[The Fallen Rose – Family Short Story with Moral Lesson]
The Fallen Rose - Family Short Story with Moral Lesson
Well.. It’s Me..Vivek..Vivek Ranjit.. I Work With A Company Based In Hyderabad.. And I’m Here In Bangalore Today For A Reason.. This Is A City That Has Seen My Up’s And Down’s In Equal Proportions.. This City Reminds Me Of A Big Past Which
I Had.. As Of Now I Just Want To Go Back To All Those Memories I Was Once A Part Of..
Well I’m A Pass Out From One Of The Well Known Colleges In Bangalore.. To Be On A Frank Note.. Engineering Wasn’t My Cup Of Tea.. My Dad Was Way Too Intrested.. He Was Too Much Into Engineering Than I Used To Be.. As In Every Home Where They Either Need A Doctor Or An Engineer Only.. Mine Too Wasn’t An Exception.. Classes As Usual Were Pretty Boring.. But.. Soon College Life Got Into Better Proportions Than It Was Expected To Be.. Made Up Loads Of Friends.. Two Years Of My Life At The College Passed On With Immense Fun..
Well.. It Was The Start Of The Third Year.. And While Roaming Around Near The College Campus With My Friend Robin.. One Day.. I Got To See A Girl.. A Sweet.. Simple Calm.. Collected.. Charming Girl.. All These As I Praised Were In Deep Written On Her Face.. She Looked Plain Simple.. She Had Those Deep Brown Eyes Which Somehow Seemed Enormous In Her Little Face.. I Just Got Her Face Fixed In Me.. She Passed Me And I Was Just Wondering As To Why I Haven’t Seen Her In College Since I Joined It.. With Days Passing By.. I Forgot Her.. To Me.. Then.. She Was Just Like Any Other Girl.. But.. With Curiosity Building Up In Me To Know Her.. I Went In Search Of Her And Her Whereabouts And That’s When Robin Told Me That He Knew Her Personally As He Was Her Neighbour.. I Got To Know That Her Name Was Ashlyn.. Ashlyn Gomas.. As I Stayed In The Very Next Street To Robin’s House.. We Used To Go To College And Come Back Together At Times.. And That’s When He Happened To Introduce Me To Her.. She Was On Her Way Out With A School Bag In Her Left Hand.. A College Bag Strapped To Her On The Other Side.. And A Kid Standing Beside Her.. The First Thing.. I Noticed About Her Was That.. She Was An Utterly Good Natured Character.. She Was Soft Spoken.. And With The Full Of Best Intentions On Her Serious Little Face With A Pinch Of Smile That Faded..
It Was Only Later.. That Robin Told Me.. She Lost Her Mom 4 Years Back.. And That She Was Left With Her Dad And Her Brother Kevin.. Kevin Was A 10 Year Old.. It Was Only Then That I Got To Know That The Kid Was Her Brother.. Her Dad Was Completely Shattered With His Wife’s Untimely Demise.. And Since He Was The Sole Bread Winner For The Family.. He Would Leave Home For Work Before His Children Woke Up In The Morning And Would Reach Back Home By The Time They Slept.. She Was Initially Told By Her Dad That A Servant Would Be Kept At Home To Look After Her Brother.. But She Wasn’t Just Ready To Let Anyone Else Look After Her Brother And Refused It.. It Was Something That She Took Upon For Herself.. She Would Do All The Household Works.. Dress Up Her Brother To School.. Cook Food..Clean Up The House And Others.. She Would Drop Her Brother In School, Come To College.. Bring Him Back From School.. She Never Used To Sulk Up Over The Responsibilities That She Took Over After Her Mom’s Death.. In Fact She Wanted To Be Exactly What Her Mom Was To Her Brother.. She Used To Engage In Evening Prayers At Home Itself Along Her Brother Which Showed That “Hope” And “Belief” In The Almighty Was Something That She Always Held Onto Anywhere.. Everywhere..
Well.. She Was More Than What Praises Would Do.. Later That Evening I Saw Her In A Park Nearby.. She Had Her Brother Along With Her.. I Kinda Had A Casual Talk With Her.. But.. Soon I Gotta Know That She Was Far More Intrested In Her Brother Than Talking.. The Way She Took Care Of Him.. I Knew That She Adored Him The Most Than Any One Else In This World..
