. She had nothing left to make Siya stop crying. She looked at Aditya with pleading eyes, silently praying that now only he could make Siya quiet.

Aditya understood his mom’s gesture and gave her a nod. Seeing that one nod gave Simran a little relief inside. She pressed her lower lip lightly between her teeth and looked toward Siya. It was getting hard for Simran to control herself seeing Siya like that.

She looked at Siya one last time and walked away. Siya didn’t look at Simran even once as she left. She neither had the wish nor the strength to look at anyone. She just wanted to go somewhere far away from everyone.

Somewhere she could meet her mom and dad. A place where she would get the love for which she had come to this world. The love from her parents who loved her more than their life.

After Simran left, Aditya came and stood in front of Siya. He looked at her carefully once and spoke,

“Siya,” Aditya took her name gently

“get up.” His eyes were fixed on Siya.

Hearing Aditya’s voice felt like running through Siya again. Movement showed in her body. She gathered a lot of courage and lifted her head to look at Aditya. Her eyes had turned completely red, her face had gone pale. Her body was shaking, her lips were dry like a desert after crying for so long.

Siya looked at Aditya’s face. His voice was still echoing in her mind, but her body wasn’t supporting her. She kept looking at him the way a lost child looks at their parents.

“Siya, I’m saying something. Stand up.” Aditya spoke again, softly. He wanted to stay gentle with her. He didn’t want to use even a single strict word that could give her more pain.

Siya lowered her gaze again. Then she placed one hand on the floor for support and pushed her body up with that hand. Her whole body hurt from crying. Slowly, Siya stood up. Even then she looked small in front of Aditya. She reached only up to his shoulder.

Siya’s gaze stayed down, but Aditya’s eyes were on her face. Seeing her like this made him feel pain, also anger at whatever had happened downstairs. But he didn’t want to take any wrong steps now. He just wanted to fix everything.

“Come with me,” Aditya said again, calmly and slowly. Then he turned and walked toward the railing. Siya lifted her eyes to look at him once and then, after thinking for a moment, quietly followed him.

Aditya stopped near the railing, from where the whole city was clearly visible. Lights were shining everywhere in the city, and above it in the sky, stars were sparkling. In the middle of all of them, the moon was glowing alone, lighting up the world.

Siya also came and stood near the railing. Aditya kept his hands in his pockets and looked at her. When he came here to talk to her, he had no idea what he would say or do; his mind had only told him to go to Siya, so he came.

Siya was still standing with her head lowered. Tears were rolling down from her eyes and falling on her cheeks, and Aditya could see all of it clearly.

“I told you before,” Aditya started speaking gently, “that we don’t cry at every problem. We look for the solution.” He reminded her of his earlier words.

But right now, none of his words are affecting Siya. Her mind was still repeating everything Swati had said to her. She was still scared that she would be sent to an orphanage. The moment that word came to her mind again, her tears began to fall even faster.

Aditya, who had been watching her quietly till now, got scared thinking that maybe his words had hurt her even more. Seeing her cry again made him feel bad, especially because he felt responsible. He slowly realized that at this moment, Siya couldn’t think with logic. Expecting her to act maturely would only hurt her more.

“Okay, leave all this for now,” Aditya said softly, hoping she would stop thinking about those things again.

He stood facing her and looked at her expression. Right now the most important thing for him was that Siya should stop crying, whatever he had to do for that.

“You know,” Aditya said as an idea came to his mind, “when you cry, you look like a kid who’s crying over a toy.” He stepped a little closer to her.

Hearing this, Siya began to cry even more. Aditya pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh at how innocent she looked. His eyes were fixed on the little expressions she was making while crying.

“Don’t cry,” Aditya said softly. He didn’t want to tease her and make her cry more. Slowly he lifted his hands toward Siya’s face.

When Siya sensed that his hands were moving close to her cheeks, her body reacted instantly. Her attention shifted away from crying, and she simply waited for when his hands would touch her face. Her eyes were still down, and then Aditya gently placed his hands on her cheeks.

He held both her cheeks softly and turned her face slightly toward him. His hands were warm, giving her comfort. Her heartbeat grew faster. For that moment, she forgot everything, why she was crying, where she was, and what Swati had said.

When Aditya touched her cheeks, they felt soft to him, like he was touching a delicate flower. Slowly he held them a little more firmly and turned her face fully toward him. There was still some distance between them.

Then he used his thumbs to gently wipe the tears under her eyes. Siya had never been treated with such softness by Aditya before, nor had she ever imagined a moment like this in her life.

The feeling made her close her eyes tightly. She didn’t want to feel any sadness right now, she just wanted to feel the warmth of his hands.

Aditya wiped away all her tears carefully. Maybe this was the first time he had done something like this for a girl. But right now, his morals didn’t matter to him, he only wanted Siya to stop crying, even if it meant wiping her tears with his own hands.

