FAST FORWARD

 The little girl raced through the  narrow  service lane  which took her  to the bank of  the  nearby  stream.  The gurgling water  glistened  under the  bright afternoon Sun. It being the  summer  afternoon , it was quiet  all around. The little girl was always fascinated by this stream mainly  because of  the stones that lay at the bottom of the stream whose clear water  made them visible to the eye  in all details. The stones  no longer  looked like the dull grey stones lying around  on the bank but took a life of their  own. She would sit closest to the stream,  at the same time, being   cautious of the  moss covered slippery steps  of the bank. These were the idyllic moments for her.  She sat there  unperturbed  with curious  eyes looking  at the flow of water over the  shimmering stones .The clear water rippled forth  blunting the  rough edges  of the stones, turning them smooth, the  rays of the Sun reflected their sheen making them gleam like   precious stones. She generally  came to the stream  to pick some  stray stones  lying close by  when the water ebbed a little  since the stream was not quite deep but somewhat shallow.  She felt like a king  lording over the  entire scene as  no body was there to claim her space.

 She also had  a  treasure trove  of her  own which she augmented  with her new findings, but the major part consisted of these stones  which she collected  near the stream and which she loved the most. The assortment had other trinkets too  which she hoarded from  time to time, the stray beads she found lying in the courtyard, multi-coloured broken glass bangles which fascinated her , So were the bird feathers  and the beautiful petals of the delicate flowers and  leaves of grape vine which she pressed in her note book and  which  she sometimes  relished eating, especially the grape leaves which tasted  sour.  The whole exercise consumed a lot of time  yet  it gave her immense pleasure  and made her feel rich. She guarded her  treasure  closely and kept it as a secret. This was her treasure and close to her heart. It was her companion in her lonely hours  when the ladies in the house  had their afternoon nap  and when  one could hear the wind whooshing  through the trees, and  she  could't find the trace of her siblings, who perhaps had their own haunts  which they  revealed to none. But  she  too never needed them, she was busy in her own world  where no body mattered but she alone  under the vast canopy of blue sky, the rippling stream and the treasures  she foraged in the loving  cradle of mother Nature. 

She suddenly stopped, she was feeling suffocated . She realised she had put off the  AC ,the air in the room felt heavy and dusty. She looked at her phone which looked ugly and lifeless to her.