Cinderella

She had not yet opened her eyes when her mother died due to delivery complications. She was declared a curse in the family and her father married again. Her step mother always kept her away in a small store room adjacent to the kitchen. She was not even formally named. Soon she had two half siblings. A lot of celebrations were held at their arrival. She was unaware of the happenings as she was still too young to understand the life.

She was made to do all the cleaning in the house. She washed clothes of her siblings, polished their school shoes and did all the dishes. She wore the old and discarded clothes of her half-sister, ate the left overs and slept on store room floor. She never questioned the disparity between her and them. Her father was too busy with work and her step mother ruled over the house. Her half-brother started calling her Masi and thus she got the name.

She was fast in learning. Her siblings made her do their homework too. She had many queries which were never answered but she kept copying the stuff from books to notebooks. She listened them remember the work for exams and made her own sense of education.

She was given charge of the kitchen as she got tall enough to reach the stove. Her step mother often beat her and her father always looked the other way. She never cried. She was raised to be a Masi and she had accepted her fate. She had never asked anything from her father. She never complained. She never questioned her existence. She sometimes looked at stars of the night sky and raised her hand to touch them. Sometimes she tried to imagine her mother and gave her a face of her own. 

Time passed by and her half-sister got married. She wore her old red torn shirt and did all the work. Two years later, her half-brother got married too. She wore the same old red torn shirt and did all the work. She got the opportunity to serve a new member in the family but soon the bride and groom shifted elsewhere. She was once again left alone in the house with her step mother and her father.

Her step mother was now sick and old. She did not survive for long and died the same year. After her burial when all the relatives had left, her half-brother and half-sister demanded their share from the father. She listened to their loud arguments. He was old and sick too. They threatened him of dire consequences and stormed out of the house.

She sat outside her father’s room and listened to his sobs. He was lying on the bed heart broken. Today his second wife had died and his own children had condemned him. He was coughing with pain when he felt some warm hands caressing his feet. He opened his eyes and saw his daughter whom he had not yet named. 

In the yellow light of mercury bulb, he could see her old red torn shirt. He tried to get up but she told him to keep lying and take rest. He had heard her voice for the very first time in his life. He somehow got up a little and saw her face too. She looked just like her mother and he instantly called her Perven.

She helped him get up and sit on the bed. She sat on floor in his feet. He put his hand on her head and started crying. She felt his tears fall in her lap. She held his leg tight and tears started rolling down her cheeks. She wept for all the lost times and her father wept too. Not a single word was spoken yet a tale of 30 years was told.

Decidedly, he got up and made her sleep in his room. He then went to the store and lied down on the floor. From now on, he had to do a lot to heal her daughter's heart.

Written By: Nadeem Alam

Other short stories by same author:
Click 👇
Right Decision
The Missing Bride
Twins
The Devil
Lost Girl 
Shadow
My World