Eagam Khaling
Nancy was standing in front of the Top Hill Café, waiting for Esther. Her face brightened when she saw Esther approaching. Nancy stepped forward, holding a rose and a Cadbury chocolate, and said, “Esther, I really like you. Please, will you be my friend?” However, Esther completely refused to accept her offer of friendship.
Nancy was emotionally hurt. The question that kept running through her mind all day was, “Why doesn’t Esther want to be my friend?” She found herself asking God, “Why do all the people I love go away from me?”
After school, on the way home, Nancy’s attention suddenly caught a beggar shouting for alms, “Please, someone, kindly give something in the name of God!”
Nancy took a rose and ten rupees out of her bag and said to the beggar, “Uncle, I’ve written many letters to my mum, but she has neither replied nor come back. I love her so much. My only wish now is to see her just once. If you pray for me every day, I’ll give you ten rupees each day. It seems like God isn’t listening to my prayers lately!”
After speaking with the beggar, her eyes filled with tears, and her lips trembled. The beggar bowed his head, touching the dusty road, but when he finally lifted his gaze, he saw nothing. Still, he couldn’t understand why he felt like crying out loud.
Nancy’s father used to come home drunk late every night. She had a belief that when her mum once returned home from abroad her father would be fine. But that belief had become just a distant hope.
The next morning, Nancy went to school a little earlier than usual. But the beggar was not there where he used to be every day. She waited for him, but he did not turn up. She was so frustrated at not finding the beggar.
Afternoon, some teachers unexpectedly entered her classroom and started checking every bag. During the search, they found a lost medal in her bag. She was so perplexed and nervous that she even could not defend herself properly. As a result, the school suspended her for a week and sent a letter to her father informing him of the situation.
After school, Nancy tried to convince Esther and her classmates, but none of them believed her. She cried quietly on her way home. As she walked, she searched for the beggar, asking every passerby if they had seen him.
When Nancy saw the withered rose and the ten rupees left at the house gate, she felt as though her God died quietly in her heart. She ran to her room crying. There was only the housemaid at home, who tried to understand what had happened to Nancy, but Nancy remained silent. The housemaid was so frightened when she looked into Nancy’s eyes that she just thought of resigning from her job.
As usual, that night, Nancy’s father came home late. He found her lying cold on the bed. On the table, she had left Cadbury chocolates on a table along with a letter addressed to her father, friends, and teachers. With trembling hands, he picked up the letter and began to read:
My Dearest Papa,
Please bring my mum home soon. If you cannot do that, please send all the letters I have written to her. They are all safely stored in my cupboard.
Dear Teachers,
I am not the person you all think I am. I know there was a conspiracy against me—an irony of my fate! May God forgive you all!
Dear Esther and everyone,
I want you all to know that I still love you and my classmates. I promise I am not a bad girl. I’ve brought these chocolates for all of you because I will really miss you!
“I’m sorry, Papa! I couldn’t be your good girl!”
