Vanya

'Once upon a time there was a Mighty king and he loved his wife and his kingdom. He was brave and strong. But only one thing could make him weak, his sweet little daughter Vanya. So once the mighty King was going to the dark forbidden forest to find the rare fruit of immortality when'....
"mom what is immortality?", asked a little girl sitting on a mother's lap.
'Immortality means something that never gets over or someone who never cease to exist.' Still a little confused,  the little girl smiles back and insists on continuing the story.
'Yes, so the mighty king was leaving for the forest when little Vanya stops him and says, "daddy will you get me a deer while coming back?" And "yes", replies the king," Anything for my daughter!". So the king traveled across the great sea and crossed the big desert and climbed over the huge mountains.  And then he reached the forbidden forest.  The forest was dark and scary. But the brave king was not at all scared. Here bravely Took out his sword and went in.'
"And then mom?", little girl asked excitedly. 'And then my dear Arya will go to sleep.' Arya lets out a long mournful squeal and flops down on her bed moving away from her mother.
'Don't you wanna listen to the story tomorrow? If you listen the whole story today then we'll be left with no more stories.'  Arya places her hand on her chin and appears to be in some deliberations between heart and mind. Then she declares her verdict, "Tomorrow you tell me what happens!!" And hugs her mom. 'Now kiss your dad good night.' Arya turns to her side table and picks up a picture of her father, then kisses him good night. Her mother then switched off the light and bid get good night.

'I hope the king finds the fruit of immortality', Megha says in a sad and low voice. As she lays down on her cold and lonely bed, she remembers all the amazing moments in her life. The day she met her husband Rishi , and their 1st date, then the day he proposed to her, the day they got married, the amazing day when she found out that she was pregnant and the day her daughters were born. Yes, there were 2 of them. Beautiful twins, Arya and Vanya.  She then abruptly all happiness ceased to exist. She remembers the day Rishi took Vanya out for a walk as she was being a little cranky.  And that was the last she ever saw those two. He never returned home.  And she was left alone. Well not totally alone because her beautiful daughter Arya was with her. But no matter what amount of time passes by, the pain of losing your child and husband never lessens. It is difficult enough to get over this, it gets harder when you have no clue what happened to them. On that fateful day, everything seemed so normal. Both were happy and content.  But no one knows how, where and why Rishi disappeared along with Vanya.
She tried everything she could. Filling a missing case, searching for them all over the city alone, and posting pictures online. Literally everything a mother of a 6-month-old child can do to find her husband and child. But no positive results. She didn't want to accept that her husband and child are dead.  She had given up on the faulty police force who had closed the case 3 years ago. They told her to accept that they were dead and move on with her life. How could she though?
But deep inside, she was desperate for any news. Even if it was the news of death. Something other than waiting. At least a closure. Something; anything.  Any reason for this that happened 6 years ago? After a long lonely and hopeless stare at the ceiling, she finally succumbed to her tiredness and drifted into a deep sleep.

Then a new day begins. Early morning she paces around the house doing chores. Took a bath, cooks breakfast, then packs tiffin for herself and Arya, takes out her office clothes, and hurries to wake up Arya. After the daily bickering of 'please 10 minutes more' finally Arya wakes up and she is 'forced' to brush her teeth as lately, she has learned from her "knowledgeable" friends that toothpaste contains soap. Then a not-so-relaxing bath as they are racing against time. Wrapped in a towel Queen Arya is pampered and kissed and then dressed for school.
"C'mon, mom!! My bus will come ", squealed Arya.
'Ya ya. You sleep 10 minutes extra and then all the blame comes on me?' She chuckles. Quickly Arya eats her toast and drinks her milk. Just then a honk is heard.  Arya runs outside with her bag and gets on her bus.  She waves to her mother bye and the bus leaves. And again Megha is alone. But no time to waste. She gets dressed and then leaves for the office. Office for her is a place for relaxation rather than stress. That is the only place which doesn't remind her of her loss. She worked as the assistant manger in her company and her sweet and loving nature reflected in her work and office behavior as well. Loved and appreciated by all, Megha was a person who would be an amazing role model for little Arya. She goes to a bakery to get Arya's favorite cake and then drives over to her sister's house to pick up Arya who stays with her once she gets back from school until Megha comes back.  Ever since Rishi went missing Megha and her sister have done everything in their power to give a good living conditions and better upbringing to the little bundle of joy.  This is the pretty same schedule since the past 5 years. But today was a little different.