Aditya slowly moved his hand away from Siya’s cheeks again. Siya gently opened her eyes, and the moment she did, her eyes met Aditya’s eyes, which were calm and quietly looking at her. Seeing Aditya standing so close to her like that, Siya felt a strange kind of comfort and a sense of belonging.

She felt as if yes, she also had someone of her own, someone who was there for her whenever she cried, whenever she felt sad, and that person was Aditya.

“Now don’t start crying again. Look, you’ve completely messed up your face from crying so much,” Aditya began speaking. “And if you cry again, then when we go to the doctor, I’ll tell the doctor to give you an injection,” he said, trying to stop Siya from crying by scaring her with the name of an injection.

The moment she heard the word injection, Siya’s eyes widened instantly. Only she knew how scared she got even at the mention of an injection. She looked straight at Aditya, silently pleading with her eyes, asking him not to do anything like that.

Seeing her expression, Aditya lifted his eyebrows because he knew exactly how scared Siya was of injections, and he also knew that this would definitely frighten her.

“No injection, right?” Aditya bent slightly toward Siya and asked her. His eyebrows were still raised in that questioning way.

Siya didn’t say anything; she just quickly shook her head in a firm “no.” Seeing her do that, Aditya bit his lower lip between his teeth to stop himself from laughing, because now he really couldn’t control his smile,  but Siya didn’t see any of this. She had already lowered her gaze again.

“Come, I’ll tell you a story about a monkey and a crocodile. But first you stop crying,” Aditya said, because he knew how much Siya loved listening to stories. Back in her village, she used to listen to a story from her father every night. He knew very well that if he mentioned a story, Siya would definitely stop crying.

Hearing the word story, Siya looked at Aditya again, and this time there was no pain or sadness in her eyes,  instead, there was a spark of excitement. Aditya felt relieved, because finally, one way or another, he had found a way to stop Siya from crying. She quickly wiped the few tears that were still left on her cheeks and nodded her head in agreement. Her body language started showing that excitement Aditya expected.

Saying this, Aditya sat down on the floor. Just beside Siya. And Siya stood there for a moment, watching Aditya’s actions, confused about what exactly he was doing.

“Come on, sit here beside me,” he said. Keeping his hand on the space near him, he asked her to sit. Siya didn’t say anything, she just did exactly what Aditya told her to do. She quickly sat down next to him. There was still a small distance between them.

Siya was completely ready to hear the story from Aditya.

“Hmm… okay, let me start. Listen carefully, alright?” Aditya began, “A long time ago, there was a monkey and a crocodile.” He started speaking slowly.

Siya was listening very attentively. For a moment, she had forgotten everything else going on in her life.

“Both of them were very good friends. The monkey lived on a jamun tree and every day he gave jamun to the crocodile to eat, and the crocodile loved them a lot.” While speaking, Aditya kept looking at Siya’s reactions.

Her expressions were clearly telling him that she was slowly forgetting her sadness and getting fully absorbed in the story.

“One day, the monkey had to cross the river to meet his other friend. So he asked the crocodile to carry him on his back across the river. The crocodile agreed, and the monkey sat on his back to cross the river.”

Siya’s expressions were slowly turning into impressive ones.

She really liked the story. It was the first time Aditya had ever told a story in his life, and he was trying hard to tell it properly so Siya would feel a little better.

“When the monkey was in the middle of the river, the crocodile suddenly became greedy. He thought, ‘If the jamun the monkey gives me is so sweet, then the monkey’s heart must be even sweeter.’”

Hearing this, Siya immediately looked at Aditya.Her face clearly showed that the crocodile was absolutely wrong to think like that about his friend.

“Then the crocodile told the monkey that he wanted to eat the monkey’s heart.” The monkey got very scared, but he was very smart. He quickly came up with an idea.” Aditya told her then he turned his head in direction "Tell me, what do you think his idea was?”

To involve her more, Aditya asked Siya a question in the middle.Hearing it, Siya snapped out of the story for a second and looked at him with confused eyes. She shook her head, meaning she didn’t know.

“I’ll tell you,” Aditya continued.

“The monkey told the crocodile, ‘Oh! I left my heart on the tree. You’re my friend, so of course I’ll give it to you. But you have to take me back to the tree so I can get it.’”

Hearing the answer, Siya almost laughed, because she knew something like that wasn’t possible. The monkey was clearly lying to save his life.

Little by little, a tiny smile began forming on her lips.

“The crocodile believed him and took him back to the tree. And then, what else? The monkey quickly jumped onto the land and climbed up the tree. The poor crocodile waited below, but the monkey never came back.”

Finally, Aditya finished the story.It was a very simple story, meant for small kids, but at that moment he couldn’t think of anything else to help Siya feel lighter. He just told whatever came to his mind.

And Aditya’s idea worked.

After listening to the story, a soft smile appeared on Siya’s face. She really liked it.For a moment, her eyes had no trace of pain.Only the story of the monkey and the crocodile was running through her mind.