A piece of broken yellow glass stood suspended high above. It had a spherical shape and it hung there radiating warm rays from itself. The Sun shone as brightly as a crystal. It was the colour of flaming gold and it’s rays warmed her cheeks like a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace.

On the terrace, there hung shreds of rope for drying! A closer revealed a tiny girl behind those swaying shreds – her hair. She was trying to spot the Venus, who was always fascinated by Astronomy, as it was close to the Sun at these hours of the day. She was a usual child – as innocent as a puppy and naturally attracted towards all beautiful things. However, the people around her never made her feel usual. Her features ruined everything for her. She had a face as huge as a pumpkin, eyes as small as a fish’s , a formidably swollen nose and white lips. She had had many surgeries in the past, since she was two years old, because she had a syndrome. The most recent being yesterday, on her third birthday. She had just begun going to school but she feared the reactions of people looking at her. Teachers used to stare right in her face and the children used to scream on looking at her. Nobody wanted to be friends with her either and she sat at the corner of the class, forlorn. She wanted to quit it right away. The girl had pearls on her face rolling down her cheeks as she feared the thought of going to school again. The girl was shedding tears and the sunlight gave them a glassy shine. She felt a hand on her shoulder, her Daddy.

Her Daddy was her closest and only friend. He had an amazing timing and had such a style that he could make her laugh by connecting things with Astronomy, she loved the most, even in the saddest of hours. He was listening to her soft sobs. The girl threw herself at her Daddy and cried inconsolably. Her Daddy did not try to quieten the desolate charge either. In the core of his heart, he knew how difficult it was for a little girl at the tender age of three to face the superstitious society, agonizing pain she underwent and the ‘duh’s’ people exclaimed on looking at her. He waited until she was relieved.

Katherine wiped her tears when she recollected this. She had undergone imbearable pain and cried as she narrated it to her daughter. Katherine believed that this incident made her feel stronger whenever she was depressed. She continued,” He pushed my chin up with his finger and looked into my eyes. His eyes were a calm shade of black. He said something that still echoes in my heart,” Katherine, you need not be ashamed for looking extraordinary. Those people shouldn’t matter to you but the solution does not lie in not going to school”, I looked up at him and he smiled as he had read my mind. He continued “You must continue meeting people and gradually they will surely embrace you. After all, this is an “eclipse”. It too shall pass.”, Daddy and I chuckled.

Copyright © Rijak Kaur Sarla