While driving from her sister's home Megha gets a call.  She picks up the call and doom falls over her. She drove at a brisk pace and halted outside her house. And there were 2 police officer standing at her door steps with a file in their hands. She firmly held Arya's hand and ambled over to the door. Looked lovingly at her and said, 'Baby now you go inside and change clothes.  Mummy will talk to police uncle and then come back inside.' Arya sensed some tension and refuse to leave her mother's side. One of the police officer comes down to her level and  explains, "don't worry little girl, your mom is safe. We will send her very soon." Arya smiles at him and relaxes her grip on her mother's hand and goes in. After this the police faces Megha and holds out her a file. Then continues, " Miss Rai I am Officer Gururaj. I would ..." then interrupted by Megha,'Mrs. Manji Sir. I am married."
The police frowns at this And replies, "I don't think so Ma'am. We found your husband's body." Megha incontinent plump down in disrepair.  Shakily she opens the file to see bone remains and a bunch of evidence. She looked up at the officers as if to just hope them hear that this is all a lie. No reply. She immediately turns the pages of the file searching for something. Looking all worried anxious and impatient she asked the officer,' where is my daughter?'
"What daughter", the police replies. She furiously exclaims,' did you even read about the case?' Then proceed telling them about her and then the police replies, " we didn't find any remains of a baby, but we are be scared that since she was such a small baby; wild animals could have eaten the remains or someone might have taken her if she was still alive. But the investigation has been reopened and the cause and reason of death of your husband is still being looked upon.  So we will expand a search radius to also search your daughter. " Megha gets up and thanks them. without having any more conversations she gets inside. 

Arya sitting on the couch watching her favorite cartoon and eating a biscuit greets her with a smile. She quickly wipes her tears and goes to sit next to her. They both watch the cartoon for a while and then she goes to the kitchen to make supper. Then they both have dinner and then it's story time. "Mom now tell me what happened when the king goes into the scary forest?", Arya exclaimed erratically. And thus she began.
'So the brave King entered the deadly forbidden forest where there were humongous Monsters and Magical witches. But he held on to his courage and kept walking towards the forbidden tree which had the fruit of immortality. But on his way he found a beautiful fairy whose name was.... Fairy.'
She was interrupted by Arya," Mommy why was her name fairy? Why can't her name be Dilly?".
Megha chuckled and asked,' why Dilly?'
To which Arya enthusiastically replies,"Because Dilly is my best Friend!". Bursting into laughter Megha then continued the story,' So the king met a fairy named Dilly. she guided him towards the tree. she helped him fight the monster and kept her safe. then after some time the king finally found the Forbidden tree which bears the fruit of immortality. he reaches for it and then suddenly he falls down a hole.'
"WHY", Arya screamed.
'I don't know baby! we will find out Tomorrow, replies Megha. Resentfully Arya lies down on her bed and kisses her father goodbye. seeing this a trail of tears trickles down Megha's cheek which she quickly wipes and kisses her daughter good night. 

She goes to her room and sits down on the corner of her bed. Aimlessly stares at the wall as tears flow down her cheek, her throat choking up as if she had swallowed a piece of hot burning coal. her hands shivering as he tries to reach the file. only one question ringing constantly and loudly in her mind, same as Arya "WHY?" All these years, she was living her life in the hopes of someday finding her child & husband and now that hope was shattered. A piece of her soul died that very moment she saw that file. A torturous pain in her heart enveloped her. the only reason she was still holding on to those memories was gone. She curled up holding a picture of her husband and cried herself to sleep. The next morning was more difficult than ever. She couldn't even mourn her dead husband because she couldn't let her daughter go through all this, So she put up a brave front and went on with her daily routine. After sending Arya to school she called the police department and asked if she could meet the investigating officer. After getting the permission she rushed urgently and reached the Police station. The investigating officer greeted her and then began the worst conversation of her life. The officer told her all about the body and the case.
"The bones were found by a group of teens skinny dipping in the Band Lake. one of the kids found a bone and then called the police. when we arrived we dug up and found more bones. the forensic team gathered the bone and figured out it was of a man around the age of 35-40. We searched for all the cases of missing males around that age then matched the skull with the photographs. your husband's facial features matched with the skull. the forensic department are still working on the bones to find out time of death and cause of death. And we are trying to find any possible clues suggesting any foul play and searching for your daughter." Megha was silent. no response from her side. So still as if she didn't even hear a single word. then after a minute of awkward silence she spoke,' how will you find my daughter?' to this the officer replied," It would be helpful if you have any pictures of her. I know it has been 7 years, but there will be some resemblance." Nervously she said,'Arya and Vanya were identical twins. i will give you a picture of them from 7 years back and also Arya's present pic' She hands out the pictures and walks out. The whole scenario plays inside her head. the day he went out with vanya. Everything flushed back like a flood. She sat down at the stairs of the police station and cried her heart out. before she could realize it was already noon . She got up. wiped off her tears and went to Arya's school to pick her up. 

