The Ink Flowed

By Debayani Sengupta

Soft streaks of sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains of the open window. The sudden ring of the alarm clock resonated across the room, jolting awake the little girl who lay curled up under her blanket in her tiny bed. Eyes wide open and heart thumping with anticipation, she jumped off the bed and skipped her way over to the table below the window, to pick up a folded piece of paper placed neatly on the top among the scattered books. Opening it in a hurry, she started reading the crooked words scribbled across the uneven sheet of paper,

"Dearest Diya,

I saw you painting yesterday. A blue bird sitting on the branch of a mango tree. It was the most beautiful painting I have ever seen from you.. And you packed your own lunch to school as well!! a big girl you've become!! I wish I was there to see it all.

Give my love to your baba and bhaiya,

Ma."

"Why, Oh why aren't you..." Diya sighed out, wiping the tears that poured out of her eyes, damping her puffy cheeks. However, she couldn't hold back the smile that laced her lips as she pulled a small wooden box out from under her bed and gently put the letter in it. Closing the lid and pushing it back in it's hideout, she dove under the blankets once again.

While on the other side of the room, on a slightly bigger bed, a boy not much older than Diya herself, lay sound asleep.

In the breakfast table the very same morning, the young boy, Avik sat and looked around, waiting for their baba to leave so he could speak to his sister. When Baba went to fetch the milk jug, like every other day, Avik whispered to Diya, "Did you receive a letter this morning too?"

With twinkling eyes and a mouthful of eggs, Diya proudly beamed back "Yes! She loved my painting, and also praised me for being able to pack my lunch for school! But... Why doesn't she ever write to you?" She asked with an innocent frown while her fingers fiddled away with the toast on her plate.

Avik smiled at her.

"Because she loves you more".

He remembered the times she would ask Baba where their Ma was. Baba, without looking up from his work, would answer "I told you sweetie, she went to the land of the stars..."

"Is she happy there? Why can't she come to meet me?" Diya would have new questions every time.

Baba would just smile.

That night too, like every other night, Diya tossed and turned on her bed, trying to fight off the approaching slumber. She watched Avik's similarly restless form on the opposite bed, lying awake.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" He asked after a while. "Yes..." Diya lied and closed her eyes.

Diya closed her eyes. He watched her motionless form on the bed, his dear little sister. He loved her. He could do anything for her.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Avik soundlessly got up from his bed and made his way to the table below the window in absolute darkness, like he had done before on countless nights. He produced a torn sheet of paper from an old notebook and placed it on the table where the moon cast a pale light. Picking up a pen, he began writing in crooked letters,

"Dearest Diya...."

And the ink flowed.

After what seemed like an eternity, Diya sensed a form skid past her bed. She opened her eyes to see Avik's bed empty and a shadow pacing about the room. Thinking her brother was just up to use the washroom, she was about to close her eyes back when she heard the scratching sound of a pen on paper. Eyes darting to the table below the window that faced the garden, she saw someone, sitting. The pale beams of the moon revealed that form to be Avik, with a pen in hand.

Writing, writing, writing.

When he was done, he folded the paper neatly and placed it on the same spot where the letter from their Ma usually lay in the morning. Then he tiptoed his way to the bed and crawled back under the covers.

Diya shut her eyes tight, her heart pounding in her chest. She had the sudden urge to bawl her eyes out till she had no tears left to cry. Stifling the sobs that threatened to escape, she let the tears silently roll down her face onto the pillow, soaking it.

She felt betrayed. All the letters she had been so dearly preserving in her hidden treasure chest, were forged. Just a heap of lies stacked on top of one another. She wanted to drag her brother out of his bed and start an acrimonious fight. She wanted to hit him.

However, she could do nothing of that sort. She lay transfixed on the bed from which she witnessed Avik carry out the forgery, minutes ago in supposed secrecy.

She cast her mind back to all those moments when she missed her Ma dearly and Avik consoled her.When he once walked in on her crying while flipping through the pictures of her one-year old self on Ma's lap, Avik had embraced her and cried with her. The very next morning she had received the first letter from Ma. Her elation knew no bounds as she jumped around screaming "Ma has sent a letter to me from the land of the Stars!" Ten year-old Avik fondly watched his little sister, overjoyed at receiving a personally addressed letter from their Ma, who passed away four years ago.

"Diya, you must not tell anyone you got a letter from Ma okay? Or she won't write to you anymore".

"Okay okay I won't! Ever!" Diya had agreed, barely able to conceal her exuberance.

Diya watched Avik fall asleep on the other side of the room while the bubbling rage inside her slowly began to dissolve. He had woven this rickety web of lies in an attempt to soothe her pain, to make his sister happy and replace her tears with a cheery smile.

Of one thing she was now certain.

Her brother loved her.

He could do anything for her.

With an unfathomable feeling of warmth in her heart, she closed her eyes for the night.

The next morning, Avik asked again "Did you receive a letter this morning too?"

Diya smiled and said, "Yes".

Yes, she did.

By Debayani Sengupta