Muskaan - Life is beautiful: Part 1 [fiction]

It was 7 AM on a cold November morning. The alarm clock rang. She leapt her hand out of the blanket and turned the alarm off but kept lying on the bed. It was an off day from work and she did not seem to be in any sort of hurry. She lay there staring into nothingness. Her thoughts in that moment were such a muddled set of emotions that she would have had trouble describing that herself. She wondered what a simple and innocent girl she had been just a few years ago. It had been a simplicity that was evident in her entire behavior and everyone seemed to know her so well that they could make out what was on her mind even without her having to say that. And suddenly, in such a short span of time, life for her had come such a long way that she wasn't even sure any more whether she knew herself well.

While being amongst all these thoughts, she got out of bed. After getting the bed back to being its neatly arranged self, she went on with her morning chores. After having a bath, she sat down to say her prayers. While she did not believe in any religion, she had always believed in her God and had prayed Him ever since she was six years old. Her prayers, however, had changed with time. Today, she just prayed for mental peace for herself and the well being of her family. Her innumerable dreams and her enthusiasm to achieve them had almost become extinct with time.

After eating a little bit of breakfast, she headed towards her book shelf. Books were one thing that, albeit only occasionally, could still make her happy. As she went to the book shelf, she caught sight of a piece of paper stuck just above the book shelf that had a quote by Clifton Paul Fadiman written on it, “When you re-read a classic you do not see in the book more than you did before. You see more in you than there was before”. This helped her make her decision. She decided to read an already read book. As she browsed through the already read books. she stopped at Leo Tolstoy's huge 802 page classic Anna Karenina. As she looked at the book, her mind immediately ran back to an old pleasant memory and her face lit up with a bright smile. A smile that was characteristic of her name that had so fondly been given to her by her father the first moment he had held her smiling self in his hands. A smile that had been a characteristic that described her personality till only a few years ago. A smile that was a rarity in the present.

With the memory and the smile still intact, she sat down to read the book. Soon, she was totally engrossed in the book. Hours passed by one after the other. She did not even feel any urge to eat lunch. She continued to read for 8 hours.

At 6 pm, the door bell rang. She was a little surprised. She was not used to having visitors on holidays. As she opened the door, she heard seven voices singing in chorus, “Happy Budday to you, Happy Budday to you, Happy Budday dear Muskaan, Happy Budday to you”. It hadn't occurred to her during the entire day that it was her birthday. She had turned twenty-four today. This was the first time she had forgotten her birthday ever since she had known what birthday meant. Anyhow, her friends had brought a birthday cake, snacks and other stuff to eat/drink. They ate and chatted and laughed and sang throughout that evening and had a great time together. Or at least most of them did.

After seeing her friends off at her gate, she went back to her room and sank in her chair. A thought process that had been building up during the entire evening began to take its toll. She wondered, “There was a time not so long ago when I would have almost danced with joy on seeing my friends give me a surprise birthday party. Today things are so different. Here were my friends who had cared to me and gathered here to make the day special for me and all the while, I was just putting up fake smiles and laughter and waiting for them to leave so that I can again have my solitude back. O' God, why have I changed so much. Why have I changed so much.” A tear ran down her cheek. And another one. Within no time, she was sobbing helplessly. She shouted in frustration, “O' God, please help me”.
To her utmost surprise she heard a voice from behind, “Yes, my child. Put forth all your questions to me”.

Ten-tenenn

She had always been God's favorite child. This was God's turn to show His affections.

**************
to be continued
**************


PS: This is my first attempt at fiction. I might try more depending on how this one turns out. It can/will vary a lot from reality because I hardly know females for real and the only female I can claim to know very well is my mother (I should perhaps mention here that the set of people I love and care about is not contained in the set of people I know very well). Still, I wanted the protagonist to be a girl and I have my reasons for it. Of course, similarity to any person living or dead will be greatly appreciated :D