She got there and Arya's face lit up! Never did she expect that her mother would pick her up. They got in the car. Arya kissed her mother's cheek and softly Said,"I love you mummy". Then they both went to their favorite Ice-cream parlor. Megha ordered her favorite Cookie and cream, where as Arya ordered A chocolate swirl. After a series of chit chat between mother and daughter; they got back in the car, informed her sister about Arya so that she wouldn't be worried. and went home. it was the 1st time in many years that they both were home so early. Megha made some lunch for Arya and then they watched "moana" for the 3rd time and then Arya went off to play. Megha sat on her Study table thinking about her long lost daughter. was she still alive? If she was, How was she? Where was she? But finally after years, There was a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel. She didn't realize that 3 hours passed. Arya came to her, tugged on her shirt and said,"Mom I'm hungry!"
Megha got up abruptly looking at the time. it was already 8:30. She Scurried across the kitchen and prepared dinner. soon everything was done and then they both sat down. Usually, Arya was always babbling about her day at school but today she was silent. Which worried her mother. After some time she finally spoke," Mom you know something strange happened to me today".
Megha asked, 'What is it, baby? tell me'  and Arya continued,"Two police uncle came to me. They were asking me about Vanya." Megha's face went pale.
She nonchalantly asked,' And what did you tell baby?'. "I said I didn't know who Vanya is.", Arya replied.
A smile spread across Megha's face. She Blew a flying kiss at Arya and said,' Good job my little girl'. Then Megha cleaned up the dishes while Arya changed into her night pajamas.

Megha finished her work and then laid next to her daughter. Arya patiently waiting for her mother to tell her the story. And thus began,' So you remember how the king fell in the hole. So there was darkness all around. he couldn't see anything. but then a beautiful light shone on him. it was Dilly. she guided him further and further. And then it was the end of the tunnel. "You are safe now King", Said the fairy. "But i need the fruit!", exclaimed the king. Dilly became sad. She asked why he wanted the fruit? And the king told that he wanted it for the love of her life. So the Fairy asked," Is it the Queen?" The king frowns and says that he loved someone else but she is not the queen...
Arya interrupted," But Mommy its Wrong! How can he love someone else when he has the Queen?"
Megha smiled at her and said,' yes baby. It is wrong. And that is why Dilly the fairy says that he will be punished because he has hurt the Queen and his children. The fairy takes out her wand and was about to give the king his punishment when the king begs to her," Please Mighty Fairy. Stop. I have to Give my daughter Vanya a Deer for her birthday." The fairy stops. then she thinks for some while. and then says," You truly love your daughter. So will give you a chance. go to your Queen. Tell her The truth and I will Give the prettiest Deer in the Forest to your daughter and spare your punishment" so the king agreed and began returning to the Castle. King climbed over the huge mountains,  crossed the big desert and traveled across the great sea.'
"Then what mommy?" came a sound from Arya's side.
"Then my little Arya Sleeps", Said Megha and tucks her in the Bed.

