"Maa... Where are you?.." I was running all around home in search of mom.
"I'm here Rohan... Don't fall running like this!" Mom was collecting clothes which were hanging outside for drying.
"Sister is crying so badly... And I don't know what to do. I gave the milk bottle as you said. She is not drinking milk. Please come.." I was new to taking care of babies. In Fact I'm still 10, but I need to take care of her like a big brother.
" Don't worry dear... I'm coming ... Wait "

She came along with me after keeping the clothes on the sofa. Sister was still crying. Mom took her on her shoulders from the cradle. Suddenly she stopped crying. I really didn't understand what actually happened. Does mom have any super secrets!.

"Mom... What did you do? How she became quiet suddenly. Is it because you took her on your shoulder?" I was still curious

"Haha... do you remember the time when you were afraid of lightning so came and slept in our room"

" Yeh .. I remember..Is she afraid of something? "

" Maybe.. maybe not. But you felt secure right. It's not just about security. But it's a feeling.a kind of warmth"

"But... I was near her. Why didn't she stop crying then?" I was becoming sad then.

"Oh dear ... It's just a feeling. Maybe one day she'll feel the same in your presence. As a big brother"

"Really..."

"Yes dear... Grow up strong and bold. So that she can always consider you as a lifeline.."

My eyes were filled with some kind of emotion. But I couldn't understand what kind it was. Suddenly mom came near me and patted my head.

"Don't worry... You'll make a great brother"

I smiled back at her.

Hours passed. I didn't leave the side of my little sister. Before 3 months I never stayed inside my home for more than a few hours. But now I'm revolving around my sister the whole day.

"Rohan... Where are you?"
I was half asleep. Slowly I opened my eyes and looked up to the window. It was evening already. Sister was sleeping as usual.

"Rohan...."

It's dad... He had come back from work.

"I'm coming..." I ran to the varanda.

"Haha... It seems you don't leave that room the whole day. Here, I have bought some chocolates for you."

"Can I give it to my sister also?"

"No no... She hasn't reached that age yet. Now she can only drink milk."

"Ok dad... Let me share with my friends too. Ali and Diya must be waiting for me. I said that we'll meet today to play."

"Sure.. make sure you come back before dark"

"Sure dad" I started running towards our meeting spot. We all used to meet under our granny tree. An old banyan tree. But now they cutted it down. And new flats have emerged in the playground near the tree. Now we all hang around a parking lot.

I ran for 10 minutes and started panting like Ritoo(our dog). Ali and Diya were already there. They were sitting on a bench situated near the parking lot.

"You're 20 minutes late" Ali seemed angry. They both were playing chess. It's one game that we can't beat diya. But everytime Ali challenges her.
"Sorry Ali. I slept unknowingly"

"How's your sista, Rohan"? Diya asked. She was smiling as always.

"Here...I have bought some chocolates for you."

"I'll forgive you bcoz of these chocolates..." Ali loved chocolates.

"How many times you lost today Ali?"I always enjoyed teasing him

"We just started a game. This time I'll win. We were discussing school till now. Vacation is extended right.?"

"Haa. Mom told me too. They said some war is going on in the country."

"Yeh. I saw the news yesterday along with my dad. Even our neighbouring cities are affected. Some people are trying to overthrow the government." Diya was more mature than us even though we are the same age.
"But why? What did our Government do for that?" Guess I was the dumb guy in this group. Sometimes Ali makes me feel wrong about that. But still.. I ask people a lot of questions.

"They are doing this because the government is not following the path of their god. I heard some guy saying that the government has lost the path of God."

"What's path of God"

"I don't know. But my mom said they are the people who don't even understand the meaning of God '' Diya's voice was bold. And filled with some kind of emotion.

But as usual, I didn't understand what she said.

"I went to town centre yesterday, to apply for passport" Ali said

"What? You didn't said about that!" Diya seemed concerned

"Why? I just applied for it. Dad said everyone should take it. I don't even know the exact use of my passport. I agreed to it since I know it's required to travel in airplane"

"But... " Something was troubling diya. But she was trying to keep it hidden.

