THE OTHER CHILD

I am Rajesh, an 8 year old boy who is so unlucky that his parents died within a year he came into this world. I lived in an orphanage before my new parents took me to their home.

They were nice people, my daddy and mummy. They treated me like their son. They gave me love, they gave me gifts, they sent me to school, and they did everything which I ever wished for.

One day I was playing in garden of our house when I saw a girl, sitting under the tree planted at a corner of the garden. She was weeping. I decided to talk to her.

“Who are you and why are you weeping?” I said.

“I am Aradhna and I am weeping because my parents left me alone here.” She said.

“So where do you live?”

“I live in your garden.”

“Come let’s go to my parents they will find your home and let you meet your parents once again.”

“I tried it earlier but they scolded me to enter their house.” She said and stopped weeping. There was a spark in her eyes which I liked.

“OK, I will take you to my room without informing my parents.”

She readily accepts the offer.

Somehow I managed to take the girl to my room and talked her a lot there. I got my friend actually and she was my friend. But there was one problem, whenever I talked her about her past; she refused to answer, so I decided to talk to my parents.

“Daddy, have you seen that girl in our garden earlier?”

“Which girl, son?” he was anxious to know but after some more talking, he thought that I was talking bullshit.

I tried to talk to mummy also but received the same replies.

I needed my answer, so continued to question to three of them. My new parents started to think that I am mad or something. They even took me to the psychologist.

I didn’t stop to question and they didn’t stop to ignore them but finally one day I received my answer from Aradhna.

We were sitting on my bed and were talking.

“But tell me something about your parents. Where do they live? I know that you know the answer. Please tell me I want to help you.”

“They………… my parents live here, in your house.” I was shocked to hear that but the most shocking thing was yet to be heard. “Your parents are my parents. I am their daughter. I am their child.”

I rushed to my mother, she was in kitchen.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you have a daughter and how dare you to leave her alone?” I was furious.

My mother was looking surprisingly. “Daughter………”

“Yes, your own daughter, Aradhna.” I was shouting on my mother.

She looked terrified, she started running towards her mobile and dialled to my father. He came and took me to psychologist again.

That night was a longer one for me. I kept on thinking, thinking everything that I could. I rolled to other side of the bed and saw Aradhna sleeping there. I looked in her eyes, she looked in my eyes. She said something to me through her eyes which my body followed but my mind knew nothing what she said.

I rushed to my parent’s room, knocked it heavily. My father opened the gate.

“What happened? Why are awake in such late hours?” my father asked.

“The almirah……. It’s shaking. Someone is in that, I heard someone’s scream from inside the almirah.” I was panting heavily.

He didn’t believe me but still followed me. He opened the door and went inside, I followed him. The almirah was still. He opened the almirah and without looking inside he said:

“See, there nothing in the almirah.” I was horrified to see inside. I screamed hard. My mother was lying dead inside the almirah.

My father turned to see inside the almirah and saw her wife dead. The fear can be sensed inside him. He turned again to see me but saw Aradhna.

“Who are you?” my father asked Aradhna.

“I am your daughter, daddy.” Aradhna said without any expression on her face.

“My daughter……?”

“Yes daddy, your daughter. Whom you killed before she can come into this world. Whom you killed before taking birth.”

I was horrified. What was happening? Who is she? Who killed my mother? The questions were many but answer was only one, Aradhna.

Then I saw my father falling on his knees in pain. It was looking like someone was killing my father from inside. I tried to move but someone was preventing me to move.

Aradhna went near to my father and said:

“You killed me and I killed you.” She smiled and my father died.

Then she came near to me and smiled. After sometime she vanished in air.

I tried again to move and this time succeeded. I kneeled near my father and cried. The door of my room opened and I saw my mother came in. I looked inside the almirah, the almirah was empty.

My mother was alive and my father was dead. I told everyone the story but nobody believed except my mother because she knew Aradhna. She named her daughter when she was inside her but my father without telling to my mother aborted the child.

After 10 years to this incident, Aradhna is still with us…………

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