She went out of the room and then snugged into the couch. Turned off the TV and dialed a number. 'Hello!
Yes I'm speaking.
May I ask why the hell is the police Questioning my Daughter?
Yes Arya knows about Vanya.
I don't want them near my daughter.
Yes you better make sure of it otherwise later they will find your body next.
Ya, See you soon.'
And the call cuts. She looked at her screen with the dialed number of Officer Gururaj. Then she apathetically writes a text message,' Sorry Guru. I was way too harsh. You have been my friend since 5th grade. Always by my side. I trust you so much. I just don't want Arya involved. I have done everything to keep Vanya away from all this. I hope you understand.' Then she got up from the Sofa, tossed her phone onto the bed and slept off as if nothing was wrong. She seemed a little different. Next morning She got up, same routine, then off to office and after work driving back, but today she didn't go to the bakery. Rather to a house. It was located a little far away from the bakery  in the darkness of the ally. She knocked the door and was opened by a man in around his 40s. He smiled at her and welcomed her and as soon as she enters a little girl, just like Arya, no Exactly like Arya came running towards her and hugged her.
"Mom why didn't you get Arya today?" She asked downheartedly. Megha picked her up and kissed her cheeks then said,'My sweet little Dilly. Your sister is not well. Tomorrow you meet her. okay?'. Dilly smiled back and Megha put her down then let her go to play. Megha's expression became firm.
She looked at the man and said,' Listen Carefully to me Farhaz. Soon the police will put up a poster for missing person with a picture of Arya. When they do, go to the police. Not any officer, only and only to Officer Gururaj.' Farhaz nods his head in yes. Megha continues,'You know the whole story. You know what you have to tell and you know what you don't have to tell. So be careful and I don't want anything to happen to my daughter.' She then greets Dilly good bye and walks out. 

Back at home, She has Dinner with Arya and then Its back to story time. Arya snuggles with her mother and heartily looks her.
Megha smiles back and starts,' So the fairy lets the king go to the castle. Then he goes to the Queen and says that he was leaving her. The queen sobbed and begged. She even reminded him of his children but the king was determined. He left the queen's room and went to her daughter's room. Dilly Gave the Beautiful Deer to the king and asked him to give it to her daughter. But the king was Maddened with sadness. He didn't want to lose her daughter. So he asked Vanya to come with him if she wanted the deer. Dilly became angry. She Said,"You wanted to give your daughter the deer and now you are tricking her to leave her mother? No!! ,"She exclaimed," I shall punish You For all the wrong doings you did." And then a huge lightning Shined from the sky and struck the king and the king became a Mouse.'
Arya Started clapping blissfully. Megha smiled and continued,' And then The queen stayed with her daughter happily ever after.'
Arya jumped up on her feet and started Clapping. but then suddenly stopped, looked at her mom and asked," Will Dilly also stay with Vanya?"
Megha  nodded in affirmation. Arya was happier than before. Then She paused again and asked,"will the Queen not get his Prince charming now?"
Megha burst out in laughter. Then sat Arya down on her lap and replied,' A queen doesn't need a King honey. She only needs her kids because she loves her kids more than anything.' Arya hugged her mother and soon fell asleep in her lap.  She places Arya back into her bed and leaves. Another day gets over. And a new day begins.

A week passes by uneventfully. Nothing Seemed any different. But then one day an uproar of events came up. Her phone lit up with a notification. It was a message from Gururaj which read," We have found your daughter. Have you told Farhaz everything?"  Megha replied with a 'yes'. Then went off with work. Later that afternoon a call came. It was from the police station. She hurried to the station and found Dilly laying down on a bench. The police holding Farhaz and Gururaj doing some paper work. She strides towards her daughter and hugs her. Seeing this Gururaj rushes towards her. "Calm Down miss.",he says; comforting her.
He Then takes her to his table and offers her a glass of water. then speaks," We were contacted by This man Mr.Farhaz  Abdelrahman. He says that he found your daughter 7 years ago in a red light area where he went for fun. He claims that he stole her from there and bought her up as her own because he felt bad. He says that he never contacted the police because he thought that the mother of the child only sold the child and hence he didn't want the child to go to such a mother."
Megha Joined her hands in front of Farhaz and keeled down sobbing. only one word uttered from her mouth,'Thank You'  Farhaz smiled. Then The police Took him in the lock up for further investigation.
"Don't worry Ma'am. We will find your culprit", Said Gururaj. Megha picks up her daughter and still weeping goes to her car. Drives back to her home and lays her down in Arya's bed. In a hour or so Dilly wakes up. She was stilled heavy eyed.
Megha hugged her and said,'You are finally home my love'.
Dilly hugged her back and asked,"mom why was police uncle beating Farhaz mamu?" Megha hugged her tight and said, 'because he told then that he knew me.' dilly was confused by her statement.
So Megha continued,'If anyone asks you if you know me, what should you say baby?". Dilly smiles and says,"No! I don't know her". The mother asks again,'And for how long?' Dilly excitedly replies," Until you tell me to". then Megha Puts her down to sleep and walks out. Calls her sister and asks her to get Arya from school. In an hour Arya comes back home with her aunt and runs to her room excitedly and comes back running ecstatically and loudly announcing,"Dilly's home! Dilly's Home".
Megha and her sister are overjoyed by Arya's happiness. Then Megha holds her in one place, Gets down on her knees and says,'Control baby. You know that Dilly is your fairy sister. We can't tell anyone or they will take her away.' Arya fell silent. 'if anyone asks if you knew about Dilly what do we say?', asked Megha.
"We say that I met her when mom got her home and I love her", She replies bashfully. She hugs her and then changes her clothes. She lays her down beside her sister and For a good 10 minutes just adores them.