"Ohkk guys , let's play now. Diya... Finish this game fast. We'll play hide and seek."

As it was destiny. Ali lost again. We started playing hide and seek.

We played for around 1 hour and it was getting dark.

"Ali..diya...bye ... Dad asked to come back before it's dark. Let me go"

"Baby is afraid of daddy...." Ali was laughing at me.

"Kk Rohan... Bye ... Reach home safely." Diya always spoke like my mom

I walked slowly through the path. I always enjoyed walking in the street at that time. Too silent... Birds chirping far away. Stars were ready to shine again. Moon was only around half today. Once I almost fell down while walking while watching the stars.

I reached home within a few minutes.

"Rohan..you can come home early right. I was almost getting worried of you"

"Sorry mom...I lost track of time while playing"

"Ok ...ok.. go and bathe."


I took my shower. After spending some time with my sister I joined dad for watching TV. Time passed ...Mom prepared food and asked us to come and eat. We gathered around the dining table.

"What's special ma today...?.. it smells good"
"I've prepared your favourite Kabuli Palaw."

"Tonight it's going to be fun" I loved Kabuli Palaw more than any other food item.

She served food on our plates. I couldn't wait any more. I tried to start eating while she was serving dishes.

"Rohan... I have told you before. Pray before you start eating" As usual dad caught me.

"Sorry... "

We three sat in the chairs and completed our pre-meal prayer. "Mom, what's God's path?" I paused eating suddenly and asked her.

"I have told you not to talk while eating. But suddenly... Why such a question?"

"Diya told me that some people are trying to establish God's path in our country.! And I didn't understand that."

Suddenly I observed that mom and dad stopped eating and started looking at each other.

"There's nothing called god's path dear. We should always do good things. And stay away from evil.That's the path we should take. We can consider that's the path of God. "

"Did the government do something evil? "

"Not like that dear. You won't understand these now. Don't get worried thinking about all those."

"Eat your food now. Don't trouble your mom asking more questions. She's not as intelligent as me." I felt Dad was trying to change the topic.

"Yeh ..yeh.. later ask your intelligent dad"

I finished my food and went near my sister. Mom was feeding her then. The only time she'll turn too calm. After she finished drinking milk. Mom told me not to disturb her since she had fallen asleep. I came back to dad and watched sports for a while. Then we went to sleep.

"Mom.. will you tell me a bedtime story?"

"I'm too tired today dear. I'll say tomorrow."

"Ok ma.. good night"

I came back to my room . It's just been around 6 months since I started to sleep here alone. But still I'll go to mom's and dad's room when I'm not getting sleep.

I jumped into the bed and started staring at the ceiling. It was a strange day but the only thing I remember the most was my sister's face. I'll never get tired watching her.

Slowly I felt sleep covering my consciousness.

''''''' A sudden large sound '''''''

Suddenly I woke up. I felt my house was undergoing an earthquake. I couldn't understand what's happening. Whether it's a nightmare or real.

"Rohan..... Come here... " Dad came running into my room and pulled my hand. I didn't understand what's going on. But I was really afraid. He grabbed me and took me up.

''''' Another intense sound ''''''

My ears produced a strange whistling sound.
Dad suddenly freezed I guess. I saw blood coming out from his left arm. Suddenly tears were coming out from my eyes and I grabbed his hand tightly.

Suddenly he kept me down.

"Rohan...go under this bed now. Don't come out for a while. I'll be back"

"Dad...I'll also come...don't leave me"

"Don't worry dear.. nothing will happen. Just don't come out from here for a while"

I have never been afraid like this. I couldn't understand what to do. Dad ran outside the room. I couldn't stop crying.

''' Another intense sound . This time it's too large "'

Suddenly I felt our home was falling down.

'''Ceiling of the room fell down. The bed bend down since it was made of iron. There is no way out of the bed now.''''

"Maaa....dad..." I was nearly crushed by the ceiling. There's no space even to turn around. Bed produced a cracking sound. I felt like I was going to die soon. I couldn't stop my tears neither did I understand how to escape.

The sounds didn't stop for around 30 minutes. I prayed that mom , dad and sister would be fine.

