1.
He could see red. It was more
like vermillion. Something shone bright. It felt like he was staring into the
sun. His eyes cautiously half-opened, only to see sunshine easing its way in
through as Nupa raised the blinds and grinned that grin he remembered from the
first time he saw her. His feeling of fondness was interrupted by flashes of
red; this time, a deeper shade. In what felt like less than a second, reality took
over. The previous night’s events inundated his mind like a tornado attacking
an unsuspecting town. Fear paralyzed the whole of him. Guilt engulfed him. That
he slept blissfully after his sinful act sickened his guts. He could still see
it all fresh in his mind. She couldn’t scream, he had gagged her. She was
powerless, his little one. He remembered how her eyes welled up in pain. She
wriggled and twisted. It was a deep slit; the collar of her favorite purple top
was soaked in blood. The stars on the collar weren’t even visible. He saw how
she dreaded him that minute, it killed him inside. She was his only baby
daughter. He couldn’t see her writhe in pain. He just couldn’t. Yet, he did,
for a whole minute. He wept; he stood there watching her and let his tears gush
down as they did. He’d sworn to kill, if any man hurt his little girl; he never
never saw himself there. What else could he have done? She knew too much. If
she said a word about Riya outside, it would ruin his life forever, and not
just his. Nupa would never forgive him. Everyone would despise him. It was a
choice between his everything and his little girl. He had to let her go. He
remembered how he saw the girl freeze. He was trembling as he closed her door
shut and walked to his room where his wife was asleep and sleep-talking. He
could not recollect how he slept through the night. He wondered if the little
one had told her friends what she had seen earlier that week. What if she had?
How would he face Nupa if she found out? The thought of it petrified him. Riya
was one thing. He had slaughtered what Nupa loved, more than she loved him. He’d
be known as the beast who slayed his own little one. He was a murderer. He was
a bastard; he was disgusted. He closed his eyes.
He sat upright, watched Nupa as
she walked across the room; he smiled a contrived smile. He was glad when she
smiled back; Nupa hadn’t noticed the sweat on his forehead.
2.
He could see red. It was more
like vermillion. Something shone bright. It felt like he was staring into the
sun. His eyes cautiously half-opened only to see sunshine easing its way in
through as Nupa raised the blinds and grinned that grin he remembered from the
first time he saw her. She was still that lovely beautiful woman he had met nineteen
years back; how he loved her! It was the thought of her and their little girl
asleep in the other room that kept him a very happy man. The little one was
going to turn 14, she wanted to go for a sleepover. It felt unbelievable that
their little bundle of happiness had grown up so much; he was overwhelmed. His
eyes filled up every time he brought back memories from the day Nupa delivered
her. They were blessed. He got out of bed walked to Nupa and kissed her
forehead. He concocted what the little girl called Daddy’s Sunday Strawberry
Smoothie and walked to her room to wake her up. He twisted the knob; the door
squeaked as it opened. He dropped the glass. He screamed as he scampered
towards where his baby girl lay. Nupa rushed to the room in alarm, she stopped
at the door. He felt the girl’s wrist and banged his fist on the edge of the
cot. Nupa stood motionless. She couldn’t see; it was blurry. An appalling shade
of red was all she saw. The shards of glass that she had stepped on didn’t hurt
her foot. Her only child was no more. She wailed deafeningly. Then again,
hysterically. He’d sworn to kill, if any man ever hurt his little girl. That
second, he knew he’d find the man and rip his ribs out. Only, nothing would
bring back his girl. It killed his insides to see her frozen.
He was to blame. He whispered to
Nupa that it was his fault, all his. He shouldn’t have left his only child
alone. He sobbed uncontrollably. He never had his whole life.
P.S. : The above is a fictitious
narration, inspired by the unsolved Aarushi murder case about which numerous
stories/theories were conjured. I
shudder when I wonder what the man in case 2 would go through, if he were
accused of murder. The world could get sadistic sometimes.
