Go back daddy please

Go back daddy please!

The darkness was fluttering in the skimpy wind like a velvet sari hanging from above. Huge dark clouds wandering menacingly had already imprisoned the cadaverous moon and the light available was negligible. And she emerged slowly from the sea, from behind the roaring waves, trembling with fear, after the futile attempt. She walked with hesitation and great confusion in small steps towards the main road away from the beach.

She was not sure of leaving the sea at that time. The desire to walk into the sea still lingered in her mind. “Should I not walk back into the sea?” she wondered, repeatedly halting her walk mid way. There was almost total darkness except for the feeble twinkling light emanating from the ships anchored far away from the shore. The crowds had already disappeared fearing rains and the beach remained deserted. The angry waves rolling relentlessly from a distance were lapping onto the shore furiously. The sound of the wind began as a whisper and later grew, blurring into one long whirring noise.

Unable to suppress her urge she changed her mind and started heading back for the sea again. The heat of the day had been sucked in by the atmosphere and the cool wind was steadily gathering speed. Observing the threats around her with a blank mind the young girl kept on walking and running alternately with tears trickling down her bony cheeks. The sky roared repeatedly warning her but she seemed determined. After a few minutes the rains started falling down reluctantly.

When the wind gathered speed a few big drops fell on her haphazardly, dragged and swayed by the force of the wind. She did not mind. Her fury drove her determinedly towards the dark turbulent sea once again. On any other day she would have relished the meal presented by Nature, a dark night, naughty wind, roaring sky and the impending rains. In fact it was a dream come true for her. Many times she had wished to see the sea in the dark when it was raining. But today is not the day, she felt with remorse.

As she hastened her steps she got the initial splatter of rain. Her skirt which was totally wet prevented her from walking fast. Sands under her feet started turning into pools curtailing her speed. She noted in a corner of her mind the fight between the drumming drops of rain and the furious wind. When the wind ceased, the rain gathered speed and when the wind thickened the drops fell haphazardly on all direction. Wind whipped the rain drops sending them hurtling on all sides. Needles, big, cool and relentless, started pounding the earth in no time.

She was completely drenched within minutes. Unmindful of the downpour she walked and ran towards the sea. Suddenly she paused as if she had remembered something. Wiping out the dripping water from her eyes she looked up covering her eyes with her palms. The sky was dark, big pregnant clouds were moving like elephants in war front, and the sound of the rain was deafening. Lightening cut across the sky in a flash and disappeared in seconds followed by smashing thunder. She kept looking up for a few more seconds. Not sure of what she wanted to see, she lowered her head in pain, squeezed rain out of her skirt and resumed walking. Rain was all around her, laughing aloud, smashing and roaring. The rain waters had turned the sands into slush. After walking a few more steps she paused again and looked up.

This time she saw her father there. Oh God, her face brightened for a few seconds after which she shouted, “Daddy, my dear daddy, please do not look down.” To her dismay she saw her father on the sky, on the whole of the sky. His beautiful calm face, spreading all over the sky! The same smiling face! I never saw him without his smile even once, she recalled. Her father was looking down at her. She enjoyed the sight for a few seconds after which she suddenly felt shocked. She ran here and there haphazardly waving her hands and shaking her head as if driving her father away from the sky. “Oh daddy, please go away. Go to your resting place. Do not see down. You cannot stand it” she shouted amidst the pouring rain. Her words were drowned by the fury of the pouring rain. He remained there, perhaps not hearing her.

“Oh daddy, you do not deserve this’ she felt. Unable to drive her father away, to his abode, she fell desperately on the slush. Spreading her legs and falling on her back she waved her hands feverishly to send her father away. But he seemed to be adamant, to see her, to see around her. “Daddy please understand me. Please oblige me. Go away. Immediately. You should not see down.”

Knowing not what to do next she again stood up and started walking very fast towards the dark sea. Suddenly she heard sounds behind her. She turned back, angrily and suspiciously. There they are, she said to herself. At a distance she could see dancing flames of lamps and human figures. She could hear the feeble cries of her mother from that distance. Her anger rose within her forcing her to move faster towards the sea. Trembling like a wet chicken, she sauntered on and on clutching her wet skirt around her legs.

When she neared the sea, the sight unfolding before her was magical and magnificent. The sound of the waves coupled with the fury of the rain falling in the massive, boundary-less sea was awe-inspiring. The sea was totally dark with angry waves forming and rolling towards the shore relentlessly. The rain drops were falling down with enormous noise and the ships anchored far away were swaying like elephants in captivity.

Drawing in a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the rain she looked around. Moonlit night with steady drizzle! “This night is exceptional!” she felt forgetting her pains for a moment, with a wry smile. The pitch darkness, roaring sky and the growing drizzle ….”ah!” she relished. The girl closed her eyes for a while, opened her mouth and started enjoying the pristine drops from the heaven. For a moment she had forgotten her mission, her father. She was thoroughly enjoying the sea, her companion since ages.

I am here, she said to herself observing the rough sea. She closed her eyes repeatedly to drive away the knowing fear inside her. The rain blurred her vision.

Moments away she heard the thickening noises behind her. She looked up again suspiciously. Her doubt was correct. Her father was still there all over the sky. His face was huge and he was looking down, his lips knotting into a smile as usual. “No daddy. Please move away. Don’t look down. If you see what I had seen in our hut, you will die again. Please, please go and rest in your place in the feet of God, she shouted like an insane girl.

Strengthening her resolve she started walking further towards the sea. Massive, relentless, roaring waves were all over her slender body. They were eager, it seemed, to take her back with them. She felt drawn to the sea. Salty drops smashed into her eyes and mouth repeatedly. Rain and tears mingled in her face, salty tracks blending into fresh sky-fallen trickles. She moved on and on embracing the waves. “Hey little fool! You devil! Stop there. Don’t move further. It’s dangerous” shouted her mother from behind, panting in exasperation. But the little girl moved, continuously waving away her father from the sky above ignoring the shouts from the shore. The turbulent sea was eagerly dragging her further and further into it. The massive waves looked menacing once she was into the sea which appeared chaotic and wild. The sound was deafening and the sea was threatening.

But she drove away her fears with a rare determination. She moved on and on when the sea was taking her willingly. The shouts behind her weakened with the flames dancing like devils in the furious wind. She stopped for a while, turned back and looked at them for one last time. Her mother, short and fat, was in the front shouting and gesticulating. Her determination to walk into the sea grew manifold whenever she saw her mother. The girl felt like vomiting on seeing her mother. The salt tasted bitterly in her mouth. ‘You burly pig! Are you a woman?” she shouted from the midst of the hungry sea which was ferociously dragging her far and deep. “Oh my God! Hey little devil. Stop there. Don’t move further” shouted her mother running and panting.

The little girl in the last moments of her life met her mother’s eyes for a fraction of a second. Her fury was amply communicated to her mother in that exact moment. The girl turned her gaze and saw that man, who was also running by the side of her mother. She spat in anger, in desperation and in utter helplessness. Crying loudly the girl looked up and saw her father there in the dark sea with his customary smiling face. She knew. He’s inviting me. He knows I will be there in minutes. The waves lifted her upside down, tossing and gulping her gleefully.

The pursuing crowd stopped abruptly near the sea and started looking at the sky with great confusion. The fading stars saw them one last time and disappeared instantly.

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