When little Zoya was playing with a stick, holding the stick as a gun her mother gazed at her. As soon as little Zoya realized this, she pointed it towards her mom and said “Mom! Look at this. I made a gun.” Her mom was afraid, she went near her and threw the stick away. “Guns are never good Zoya. These are the instruments kept by the bad people and ghosts.” Mom told her with a long embrace.
“Then why father always carry the gun? Is he bad or is he ghost?” Zoya asked. Her face pointed up towards her mom’s.
Mom kept quiet. Deep into her thoughts and unanswerable. She lifted Zoya up and went inside the house.
“Zoya complete your homework.” Mom said after a while.
“I did my homework 2 days ago mom.” Zoya came close to her mom and said.
Mom had forgotten that Zoya’s school was closed for last 2 days after the attack.
“Mom I need not go to the school for many days. Teacher said when we were returning that day.” Zoya said with a happy face.
“You need to go from tomorrow.” replied mom.
Zoya came with her drawing book and started to draw something. Mom quietly watched her draw. In a while, Zoya drew a picture of a man. He was holding the gun in his hand. Mom again felt pain in her heart and scolded “why are you always thinking of gun Zoya?”
“I drew father mom.” Zoya replied with an intense look.
Tears suddenly rolled down from the mom’s eyes. She remembered her so called husband who was cruel and stranger since he planted Zoya on her. She never told Zoya that he was a bad man. She had set up a good image of him for Zoya. But once when Zoya insisted and cried for so long, she showed one photo of him.
Zoya robbed her mom’s face and said “Mom you always cry whenever I talk about father. Okay I won’t talk about him from now.”
Tears began to fall more from the mom’s eyes with a deep rooted fear that one day Zoya will know the reality.