Well.. She Wasn’t Blind to The Sights Around Her.. She Had That Basic Elemental Knowledge Of A 21 Year Old.. An Absolute Unblushing Understanding Of The Hard Mysteries Of Life.. Mingled With An Innocence That Was Sublime.. Those Wide, Reflective Eyes, Set In That Small Grimy Face, Held The Wisdom Of Ages.. With Due Respect To Time.. I Developed A Liking Towards Her.. Well.. She Was Beyond Admiration In Me.. And In A Short Span Of Time.. We Kinda Became Good Friends.. And With Passing Time.. I Got Attached To The Kid Too.. I Used To Visit Her Home At Times.. See Her Brother.. Get Him Some Toffees.. And Spend Some Time With Him..
Well..I Must Admit That.. She Was A Perfect Little Mom.. And I Came To Know That Force Filled Her Life.. Her Dad Used To Come Around Late At Night.. He Had No Time To Spend With His Children.. The Only Thing He Would Do Was To Give Money Whenever It Was Required And For The Rest.. He Was Entirely Out Of The Scene.. College Went On As Usual.. Exams Were To Come By And Everyone Got Busy With Internals, Assignments And Other Stuffs.. It Was During Then That Kevin Got On With A Fever That Was Later Diagnosed As Pneumonia.. It Had Attacked His Lungs.. She Remained Absent In College.. And Sat By Her Brother In Bed.. Praying For A Fast Recovery And Doing All What Was Required For Him.. As Her Brother Was On The Road To Recovery.. I Could Still See The Unbeareable Anguish In Her.. And All I Could Do Was To Console Her.. As She Would Always Be In With A Gloomy Face.. And I Do Still Remember What I Told Her Then..
”SMILE A MILE.. IN A WHILE.. TO GET AN ISLE.. FULL OF ROSES..”
Well.. She Saw Her Brother Recovering On A Rapid Note.. And At That Same Time.. She Started Getting Pale.. Day By Day.. She Never Got To Know That She Had Caught The Germ From Her Brother.. Even Though She Showed Signs Of Uneasiness And Fever.. She Just Ignored It And Sat By Bringing Her Brother To The Road Of Recovery.. Just Like Any Other Mother.. Who Would Neither Let You Starve Not Or Stop Caring You Even When They Aren’t Well.. They Always Make Sure That Their Child Get’s The Best.. Let It Be The Food They Eat.. Or Let It Be The Care They Get.. They Just Ignore The Fact That They Aren’t Well And Works For Our Cause..
And Well.. There Was It.. It Did Not Attack Her Lungs.. But What Happened Was Worse.. She Developed Pneumococcal Meningitis.. And It Was Too Late By Then And Thereafter She Never Regained Consciousness.. I Think I Have Told You.. She Was Only 21.. 21 Years Old.. The Sacrifice That She Did For Her Brother Would Stand Out Forever.. None Could Replace The Mother In Her.. She Is The Answer To The Missing Values Of Blood Relations In Our Society.. In Today’s World Where People Betray Even Their Blood Relations Or So For Name And Fame.. You’re An Exception.. I Salute You Ma’am.. You’re Off This World.. But.. Your Memories Are Still Alive In Me.. Well.. You’re The Fallen Rose Of A Million Hearts Including Me.
Well.. I Guess I Have Told You That I’m Here In Bangalore For A Reason.. A Reason That I Could Never Neglect As It Was Something I Couldn’t Betray My Heart For And The Human In Me.. I Got A Letter From An Orphanage Run By The Nuns Named As The “Home Of Hope” In Bangalore.. It Was A Letter That Shook Me Within.. It Was A Sister Who Wrote Me This Letter Asking Me To Meet Her In Person.. Sister Beaulah Got My Address Through Robin.. And She Wanted Me To Look Into This Matter As She Knew I Was Emotionally Attached To This Kid Since Long.. With Years Passing By.. Kevin’s Dad Got On To Be An Alchoholic.. Unable To See The Loss Of His Near And Dear Ones.. Which Was Once Everything To Him.. He Never Recovered From It.. He Rarely Used To Come Home.. He Spent Most Of The Time At A Nearby Bar.. And As He Was Outta Senses Most Of The Time.. The Neighbours Around Finally Took Up A Decision To Send Kevin To The “Home Of Hope” Which Could Give Him A Better Shelter.. Today.. I’m Here To Take Him Back Along With Me.. I Want To Give Him A New Lease Of Life That He Was Deprived Of Till Now.. Back At Home.. I Just Want Him To Grow Among Us.. Feel Our Love And Care.. In Fact I Wanna Be A Brother.. Guide.. Friend And Anything.. Everything He Wants In His Life..
Let That Green Signal Be The Start Of ANew Life.. A Hope.. In Fact A New Lease Of Life For Him As Well As Me.
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