Tiarella

      Tiarella   

"Pat-Pat"

"Chaw-chaw" , the wooden stairs welcomed her after the whole day tiredness.The stillness of the basement was disturbed a bit. Its moist, stale air irritated her throat. Light rushed through the window so abruptly , as if it was in search of food. She woke up Tiarella. Unable to speak , Tiarella only shook her head to answer her mother.

   " Its third day since you have not                         eaten anything ."

" I am fed up mom. Everything around wants to eat me."

As the light touched her body , her fragile arms moved helplessly, in painful mood.. 

Ahhhh Tiarella! her mother blocked the rays.

         "Eat something, my dear!"

"hmm".... Tiarella tried to smile with her withered lips.

                  **********

About fifteen years ago, she was named Tiarella, which means a plant that grows in low light. She was a beautiful girl with genius mind .Her mother used to call her Tia . She was facing a problem with the growing age.When she started playing in the streets with the friends , her condition worsened. Neither she nor her mother knew what was happening to her. Now, she barely comes out of her basement. Only in nights she enjoys her conversation with the flowing water.Today, on her mother's insistence, she left the basement to enjoy the beautiful weather.

" Mom... "

" yes my love. "

"Why you do not like dark? "

"Tiarella ..I am tired and gonna sleep.Make sure you sleep before the dawn."

"Okkkayyy Mommm...don't worry."

She felt alive after sharing her emotions with the brook flowing nearby .When she returned to the basement , her mother was fast asleep .She kissed her mother’s forehead and laid on the dusty couch.

            ********************

The sun was boiling hot. Her mother had left for the town about six hours ago.The day was hotter than usual. Sunlight was so intense , as if it had aimed to suck its enemy in. Everything, plants and animals, had hid from this hot weather. Here, something obnoxious happened.The time passed and passed but her mother did not returned home and Tiarella did not wake up that day.

Next afternoon, she suddenly opened her eyes. She was in consternation; her mother had not returned till now.

" Mommmm...momm!."She came out of the basement in search of her mother.

The moment she exposed to sun, her body tried to hide herself. She felt the light getting on her nerves . Her heart was feeling to be collapsed in just a moment. Her eyes filled with pink and green colours and everything around disappeared .She was struggling hard in her mind. Drops of sweat made their way through her hairs, rolled down her back and after going through her feet , absorbed into the ground. But she was determined, not to give up. She pushed herself to one side of the tree. But of no use. She felt dizzy and slipped into a brook. After this,

the sun lowered its intensity, did it complete its mission? Tiarella's mother returned home and found the basement empty. Her mother had been through a tragedy in the last two days. She start searching Tiarella, Calling her in dismay and crying for her. After a tiring effort she could not find Tiarella there and was exuasted. She put her basket to a side and took the support of wall to sit against it. Tiarella , after coming to senses , felt something slippery beside her. She could not see any thing as it was complete darkness, however, it felt like a Snake. She saw some shadows moving in front of her. She felt herself floating under the pressure of water. She could see the moonlight just like a person sees light through a transparent glass. She shuddered and tried to remind what exactly had happened to her. Through prediction, she made a possible answer to her question in mind. She might be flowing in the water somewhere since she fell into that brook. But….

reality was even more horrific than that. She wanted to move, AND she found that she could not move her legs because she did not have; she had changed into a mermaid. And now she was moving like a fish. Unable to understand that what has happened. At this, a beautiful Mermaid came and welcomed her.

" How are you?"

"Me? How do you know me? Why I am like this? What has happened to me?"

A humble laugh was heard from behind. As Tiarella turned around, she saw a community of mermaids and was about to faint.

"Wait…. Tiarella"One of mermaid exclaimed : You came here few days ago. As we knew you from a long time that you are light sensitive and can not live in a society of normal humans.

Tiarella: how you know that?

We live in water. We know water and all the secrets it stores. Remember you used to sit beside the brook and would share your information with it. As Water has this capability to store information and thus we have the capability to interpret it. We would send good feelings back to you and you would feel relax. We decided to make you a member of our society where you can live safely and peacefully. Tiarella decided to live in their community but could not forget her mother. She shared this with valeena, a beautiful mermaid of her age. She didn't get a gleeful response from Valeena, as it would threaten the mermaid community. Tiarella's eyes filled with tears, but she learned to compromise.

One day, Tiarella was enjoying swimming in the water, suddenly she saw her mother on the shore. Unconsciously, she went there to meet her mother, told her the whole story. She Wept and cried in front of her and conveyed her love for her mother. She convinced her that she is happy here as a mermaid. Her mother was happy to listen this.At this, both departed but with tears in their eyes. Tears were of affection for each other, for sure. While going back to her community, Tiarella closed her eyes, took a deep dive with a thoughtful mind: she made water her friend and it prooved itself to be and gave her life in its lap.