Everything went silent again. I could hear people crying outside. I tried to shout. But I was frozen somehow. Dust was filling the air around me. And it was making my breathing difficult again.

I tried shouting for a while. I tried kicking the parts of the ceiling which blocked my way out of the bed. But it was not useful either. I was too tired to move anymore. I gave up trying anything. Slowly I lost my consciousness.

....

I woke up suddenly. I saw a ray of light.It Seems I slept the rest of the night. Sunlight was piercing through a hole among the bricks and dust.I tried moving to that hole. I didn't notice that yesterday because of the darkness. I rarely managed to rotate myself near the hole.

"Help... Please... anyone help..."

"Rohan... Where are you..."

It was Diya's voice.

"Diyaaa... I'm here... " I tried to keep my mouth near to the hole.

I saw diyas face. But I was almost exhausted. I saw Diya's father's face.

"Rohan ... I'll get you out of there.. try to go away from this hole. Let us remove this blocking from here" he said

I crawled back to the center of the void underneath the bed.

After some time, they removed the bricks and other pieces of ceiling.

Diya's father pulled me out of there. I was really exhausted.Tried to get up. I couldn't even stand properly. I fell down. My knees were injured by bricks rolled beneath the bed.

"Where's my dad..mom?" I asked to diya
Diya didn't reply to anything. She came to me and hugged me.

"I thought I lost you too" I looked around me. There were alot of people. All the flats and houses around me collapsed. I looked in the direction of mom's room. It was totally broken down into pieces.

I was in a state of shock. I got up and ran there.

Diya tried to stop me.

"Mommm...dad..." I couldn't see them anywhere.

I saw some people standing in the place where our main hall was. I ran towards it. But diya's father tried to grab me.

I pushed him off and pushed off the people standing there.

I saw my sister's hand. Under a large piece of ceiling. A small hand soaked in blood.near the door. Suddenly Diya's father grabbed me and took me away.

I was not crying. I couldn't cry. I couldn't perceive anything. I was speechless. I didn't even know whether I was alive.

They took me to diya's home. I didn't speak with anyone. Diya was always crying. I came to know Ali was no more. Her whole family was killed in the multiple bombings. A whole town was destroyed. But I was not feeling anything. Neither understand anything.
....
Days passed.
....
I was sitting near the sunshade. Diya came and sat near me.

"Rohan. It's been 4 days since you talked with me properly. Please . I can't see you like this. I understand that you're in pain. But you're not even crying. I'm afraid that I'll lose you too. " She started crying as always. I almost started forgetting her ever smiling face.

"Can you give me a reason for anything that happened to me?"

Diya stopped crying because of the shock since she didn't expect that I'll say something.

"No"

"I'm trying to connect my life somehow. Trying to make sense of anything. Until the last day of my life I believed that good things happen to those people who do good deeds. But my parents were killed by the people who pretends to be working for the god. I don't know whether my parents did anything evil. But my sister... And the pain I'm in now. I lost everything in my life other than you."

"There's no reason. They're the evil people. We will grow up and make them pay for what all they did to us"

"But it doesn't make any difference. I can't get back my family. There's no guarantee that we'll not do the same to someone else in the name of revenge."

Diya was silent.... Searching for words

"You know... My sister's first words were 'diya'. She said your name the day you visited our home. After you left the house. I didn't tell you since I was jealous of that. After all, because of you ,I'm alive. "

I grabbed her hands. Tears were falling out of my eyes. Tears stuck in my eyes for the past few days found a way out.

"If only there was a way to trade my life for hers. You would have taken good care of her."

Diya turned her grip in my hands tight. She was silent. But tears were falling out of her eyes.

"Remember this Rohan... I'll never leave your side. Ever... Nothing will separate us. We'll make a world without wars"

"Only if we could wage a war against God! "

We both stared at the sun as it was going to set. I wonder whether you understand everything. Whether you know the reason for everything. Or are you afraid of darkness? Trying everyday to light the world. Losing one side every time when you try to save the opposite side. Will we end up the same?

' dedicated to all people who lost their loved ones to the darkness of the world '
© Vibin Dave