Megha then got up, picked up her phone and called Gururaj. "You know what to do.
Call me if something goes south.
No, the kids are fine.
I trust you". She then blissfully fell asleep. Next morning Vanya had covered the headlines as 'the lost Girl came back' or 'Search finally over for a mother'. But there was much more to this than what was surfaced. Soon around noon Megha's phone rang. It was Gururaj. She left the kids at their aunt's house and went to the police station. The had held a group of 3 people. Both men and women. Gururaj brought forward one of the ladies and asked Megha," Do you know this woman?"
Megha shook her head in no.
Gururaj continued," This is the lady Farhaz told about. He saved vanya from her Brothel. Megha gets furious. She almost lunges at her but a lady constable stops her. Her eyes blood red with anger and pain.
'WHO? Who gave my daughter to you?', She asked.
The lady looks into Megha's eyes and with no remorse in her eyes, she replies,"Rishi Manji. He sold her to me in exchange of me forgiving his 1 lakh debt."
Megha collapses down on the floor. Tears flooding down her eyes but not a word from her mouth. A constable got her some water. After a sip she looked up at Gururaj and said, ' What happened to Rishi? How did he die?' To this he replied," You see that guy standing over there?"
Megha directed her gaze towards him; "He confessed to killing Rishi because this lady asked him to. As she claims that Rishi had sold Vanya to her but when vanya went missing she thought that he took her back and the money so he killed him."
Megha flimsily stood up and faced Gururaj. She had fire in her eyes that could burn the world.
She said just one line," Punish them" then walked away.
Sitting on the nearest chair, she just stared at the floor. The police sent them to the lockup and did a few formalities.
Then Gururaj said,"Miss Rai you will be summoned to the court for the hearing of the case. Until then stay happy and safe."
Megha left the police station Wiped off her tears and sat in her car. Put on her favorite song and drove back. Is this the same woman who was sobbing inconsolably a few minutes back? 

Driving back Gururaj calls her," Megha Are you happy?
I am happy for you.
But could you at least tell me what happened that day?"
Megha smiles and says," Fine. I'll tell you.
Rishi was cheating on me.
With a girl from the Brothel.
Not only that he was about steal all my jewelry and cash to elope with that girl.
One week before the incident I heard him talk to that girl about it.
We just had kids and still he was ready to leave them.
I didn't have a job and i had to take care of my kids until I got one.
So I thought about it.
And only one answer came to my mind; Insurance Money! It was more than enough to sustain me and my kids for at least until I got a job.
I asked a guy to strangle him and throw him somewhere. But there was only one problem. That night he took Vanya with him.
But I couldn't change my plan.
So I modified it. I asked Farhaz to go to that location and take my daughter with him safely.
Then the man I hired did his job and I paid him with Some money I had.
But I had to think Quick. So I called in a favor. The Lady from the brothel had Many girls whose Brothers were under debt.
I freed their sister in exchange of this confession of crime.
The brothel lady agreed to go with my plan because she is Farhaz's mother.
I kept meeting Vanya almost daily. She was home school and kept away from the world. Farhaz did A lot for me. Please try to keep him free."
Gururaj smiled and said,"And what about the kids in the court room?
What if they something to ruin all this?" Megha chuckled and replied," They are my kids Guru. I raised them to lie about all this. I have filled their mind with what I want them to say. I am not losing my kids. And I will do anything and everything to keep them safe." Then they bid their goodbyes and cut the call. 

Megha returns home and both her daughters greet her by embracing her. It was a long run. But it was all worth it. What do you think?Would you do anything and everything for your children?