Float

 Float.. arms spread on either side, eyes open, staring at the open sky, escaping all obligation, like a dead body.

Every time she wanted to escape from the madness around her, she frequently imagined herself floating in a water body, a lake or a swimming pool, empty and calm. That brought her momentary peace.

She was abandoned as a newborn in a shabby village bus stop. Someone passing by had picked up the screeching baby and handed her over to the local police station. She had survived the cold night and displayed the strength and stubbornness to live. Growing up was as easy as it is for any kid in an orphanage; survival skill proved a necessity. She learnt to navigate through the good and evil. 

Being a teenager wasn’t a smooth journey. Evil eyes gazed at the growing up teenager as a walking open treasure. This was the first time she desired to escape. Escape the evil eyes, the disgust she felt for the natural changes in her body, the fear. She imagined to float, to feel safe, to escape. 

She moved to a small town nearby, doing menial jobs for survival.

 

She fell in love with a construction worker while working at a building site. She assumed that all her worries would vanish now that she has found the love of her life. Two years down the line, with a baby in her hand and another growing in her womb, she realised that her man had multiple wives and she wasn’t the love of his life. She felt heavy; heavy with sadness and full pregnancy. She imagined to float, to feel light, to escape. 

She moved to the village orphanage she had grown up in.

News about her running away with the construction worker was very well circulated in the village. The old chaps thirsty for physical pleasure ogled at her as an easy target. Their evil eyes invariably followed her. The place she thought she would feel safe at, turned into one of her worst nightmares. She could not think of any other place to move out to. She felt helpless; at her situation and at the future of the two lives she had brought on earth. She wanted to float.

But this time, unable to escape from the chaos, she escaped the world. She floated, one last time, in the village lake. This time eyes closed, feeling safe, feeling light.